Does your eligible teen have their Drivers' License?

[TwoMisfits]

Does everyone buy their kids a car when they get their license? I see lots of DD's friends getting cars as soon as they get their license. Is this common? I know it's nice to give them independence so they can drive themselves to school and work etc., but we never intended to buy a car for her, maybe go half on a used one.

Nope. I bought one of the safest cars on the market for all my kids to learn to drive, but it's my spouse's car.

I'm not planning on buying any of my kids a car. That will be something they buy when they need one and when they can afford one. I live in a townhome community with just 2 assigned spots, so it's impractical to have an extra car unless it will be driven a lot.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It is the cost for drivers education that prevents many teens from getting licenses here. None of the high schools offer subsidized classes any longer.

Eh almost no one did driver's ed even when I was in school. Most were taught by their parents. Doesn’t appear to be a new trend. I did driver's ed but paid for it myself (was $350) but still had some driving time with my stepmom.

 

[MillauFr]

Eh almost no one did driver's ed even when I was in school. Most were taught by their parents. Doesn’t appear to be a new trend. I did driver's ed but paid for it myself (was $350) but still had some driving time with my stepmom.

Washington State won't give you a license unless you do drivers ed.

 

[MillauFr]

Does everyone buy their kids a car when they get their license? I see lots of DD's friends getting cars as soon as they get their license. Is this common? I know it's nice to give them independence so they can drive themselves to school and work etc., but we never intended to buy a car for her, maybe go half on a used one.

Not here in Seattle. There is nowhere to park extra cars.

 

[DLgal]

Does everyone buy their kids a car when they get their license? I see lots of DD's friends getting cars as soon as they get their license. Is this common? I know it's nice to give them independence so they can drive themselves to school and work etc., but we never intended to buy a car for her, maybe go half on a used one.

No. My son might eventually get my 16 year old car, or he can buy his own. I'm not buying him a car. He doesn't need one anyway.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We gave kid some money towards a used car - less than half. But he paid majority and pays for insurance. And it wasn’t right away.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Washington State won't give you a license unless you do drivers ed.

Yeah I'm sure there are states out there that have that rule. Here a driver's ed course allows you to skip the road and written test and just have to do the vision test to get your license but is not required.

One thing I liked about the driver's ed I did was they taught parallel parking which is not required in my state. That was super handy when I was working for my alma mater and had to parallel park on a hill majority of the time.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My mother-in-law insisted on buying new cars for her kids which was a terrible decision financially and responsibility-wise.

For my friends growing up we all had crappy cars but they were inexpensive and usually ones we either paid for ourselves or got on the cheap. My 2002 Ford Escort ZX2 was the nicest out of all my friends lol. My best friend drove a boat of a Cadillac with bench seats I think it was an '80s model, my other friend always had issues with the transmissions, the other a semi-working old jeep. My dad did purchase my sister's vehicle but she paid each month just under $100 to him. It was also a cheap car nothing too special (a late 90s Plymouth Breeze). This was all in the early 2000s.

These days even used cars are nutty in pricing though so you gotta be careful about that.

 

[leebee]

DD was 20, I think, when she got her license. She had no interest in driving and the whole concept really triggered her anxiety. I'm not sure what motivated her to finally get her license, but she did. Eventually she needed to drive to work, so bought a car. She still doesn't like to drive, but she does every day. Girl's never gonna hit the highway with the windows open, heat on, singing at the top of her lungs just for the pleasure of driving on the open roads, but she can get herself to and from all the places she needs to be.

 

[kdonnel]

My mother-in-law insisted on buying new cars for her kids which was a terrible decision financially and responsibility-wise.

Different strokes for different folks.

I bought new cars for my kids once they were in college. I wanted to give them a head start in life. I wanted them to have a car that would start them out in life once they graduated. A car that would double as a family car should they get married and start a family.

 

[bakerworld]

In complete disclosure our 'kids' are 35, 38, 41. As teens we made them all wait until they were 17 to obtain their DL, although in PA they are eligible at 16. Reality was they were driving already but we didn't realize until they revealed that later. Regardless of age, when the eldest went OOS to College we felt it was important for her to have a active DL. Waiting for 17 was more of a hardship for the younger two because they were 'older' kids in school - hence, the 'early' driving without a DL.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Different strokes for different folks.

I bought new cars for my kids once they were in college. I wanted to give them a head start in life. I wanted them to have a car that would start them out in life once they graduated. A car that would double as a family car should they get married and start a family.

Has nothing to do with a head start nor starting a family I mean they were 16 and 17 no one is thinking about marriage and kids for buying a scion tc (2 of them) and a Lancer. Her mom just wanted to buy brand new just because and never taught them fiscal responsibility nor really utilized it herself.

1st sister-in-law crashed in a severe roll over (escaping through the sun roof) because she chose to drive on ice while wearing a boot due to a broken foot 8 months into owning the car, luckily the friend who was in the car only had scrapes. Next new car her mom got her she quit paying the monthly amount to her parents couldn't afford it (she was 2 months behind paying a reduced amount per month) then (against both my husband and I's opinions) her mom without her knowledge took that vehicle and used it and another towards getting herself an infinity (which she hardly drove and ended up selling with 2 years) leaving her daughter with nothing. I wholeheartedly have the stance that the daughter needed to pay per month, I hated how her mom set her up to fail and the underhanded removal of the car with no knowledge.

2nd sister-in-law loved the idea of getting a sweet trim kit on the tc and mom agreed. Grandmother stepped in to help pay as well. Car was hardly used and they ended upside down in the loan for various reasons. Car eventually taken back.

It even affected my husband who had a scion tc (different than the other two) and his mom pressured him to allow her to take that car and use it towards her getting a new Explorer, in turn she'd give him the Corolla they had (used old enough in age) then he could use that to get another vehicle. Totally against my judgment but ultimately not my choice. Eventually my husband got another car (new although with his own and using the Corolla) however that loan went into calculations for our mortgage as there was more than 6 months left on the loan. Had he kept the scion tc it would not have been.

The mom and step-dad treat cars like revolving doors and their kids (except my husband who still has that car he bought) do too. Never really getting ahead, one sister buys luxury cars that forever have problems, her Benz has been in the shop I swear more than she's driven it. The other sister-in-law never grasped payment schedules and has had cars that break down too much (although they aren't new though) and when she got married her husband was the same. Their join decisions with car loans (and failure to pay rent that went to collections) ended up with her having to file bankruptcy although that was after her and her husband divorced.

It was more or less the idea of having to buy new because used was unacceptable and not really having the kids understand the finances. There's no requirement the first car has to be new though certainly safety records and features should be a thought.

 

[kdonnel]

Has nothing to do with a head start nor starting a family I mean they were 16 and 17 no one is thinking about marriage and kids for buying a scion tc (2 of them) and a Lancer. Her mom just wanted to buy brand new just because and never taught them fiscal responsibility nor really utilized it herself.

1st sister-in-law crashed in a severe roll over (escaping through the sun roof) because she chose to drive on ice while wearing a boot due to a broken foot 8 months into owning the car, luckily the friend who was in the car only had scrapes. Next new car her mom got her she quit paying the monthly amount to her parents couldn't afford it (she was 2 months behind paying a reduced amount per month) then (against both my husband and I's opinions) her mom without her knowledge took that vehicle and used it and another towards getting herself an infinity (which she hardly drove and ended up selling with 2 years) leaving her daughter with nothing. I wholeheartedly have the stance that the daughter needed to pay per month, I hated how her mom set her up to fail and the underhanded removal of the car with no knowledge.

2nd sister-in-law loved the idea of getting a sweet trim kit on the tc and mom agreed. Grandmother stepped in to help pay as well. Car was hardly used and they ended upside down in the loan for various reasons. Car eventually taken back.

It even affected my husband who had a scion tc (different than the other two) and his mom pressured him to allow her to take that car and use it towards her getting a new Explorer, in turn she'd give him the Corolla they had (used old enough in age) then he could use that to get another vehicle. Totally against my judgment but ultimately not my choice. Eventually my husband got another car (new although with his own and using the Corolla) however that loan went into calculations for our mortgage as there was more than 6 months left on the loan. Had he kept the scion tc it would not have been.

The mom and step-dad treat cars like revolving doors and their kids (except my husband who still has that car he bought) do too. Never really getting ahead, one sister buys luxury cars that forever have problems, her Benz has been in the shop I swear more than she's driven it. The other sister-in-law never grasped payment schedules and has had cars that break down too much (although they aren't new though) and when she got married her husband was the same. Their join decisions with car loans (and failure to pay rent that went to collections) ended up with her having to file bankruptcy although that was after her and her husband divorced.

It was more or less the idea of having to buy new because used was unacceptable and not really having the kids understand the finances. There's no requirement the first car has to be new though certainly safety records and features should be a thought.

Still very much different strokes for different folks.

How people teach financial responsibility varies from family to family, no one style of parenting is appropriate for all families.

I never made my kids work or pay for anything. Both have grown up to be financially responsible adults.

My neighbor made his kids get jobs at 16 and start paying for cars, insurance, gas, and their entertainment. His kids also appear to be financially responsible adults.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Still very much different strokes for different folks.

I'm pretty sure this is the case for nearly everything. I'm not saying what you did was wrong so I'm not sure why you feel you need to convince me of the soundness of your decision.

You can do just fine in the world with a used car, you can do just fine in the world with a new car but you don't have to get new regardless just because and some people feel that's the only way to go. If you looked at my comment that's what I was getting at with describing how those I grew up with. We all did fine with used. We could have done fine with new but we didn't have to have new just because. That was the point I was getting at.

 

[handinpocket]

I'm pretty sure this is the case for nearly everything. I'm not saying what you did was wrong so I'm not sure why you feel you need to convince me of the soundness of your decision.

Ummmmm, you are the one who wrote a novel.....trying to convince us YOUR MIL's decisions were unsound. Buying new cars didn't result in all that crap you wrote. Bad life decisions did. Learn the difference.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Ummmmm, you are the one who wrote a novel.....trying to convince us YOUR MIL's decisions were unsound. Buying new cars didn't result in all that crap you wrote. Bad life decisions did. Learn the difference.

The basic premise of my mother-in-law's decision was "my kids must have new cars" not about safety, not about practicalness of the vehicle, not about forward thinking into years in the future just that it must be new. The question was asked by another poster if parents buy their kids cars. I said how it affected my in-laws in my first comment and how it was for me and those I grew up around. I in no way was trying to convince the PP of anything why would I be trying to convince them of something that happened years ago? I was explaining what my original comment they quoted was about. (perhaps the difference there was not overt but meh that's what I was doing).

For Kdonnel their comment to me was different strokes for different folks to both of my comments. That's obviously the case for everything. Their choice to purchase new vehicles for their kids in college with the idea they would use that for marriage and kids in no way is related to buying new just because of buying new. They don't need to feel like they have to convince me they made the right decision for their family. Unless they mentioned in their comment that they would never consider used because new is the only way to go (without mentioning things like safety of the vehicles, crash ratings, etc) my default assumption is they were doing what they felt worked best for their family. The same would be said for any poster. I just knew several people over the years who buy new because it's new not for any other reason and that's what I was speaking to.

 

[White Cat]

Ummmmm, you are the one who wrote a novel.....trying to convince us YOUR MIL's decisions were unsound. Buying new cars didn't result in all that crap you wrote. Bad life decisions did. Learn the difference.

Exactly, I bought mine new cars for their grade 12 years. They had a choice of a Honda or Toyota. We gave my step son and step daughter each $600,000 to help purchase apartments in Toronto. It’s expensive there and it gave them a good start. They are all professionals and doing well. If they were irresponsible we wouldn’t have. None of these people were ruined by any of this.

 

[bluezy]

Our 3 oldest kids (now 36, 34, and 24) got their permits within days of turning 16. Our state requires you to have your permit for 6 months and have at least 50-60 (it keeps increasing) hours of on-the-road driving experience before testing for your license. Those 3 kids had their license within 6-9 months of getting their permits and they each basically hopped in the car and drove by themselves within hours of getting their license. Child #4 got their permit within a week of turning 16 but didn't get their license until almost a year later (mostly because we had a really harsh winter that year -- lots of icy roads *all* the time and it just wasn't safe for an inexperienced driver to be learning to drive in those conditions). Child #5...<sigh>...she had no real interest in driving. It wasn't that she didn't want to learn to drive or that she was afraid of driving, it was just not a priority. She didn't get her permit until about 5 months after she turned 16 (and only did it then because I put my foot down and said she had to do it). It then took over 18 months for her to finally get her license -- mostly because every time we wanted to take her out driving, she have some excuse to not go -- too much homework, an art commission that she needed to complete for someone, too tired from doing said homework and art commissions, etc. so it took forever to get in her 60 hours of driving time. I finally put my foot down (again) and said she had to take the test in 60 days. So she took the test and passed with no issues. That was 4 months ago. She has never driven by herself yet (despite having her own car to use) and has only driven 3 or 4 times with either DH or I in the car since getting her license. We don't think that she's really comfortable driving by herself yet...heck, I don't think she's comfortable driving period. She'll be working at a local day camp over the summer and I'd prefer not to have to drive her there and pick her up every day, so I will be starting the "you need to drive by yourself" campaign in the next few weeks to get her prepared to drive the 2 miles to that job every day.

Does everyone buy their kids a car when they get their license? I see lots of DD's friends getting cars as soon as they get their license. Is this common? I know it's nice to give them independence so they can drive themselves to school and work etc., but we never intended to buy a car for her, maybe go half on a used one.

We don't buy *them* a car, but DH or I usually buy a new (actually, usually a 1-2 year old used car) for ourselves and pass our old car on to the new driver (or shift cars through the kids depending on the situation). We want them to have a safe, reliable car to use as a new driver. Even though they usually had money saved from birthdays, jobs, etc., they never could have afforded what we would have considered a safe and reliable car. They would have had to buy something 10+ years old that wouldn't necessarily have had a lot of safety features and could have required costly repairs just simply due to the normal wear and tear of a 10+ year old car. We also pay for their car insurance until they graduate from college. I realize we're fortunate to be in a financial position to be able to do these things and that not everyone has that ability.

 

[kymom99]

My mother and my oldest brother were unable to learn to drive. Just couldn’t master it. So there’s that.

 

[kdonnel]

Their choice to purchase new vehicles for their kids in college with the idea they would use that for marriage and kids in no way is related to buying new just because of buying new.

Whether she ever said it or not, I believe there were reasons your MIL wanted to buy new other than to just buy new.

I know a HUGE factor in what cars my kids drove during high school was reliability. Selfishly I did not want to have to deal with picking my kids up off the side of a road and dealing with getting a car towed. As a result my kids both started out driving a family car that was known to be very reliable. In both cases I switched to driving the family car known to be less reliable.

Perhaps that was also a reason your MIL insisted on new that was just never communicated out loud.

And even if her only reason was new cars are best, it is her money and her reasoning.

I personally have only ever bought new cars. I know financially it is not the best decision but for me it is the right decision.