Kids First Car?

[ultrarunner]

Growing up we were just happy to have wheels... no one gave us a car unless you had an old aunt or uncle.

Things change and today the kids of people I work with are very particular with first cars... it is either a new Civic or Corolla if not a family car... no real in between... especially for girls... safety really sells and so do warranties...

My nephew loves his 96 F150 and makes me happy to have helped.

My 17 year old niece is a very good girl... works hard, respectful and really has little free time outside school, sports and work.

Her father and mother mentioned they were considering getting another family car... I heard of a 2 owner RX330, garaged kept with 70k miles... no rust in California.

They came to look at it and her father said it was only taking a look... they drove it and liked it... parents offered to match the 3k she had saved... owner wanted a lot more... I asked my niece if she liked the car and she said she loved it... her parents and the seller were stuck $1000 apart... I asked her again and she said Dad said not to get her hopes up...

So speaking out of turn... I said they could split the difference and I was willing to kick in the $500... everything went silent... for the longest time.

Sort story is they made the deal... and it did my heart good... she was beaming when Dad said OK...

I did have an ace in the hole... I have an old 66 Mustang she has asked about fixing up... and the mere mention of this has her parents in a tizzy...

 

[CalG]

Growing up we were just happy to have wheels... no one gave us a car unless you had an old aunt or uncle.

Things change and today the kids of people I work with are very particular with first cars... it is either a new Civic or Corolla if not a family car... no real in between... especially for girls.

My nephew loves his 96 F150 and makes me happy to have helped.

My 17 year old niece is a very good girl... works hard, respectful and really has little free time outside school, sports and work.

Her father and mother mentioned they were considering getting another family car... I heard of a 2 owner RX330, garaged kept with 70k miles... no rust in California.

They came to look at it and her father said it was only taking a look... they drove it and liked it... parents offered to match the 3k she had saved... owner wanted a lot more... I asked my niece if she liked the car and she said she loved it... her parents and the seller were stuck $1000 apart... I asked her again and she said Dad said not to get her hopes up...

So speaking out of turn... I said they could split the difference and I was willing to kick in the $500... everything went silent... for the longest time.

Sort story is they made the deal... and it did my heart good... she was beaming when Dad said OK...

I did have an ace in the hole... I have an old 66 Mustang she has asked about fixing up... and the mere mention of this has her parents in a tizzy...

So the kid's first car is a Lexus. Must be a liberal, and votes Democrat. 'Has expectations that future employment opportunities will accept her requirements for vegan latte frappes and contributions to animal rights foundations.

Get a grip, make them buy their own "first car".

YOU piss me off!

 

[ultrarunner]

And you would be wrong across the board...

I bought all my cars... first one cost a $1000 and I was 13 at the time... still have it and EARNED every penny to buy it... started paying into Social Security at age 12...

Same for all my siblings... all bought their first and every car after.

The 17 year old's Dad drives an 1983 with 330,000 miles and Mom drives 2003 Dodge with 207,000 miles.

I only pray you are wrong and her having to earn only half doesn't foretell her dropping out of school and joining a commune... this is the SF Bay Area after all.

What is a vegan latte frappes anyway???

You are posting to someone that has NEVER had a cup of coffee, if that is what it is?

You never know... my motives could be self interest... Paying it Forward???

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

These days, any kid who has saved $3k is a good kid.

Glad you got her a good, safe car. Pay it back; pay it forward.

 

[spitter]

Both of my kids played football wrestled and lacrosse ,both are eagle scouts both national honors They where stock boys at acme and picked various yard cleaning jobs.It was very hard to save for a car most of their money went for insurance.My oldest drives my 99 f350 v10 4250,000 miles and my youngest drives a 06 grand Cherokee the neighbor gave him for splitting wood .GC has 310,000 miles the good thing about that is they learned to turn wrenches fast.Oldest is 21 working as a diesel tech . Youngest is 18 working as a carpenter.:drink:

 

[oosik]

This thread really strikes home a fact - Man, am I ever old. I got my FIRST car when I graduated from college. My father refused to let me drive the family vehicles but promised he would buy me any new car I wanted when I graduated from college. So - I got married my last year of college and the next day after the last college class - my wife and I packed what little we had into our brand new Ford pickup and drove the Alcan Highway to Alaska. Thank goodness we got a pickup because in 1965 the Alaska Hwy was a real country dirt road. What an adventure that was - 53 years ago. We were both in our early 20's - heading into the unknown.

 

[Einthewoods]

Wow...read the OP first post thonking this will be a good thread and then all heck broke lose. Sounded a bit like me when I post after having a few too many bourbons. :laughing: though I did like the "vegan latte frappes" bit.

My two oldest kids got hand-me-down cars. Too good to sell for the little they were worth and both in good mechanical shape. My youngest wants my truck but I plan to keep it until it is no longer financially possible to keep. So, he'll have to go halves or something on a used car we'll find.

I get the idea that kids these days don't work for things. Even if they have jobs it would seem that they blow their money on crap. The bigger things like cars tend to be given to them. So it is the fault of parents for going that route.

I try ro remind myself that each generation thinks the next is a bunch of freeloaders. And in reality it is a short sighted and not often correct view.

In your case, if the kid saved $3k and is using it for the car, that sounds like a good kid to me with a understanding of saving.

A Lexus though? That is the worst part of this story. Lol and goes to show everyone has different tastes.

 

[Gary Fowler]

When the girls (3 of them) were still in school, I bought them a very used Nissan Sentra for group use. Mostly this was to alleviate the need for us parents to go pickup one or the other from school functions, so the older kids always did the pickup for the younger. This old car lasted most of the high school days. I think each of the girls had minor wrecks with it in which none of the dents were fixed.
I did help everyone of them to get their first new car by co-signing the note and providing some of the down payment so they could get a good start with credit. This was after they all had jobs but were still living at home. They all made the payments on time and got a good credit history so that they were able to buy their next car easily without my help.
I think each parent is obligated to help their kids get a good financial start and teach them how to manage their credit and cash flow. I don't think a 16 year old needs a $50K car to ride to school and show off in. This just encourages them to want more and more for doing less and less. Giving them a free high dollar ride without any work just makes them expect a free ride in life and that doesn't happen.

 

[MossRoad]

Good job uncle! :thumbsup:

We've followed your posts long enough to know you're giving the youngsters some good life lessons.

Keep it up.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

When the girls (3 of them) were still in school, I bought them a very used Nissan Sentra for group use. Mostly this was to alleviate the need for us parents to go pickup one or the other from school functions, so the older kids always did the pickup for the younger. This old car lasted most of the high school days. I think each of the girls had minor wrecks with it in which none of the dents were fixed.
I did help everyone of them to get their first new car by co-signing the note and providing some of the down payment so they could get a good start with credit. This was after they all had jobs but were still living at home. They all made the payments on time and got a good credit history so that they were able to buy their next car easily without my help.
I think each parent is obligated to help their kids get a good financial start and teach them how to manage their credit and cash flow. I don't think a 16 year old needs a $50K car to ride to school and show off in. This just encourages them to want more and more for doing less and less. Giving them a free high dollar ride without any work just makes them expect a free ride in life and that doesn't happen.

Pretty much what we did with our girls. We bought them their first car and paid the insurance with the stipulation that they have to pay their own gas and maintenance. Living in a rural area, they couldn't work and go to school without a car. This solution worked well; the girls got their cars, they also got jobs and learned a lot about making their own money and what it meant. The oldest burned the engine up in her VW, but it wasn't her fault. The old VW engines had a tendency to drain gasoline down into the engine and dilute the oil. I paid for a new engine; $800. She repeated the problem a couple years later, when she didn't check the oil.
I called the bank and made arrangements for them to lend her the money to fix it...and had her go to the bank by herself and "arrange" the loan. A lesson learned. She and her husband have raised three great kids, all with college degrees.
We also helped them with their first new car and down payment, although payments were their responsibility. I think it's a parent's responsibility to teach their kids some of the facts of life and although the best things in life may be free; cars, insurance, beds, Guess jeans and rib eye steaks come at a price.