This blog post is sorta for the parents of teenagers who just got their license and need a car. Would you invest your money and buy your kid a brand spanking new car for there very first car to drive? Would you buy them a used car instead? I don’t think you would want your kid to drive your own car as new driver’s tend to get a few fender benders and speeding ticket’s the first 2 or 3 years of driving on their own. Yes that was me as in getting speeding tickets the first 3 years of driving and I totaled 2 car’s by the time I hit 20. My parents did not buy me a brand new car for getting my license at the age of 17. Since I didn’t make enough money working part-time as a teenager, I couldn’t afford a brand new car, the car payment and the car insurance which would have to be full coverage.
What I did was buy my grandma’s car from her and paid her monthly payments till I paid it off. Grandma made up the contract and the payment was a reasonable price that I could afford at the age of 17 and still leave me with money to party with my friends. She didn’t drive that much at that time and taking her car away from her was a good thing. I still feel bad to this day that the car got totaled 1 year after I bought it from her. The accident was not my fault but I was left without a car. My parents came through and bought me a used car and made me take out a loan at the bank to learn how to pay off loan’s and take responsibility. Again, i was still working part-time at the age of 18 as I was still in highschool so getting a brand new car was out of the question because my parents didn’t trust my driving skills enough to spoil me like some parents do.
In fact, it ticks me off that parents will buy their kid a brand new expensive car when they get there driver’s license. That’s great news for your kid to be the cool kid in the school parking lot with a brand new car but how are you going to teach your kid responsibility and pay all the payments for that car? Are you going to pay most of the car insurance, car payments yourself? Is that in your budget till your kid works full-time after they attend college to get the skills for a decent high paying job? New drivers are not always good drivers and I’m sure you are saying that “My kid is not like everyone else, he or she will be a safe driver like me.” That is total B.S., I’ve gotten pulled over many times for no good reason because the police saw a young kid in a car after hours in the rich part of town.
Let’s say your kid has a brand new car and he or she is covered under your car insurance and the car is still registered in your name. What happens when your kid racks up some speeding tickets? Your car insurance will go up since the car and insurance is in your name. Did you budget this into the plan you had to spoil your kid? My advice and I know you will disagree with me is to find a good decent used car with not a lot of miles on it and buy it for your kid. Make up a contract and have your kid sign it with the payment plan you have decided on and other rules for driving the car. If your kid can show good responsibility and not rack up speeding tickets, fender benders and not miss a payment to you for there used car by the time the kid goes to college then surprise your kid with a brand new car for college. After college, all payments turned over to your kid.
I bought myself a brand new car in 2000 when I got my full-time job that I’m still at today. My father told me that if you want a brand new car, you have to buy one yourself as I will not bail you out with the car payment’s. Learn how to budget your money and find a car that works within your budget. I did this and was happy with that car till the engine went. (Had close to 200,000 miles on it when it went).
Just way the pro’s and con’s of purchasing your kid a car when they first get their license. You need to think about the cost of fixing fender benders, speeding ticket’s plus lawyers if you fight the ticket, car insurance, car payment’s…etc With the economy still in the crapper, do you really want another large payment every month just so your kid has the brand new car to look cool in school? If your kid get’s a college scholarship to a college, you better buy them a brand new car because they would deserve it. Heck, tell your kid to get a 4.0 average and you will buy them a new car. Make them earn it buy getting good grades to get into a good college.
Have a good week.
Derek
Latest posts by Derek (see all)
- Changing The Gravatar Size – Genesis Framework - 06/18/2013
- Guest Blogging The Wrong Way - 06/16/2013
- Start Your Own Marketplace With Clone Forest! - 06/13/2013
Comment Policy: Your words are your own, so be nice and helpful if you can. Please, only use your real name and limit the amount of links submitted in your comment. Clearly self promotional comments will be removed. This is not a place to self promote. We accept clean XHTML in comments, but don't overdo it please.