To have said getting a 19 year old a brand new expensive car is ludicrous

It probably depends on the sport. I was at Oxford and we definitely didn't get coaches when I was there, I don't know about other sports teams. We would have only half filled a coach!

And it sounds like it's not the case for the DD in this scenario either

Surely for a team sport he would be better getting a minibus. I know you can't drive one until you are 21 but it could be insured for everyone on the team who is old enough to drive so they can share the driving.

I agree with this. Nothing wrong with spending money on your kids, but on the other hand I'm not sure it's really doing her a favour to just have everything handed over.
I've never been gifted a car because my parents couldn't afford it, I always worked hard to buy a second hand vehicle myself. While I would have loved someone to just give me one, honestly I think I appreciated it more this way.

But you are judging his parenting and his decision making.
It's up to him how he spends his money in his child, so long as nine of that money is yours or from your joint income.

Possibly missing the point here, but don’t think it’ll be easy keeping a car as a student in St Andrews - very limited parking!!

It’s really none of your business what he buys his daughter. Sounds like you are a bit jealous of her.

Why is he a fool for buying his daughter a car she wants and he can easily afford? Why should someone who can easily afford it but something older and unwanted just for 'appearances'. It's no different to someone buying a focus if that's what they can afford

He needs to check he can insure her on the car in the first place. Some bigger cars it's simply a "no" to younger drivers.
If he wants to pay £7k to insure her that's up to him. A fool and their money etc.

We’d have bought dd a new car too if we were stinking rich 🤣 I’m sure most people would.

She will be safer in a new and sturdy well built car with new tech than a baked bean tin and just as capable of speeding too. I came from a deprived background and worked my butt off saved like mad to get a new audi when I was 21

Well, you are judging his parenting, but not necessarily wrongly.

She needs something like a Range Rover as a PP suggested. She can fit in some of her team mates as well then as well as the equipment.

Enough cars in the sports team makes a huge difference. I travelled all over the country playing sport for the university and I do appreciated the parents of my team mates who had bought them cars (I didn't learn to drive till later).

My son's at Durham and they put on coaches for uni sports fixtures. Not many people choose to drive as I gather a lot of fun (if you want to call it that...) is had on the coach.

None of your business.
You’re grasping at straws on “safety” too. I’m sure whatever brand new car they choose will have more safety features than my 10yo Focus 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'd probably suggest a larger car that didn't have one of the fancier badges, so something less expensive to maintain eg Kia or VW rather than BMW or Merc. From a practical standpoint, insurance and maintenance. Other than that it's really up to them !

This. It's not your concern, in surprised you're buttubg in with your opinion. Maybe you should ask him to buy you a car?

Of course you aren't being unreasonable OP. No 19 year old 'needs' a brand new audi or bmw.
I am 55 years old and I have never had a brand new car. How are people meant to learn the value of things if stuff is just handed to them on a plate?

I would look at a skoda kodiaq btw. Reliable, roomy, and not too flashy.

She is his child. That doesn’t mean she is an actual child.

I am 43 and also my Fathers child.

From a wealthy background so that influences me but she is in college, playing sport so doing well it looks like. He can afford it, it makes her life work better, why not? That's what money is for? Not to sit in a bank for no reason.

I don’t understand why people are offering car suggestions to OP.

It’s not her money.
It’s not her child.
It’s not her decision.
She hasn’t been asked for her opinion, and offering it unsolicited was clearly unwelcome.

OP doesn’t need suggestions for makes and models because her only role in this is to keep her nose out of it. Her boyfriend’s money is not hers to spend.

The BMW 1 series range started with a 100bhp 114i until recently, which is hardly powerful. So it’s not necessarily the case that her current car, or any of the three cars mentioned in the OPs post, are particularly powerful. And I don’t think anyone would call a 3 series or C class flashy. Yes, a Volvo is a very sensible choice, but at 19 would you have chosen one…?

While those are very sensible and worthy choices can you honestly say, as a 19 year old, that a school run SUV is really what you’d want? The Mercedes C class, Audi A5 and BMW 3 series are all far larger than her 1 series and so much more practical.

A new one will be far safer than one even a few years old, as driver assistance tech as moved on a lot, and if I had a 19 year old daughter who was regularly driving hundreds of miles from Scotland all over the country and to England I’d want her in the best car for the job. Sure, a mini SUV might be more practical, but who’s want be see in one of those at 19 either 😂

All three of those brands are now mass market so I don’t see why the brand matters to the OP either, and the cost is all relative. At most they’ll be 20% or so more than a school run type of car. Which isn’t really worth getting worked up about - they are hardly Ferrari levels of cost or performance. I’d imagine the performance is pretty similar to a one series.

YABVVU.
It's none of your business what DP does with his money or his daughter. You probably don't even realise that students at St Andrews have been known to turn up in brand new Mercs and with their boats as well, so she won't even stand out!

Merc/Audi/BMW all have executive and luxury ranges and there's a world of difference between the two. The C class is not a luxury model and with regards to power, it also comes in various engine sizes. Pricewise, unless you add lots of extras, these cars are not significantly more expensive than other more popular brands.

his money, his choice. I wouldn't say anything (but do agree, it's ridiculous - but then I am from the other end of the wealth spectrum). I would stay out.

YABU - you are judging his parenting and to be honest the whole thing doesn’t really have anything to do with you if, like you said, you don’t parent her.

Newer cars have more safety features as well so surely the at would be better for her to drive long distances?

Unless the BMW was second hand surely the “brand new expensive car” horse has already bolted anyway?

If that was her first car then he’s not likely to be buying her a 10 year old mum wagon for her second one.

And if she’s going to be doing St Andrews to Nottingham and Loughborough type distances on a regular basis then a reliable new car makes sense.