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Original poster

Did You Buy Your Child A Car?

102 replies

Belindabelle · 20/03/2019 22:06

Just wondering if you bought or helped to buy your child a car when they passed the driving test.

It seems to be the done thing around here. Loads of little Fiats, Micros and Minis appearing for 17/18th Birthday presents.

OP posts:

Dowser · 21/03/2019 11:19

Yes, when DD decided to go to a local uni, we bought her a little red mini
It was amazing.
I had all sun moon and stars decorated on it...guy did a fantastic job
Looked fabulous
Saved us a fortune on university hall bills.

sansou · 21/03/2019 13:42

Gosh, I feel mean by comparison since I have no intention of purchasing cars for my DC at 17/18 out of principle.

I don't mind paying for their driving lessons and they can drive my car (not precious and it's only a Ford hatchback) from time to time but they can maintain their own cars when they actually earn their own money - ie. insurance, tax, fuel, servicing, etc.

I live in a market town so I do less chauffeuring for DS(15) who is happy to zip about with his mates on his bike. However, quite a number of my friends who live out in the villages are buying cheap cars for their 17 yrs olds and forking out up to £2k for the insurance of a car worth

Fazackerley · 21/03/2019 14:05

Skewed priorities? Giving kids independence? If you can't afford it that's one thing, but to live somewhere where a car is a necessity and pretending it is a luxury and not buying one out of principle is mean.

Theimpossiblegirl · 21/03/2019 14:23

Yes, bought DD a used car for just over £1000. Got a Toyota Aygo, small engine, low tax, low (in theory but not for teens) insurance. She needs it as we live very rurally and buses aren't funded for compulsory post-16 education even if there are no public buses so we'd be forking out for a pass.
The car has cost less than a year's bus pass and next year she can take her sister.

sansou · 21/03/2019 14:37

Fazackerley

I'm sure that my DC will survive the indignity of having parents who don't believe they need a car at 17/18 especially when the said teenager can't afford the annual running costs. I believe it's just common sense and owning a car IS a luxury, as is going on holiday.

As I mentioned above, I'd rather pay the few thousand it would cost towards uni rent/bills a year or two later. (I have actually already planned for this but the principle is the same - I'm prioritisng helping them through uni rather than buying them a car). Some friends have opted to buy a car for their teenager at 6th form and not thought ahead about helping them out literally a year later. Horses for courses!

This thread inevitably attracts people who have purchased cars for their DC but I'd imagine the majority of parents don't, regardless of perceived need/want. It's a bit like the threads about buying mobile phones for your primary aged DC or letting them have TV's in their bedrooms.

nancy75 · 21/03/2019 15:20

A lot depends on the car the parents drive, my parents had very expensive sports cars that my brother & I would not have got insured on. Buying us both a car was probably cheaper than the insurance on either of the cars they had ( and they didn’t want us driving their cars!)

MillyMollyMandie · 21/03/2019 15:28

We had a spare car that all of the children drove after passing their test but when they each came home from studying abroad we bought them a new car each. They each opted for 4 x4 because they're all very much into camping and doing desert crossings whenever they can.

None of them are spoilt.

Fazackerley · 21/03/2019 15:29

Clearly sanzou has no concept of what it's like not to live in a town

Believe me, a car is not a luxury if you live rurally with no public transport apart from a school coach (cost = 995 per annum)

starfleet · 21/03/2019 15:30

I bought DS a car when he passed his test. It wasn't hugely expensive but it's reliable enough. GP's paid for the 1st years insurance as a birthday present.

UterusUterusGhali · 21/03/2019 15:32

I'm not at all well off but I will give DD my temporary run around once she passes and I'll get a better one.

I've not been able to do much for her so I hope this will go some way to making it up to her. :(

MillyMollyMandie · 21/03/2019 15:35

Believe me, a car is not a luxury if you live rurally with no public transport apart from a school coach (cost = 995 per annum)

I dont live rurally but where I do live abroad there are still articles in the newspaper on a weekly basis announcing the bus company buying two new buses and a couple of new stops being added to a route. And when our national football team won 'the' regional championship last year one of the prizes they received was a years free travel on the bus wherever they wanted to go.

sansou · 21/03/2019 15:43

And then... there's the environmental costs - pollution, increased traffic let alone the number of car parking idiots that is the bane of schools & colleges which all of MN love. Just imagine it - if even 10% of 17 yr olds owned a car, not merely a handful. NIMBY protesters galore!

Fazackerley · 21/03/2019 15:45

Dds school has a huge car park specifically for all the teens that drive

Yes it's not environmentally friendly, tell that to the local councils who cut all the buses!

Disfordarkchocolate · 21/03/2019 15:48

This is so far away from my experience as a teen and as a parent, I'm more aware than normal I'm working class and not well off.

Fazackerley · 21/03/2019 16:20

Lots of teens round here buy their own car. Working in a supermarket for a couple of years and saving hard. It's not always down to the parents, lots can't afford to do it.

DeRigueurMortis · 21/03/2019 16:45

Yes.

Rural location with poor transportation links.

Car bought for 18th birthday (after passing the driving test).

We pay for insurance/maintenance but child is expected to fund petrol costs via part time job (still in education).

Tbh if I'm honest it was a slightly selfish decision after years of DH and I being a parental taxi service .

Given the age "pick ups" got later and our weekend evenings especially just got sidelined - can't go out/have a drink as parental taxi is required at 11.30pm on a Saturday night...

Probably would have made a different call if local transportation was better.

DeRigueurMortis · 21/03/2019 16:50

Sorry - missed info.

Spent £6k on a Fiat 500. Thought about spending less but the idea is the car will take them through uni and beyond.

Motherofcreek · 21/03/2019 16:51

Yes we will but it will be a little banger

bellsbuss · 21/03/2019 16:55

We bought DD1 her first car and paid for her lessons. We also paid for her insurance but she had to pay us back monthly for this.

shiningstar2 · 21/03/2019 18:20

We didn't buy our daughter a car when she first passed her test in her twenties. She funded her own then but she is now sole provider for dh and 2 children and needs a car for work so last year when her own went to the scrap yard we went half on a £4000 car. She borrowed her half from us which meant no costly credit for her and she has been paying it back monthly with a standing order to our bank.

She really couldn't work any harder and all of her income is spoken for, mortgage, bills, kids ext ext She is very appreciative so we are more than happy to help if we can and we always get back any money she ever borrows.

TeenTimesTwo · 21/03/2019 19:42

Sort of. We bought a £600 old banger for her to learn to drive in. Neither of our cars were at all suitable. Car registered in DH's name. After she had passed and also been earning for a year we then paid half the cost of a newer car which is in her name and her responsibility to insure etc.

Aragog · 21/03/2019 19:54

We will do this year. DD is having driving lessons following her birthday and we will get her a car a couple of months later - pre reg but new car.

DH had lessons for his 17th and his parents got him a really old run around, which his brother shared eventually too. I didn't have either - there wasn't that kind of money available when I was growing up. I paid for my own lessons after university.

Although both dh and I have cars they are no use to dd when she is learning, or when she has passed really. Both are automatic and we want her to learn in a manual. DH's car is too large and too powerful for a new driver. My car is a low smaller and less powerful, but still automatic - and tbh I don't want to share!
DH will use the car we get dd a couple of times a week before she passes - after a few lessons she will drive so far as practise, then get out at her school and dh will continue to work.
She will quite likely benefit from a car at university due to her course and needing to get to different places around whichever city she ends up going to.

StillMe1 · 21/03/2019 20:04

I fronted up the cost of a car. It was meant to be repaid. The last payments were to be the deposit on the next car but it was not paid back.

soulrider · 21/03/2019 20:10

I'm surprised how common it is. I grew up in a rural area, i.e. drive 30 miles to go to the cinema etc, and it was the done thing to have driving lessons as soon as you turned 17. But I only know one person who was bought a car. Everyone else either saved up and bought their own or borrowed their parent's car.

1Redacted1 · 22/03/2019 20:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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