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Original poster

Teenagers and driving

40 replies

Tallzaragirl · 04/12/2024 17:48

If you have teens who have or are soon to pass their driving test.

Did you or will you pay for?

Driving lessons
First car
Car insurance

I know that it will be different for each family but I'd like to get a general consensus.

OP posts:

Littletreefrog · 04/12/2024 17:51

My DS1 got a well paying apprenticeship at 16 so he bought his car, paid for driving lessons and we put insurance on my Credit Card and he is paying me back over 6 months (because the insurance was £5000!!!)

TeenToTwenties · 04/12/2024 17:54

We did:
DH taught DD1 except for 4 lessons which we paid for
We paid for pretty old car DD learned to drive in which she had for a while after and then contributed to a better, safer, car.
We paid for 1 year insurance upfront.
We could afford to and she wouldn't have had the bandwidth to earn whilst in college, and started work after college, no uni. Also needed an automatic and we had manuals.

ComtesseDeSpair · 04/12/2024 17:54

Does where you live make it essential for them to have a car in order to be able to go to college, part time job, into a city to see friends easily etc? If so, I think it’s reasonable to cover or contribute to all of those things as it’s ultimately your choices about where you live which have necessitated driving.

If public transport is good and driving is non essential then I think lessons as Christmas and birthday presents is fair, and they should be working and saving towards their own first car.

Ultimately it depends on what you can afford and whether you want to pay for everything. My parents took the above approach and I thought it was fair then and now.

Popfan · 04/12/2024 18:19

We've bought our DS a car and are paying for lessons. He's saving to pay for half his insurance and knows that next year he will be paying for all of it. He has a part time job.
He knows he is very lucky we can do this for him and has been very appreciative indeed.

Thatdarncat44 · 04/12/2024 18:19

We taught DC how to drive and they had 1 driving lesson just before test. They passed at 17 and a half years old then had A levels then went to Uni (all within 6 months). They live in a big city now so no need to drive.

We offered to go half on insurance using my car when they are at home (DC has savings of a few thousand). DC didn’t want to part with their own money.

The offer to drive my car is always open but they have to pay half the insurance because it is over 2k extra a year.

frozendaisy · 04/12/2024 18:21

We are going to pay for lessons, when they pass they will have access to the car we are looking to buy in the next 12 months which will be our local run around car with them sharing in mind until they go to university where they won't have a car, ditto with the second child.

After uni, will wait and see but we might be a one car family by then who knows.

frozendaisy · 04/12/2024 18:22

Their driving lessons will be birthday/christmas main present until they pass.

Potentiallyplausible · 04/12/2024 18:24

Paid for lessons but definitely not a car or insurance. They had to wait until they were earning after university to buy their own car and insurance. We don’t have one.

itsgettingweird · 04/12/2024 18:25

Da paid for his own lessons however my dad paid for his first as a gift and I paid a few extra.

He used his CTF money though as he got 2 payments and the interest (I never added to it).

He pays for his own car but it's a mobility car.

I sold mine and use that as well as we both split petrol each month. Although probably 90% is for his usage (as in driving him around to his things) the fact I have use of the car and no maintenance , insurance and tax, MOT and servicing to pay for it seems like a fair split to me!

Hellohah · 04/12/2024 18:25

DS was going to pay for his lessons. They were £60 a week so we split between him, me and his dad (£20 each).

I paid the £150ish to have him insured as a leaner on my car.

He was buying his own car but grandparents and his dad did contribute a lot (unexpectedly).

He paid for his own insurance.

I paid for his theory and driving tests.

RamblasTapas · 04/12/2024 18:33

We paid for lessons and dc is insured as a named driver on my car which is an old Ford ficus. The first year of insurance was £1300 and it was £800 when we renewed. DC is named as the main driver and has cover for business use as she needs that for her Uni placements.

It was expensive to get her driving but saves us money in the long run. DC lives at home, works part time and drives to Uni locally so we are not contributing to student accommodation and dc is self sufficient.

EffinMagicFairy · 04/12/2024 18:33

We pay for lessons and first car up to a certain amount, DS got a reliable low mileage ideal first car, he pays his insurance. DD would like a better newer car than DS, so we are putting same amount of money DS car cost and she is saving up hard from her apprenticeship, she’s not yet 17 and should have a tidy sum, and she will pay insurance. I like them to pay for their insurance upfront for the year. DS has got into the habit of saving towards his car monthly so is able to do so.

IAmNeverThePerson · 04/12/2024 18:48

We live somewhere with poor public transport. DH taught him to drive. We bought a car that he can drive (but it still ours) and we meet all the costs of it.

Hoppinggreen · 04/12/2024 18:54

Paid for DDs lessons and then gave her DH's car as 2 between 3 of us was fine. while she lived her.
She has gone to Uni and is living in Halls this year so parking very expensive and unecessary but we might get her a car next year and pay the insurance if necessary. DS is 16 but and we will pay for his lessons when he's 17 and depending on what he does post A level we might buy him a car if he needs one

colesr · 04/12/2024 18:58

For DD1 we paid for lessons, DD paid for her car and Grandparent paid the first years insurance

DD2 didn't want to learn but she is autistic and dyspraxic

Aworldofmyown · 04/12/2024 18:58

Ds was gifted twenty driving lessons on his 17th birthday. He saved from his supermarket job and paid for tests, a car and his insurance. We're very proud of him.

RedHelenB · 04/12/2024 19:01

Paid for theory and practical test and 10 lessons as 17th birthday present. GPs gave them some money for car/insurance

BellaVita · 04/12/2024 19:01

Two DS’s

Paid for all lessons/theory/driving test, also put them on my insurance to take them out in between lessons.

Bought cars with money saved for them by us.

We paid for first years insurance.

Ohnonotmeagain · 04/12/2024 19:02

Paid for lessons.

i have an old banger which they were added to the insurance for.

worth every penny as it halved fuel costs and freed up loads of our time not taking them to school, sports clubs, see friends etc.

we do live semi rurally where public transport isn’t great unless you’re going into the nearest city centre, so not really a viable option. And probably wouldn’t cost much less.

flotsomandjetsome · 04/12/2024 19:11

We paid for lessons, DC paid for cars from own savings (saved from part time jobs & gifts from family).

We paid for insurance the 1st year as it actually cost the same as the bus (upper 6th), and decided to cover insurance while DC were at uni.

Petrol covered by DC.

RunVelma · 04/12/2024 19:14

I intend to pay for their lessons & insure them for our second car.

If they want their own car, that’s on them.

We have 3DC and I want to treat them the same. I’m not buying 3 cars and covering the cost of insurance / MOT / servicing etc. That would be nuts! If I only had one DC, the I probably would.

We live in an area with awful public transport links and taxis are very expensive.

Iliketulips · 04/12/2024 19:17

DD started learning at uni, and paid for her own partly out of her monthly allowance we gave her and through working for student union/holiday job at home.

We did say that when she graduated, we'd give her the sum of £5k for use towards a car if needed for work, Masters studies (which are a possibility at some stage) or for her first home. Unfortunately she's failed twice.

user2848502016 · 04/12/2024 19:18

My DD is nearly 14 so a while off but I think we will insure her on one of our cars and pay for driving lessons.
We won't be buying her a car though as I don't think it's necessary, there are buses to school or the local college if she decides to go there, and any uni she goes to will be somewhere with public transport.
Would only consider help with a car or insurance if they got a job somewhere that really didn't have good public transport options- and then they would still need to pay for their own fuel

FiveLoadsFourLiftsThreeMeals · 04/12/2024 19:20

We pay for driving lessons.

We also paid for a year's insurance and one tank of petrol per month for dc1s 18th and helped her choose and buy a car - we put money towards it but so did she. We offered to buy a car for her to use for a couple of years and then pass on to the next sibling and so on, but she wanted her own car so we agreed just to contribute and she used her savings.

We live in an area with very poor public transport and not driving is quite a problem here. We'll do the same for dc2 and dc3 obviously.

We're abroad in a country with a legally required set course of lessons which come in at 3000€ - 40000€ in our area - it's not possible to take the tests without paying this. Local tradition dictates that usually grandparents pay for driving lessons and sometimes the first car - I don't know anyone else in our area who's paid for their own children's lessons - but our parents aren't local and I wouldn't ask them, it wouldn't be something they'd think of.

SilasOfGilboa · 04/12/2024 19:22

This is one of my bug bears. No way could we afford to finance cars and lessons. We have a few kids, some not our bio kids, so we couldn't financially plan for this. Absolutely everyone we know has bought their kids a car and funded it, some are bloody decent cars too. We don't live in a well heeled middle class enclave, I have no idea how people afford it. We struggle to keep our own cars on the road.
I taught our kids to drive and they had a couple of lessons for their birthday/Christmas. They are welcome to use my car.

I find it staggering that kids have their own cars at 17. There are houses on our very modest street that have 3 or 4 cars jostling for parking.

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