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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that it's ridiculous, to buy a 17 year old a brand new car?

311 replies

ILiveAtTheBeach · 23/11/2015 16:29

That's exactly what my DD's best friends parents have done. A brand spanking new car, for her 17th birthday. A 65 plate. She can't even drive yet (obvs). She is still at school, so I guess when she does pass, that all costs associated with the car (fuel/insurance/road tax) will be paid for by the parents??!!

Thank goodness, my DD also thinks it's crazy. But I'm sure some parents in the friendship group, will now feel slightly pressured to buy their kids a car.

I mean, I could maybe understand getting your kids a car for say £1-2k, but I think even that would be extremely generous.

I had to buy my own first car and pay for all costs that went with that. It was old and cheap. And I was working FT.

They are not particularly well off (if their house is anything to go buy).

OP posts:
Headofthehive55 · 23/11/2015 18:50

A car can be an enabler, to reach that job, internship, work experience. To build skills for furture employment. It's a tool like a laptop or going to uni, which costs parents money.

It can be an investment, to allow access to otherwise hard to reach opportunities.

I'm not sure it needs to be brand new, but I understand why it often is.

Sansoora · 23/11/2015 18:50

None have ever had a crash,

none of my lot have either, and not even the one who gets to fly great big huge aeroplanes for a living seems to get up to mischief on the road what with him being a speed freak and all.

ghostyslovesheep · 23/11/2015 18:51

mush! I have cooking on the brain!

or maybe dog sleighing

SirChenjin · 23/11/2015 18:52

I think you've also got to be very careful that their lives after they turn 17 will support a car. DS1, for example, was determined he was going to go to university here. Fast forward a year and he's living in another city and has nowhere to park the thing that wouldn't cost him an arm and a leg, and he lives within walking distance of the university.

If we'd given in to his pleas a year ago we'd be sitting with a very expensive present taking up room on the driveway for the next few years - and possibly longer, depending on where he ends up working.

LyndaNotLinda · 23/11/2015 18:53

Dinosaurs - yes, thanks, I know all that. But a car loses anywhere up to 40% of its value in the first year. So buy one that's 6 months' old and you get all the benefits of the brand new car but at a fraction of the price.

Sansoora · 23/11/2015 18:54

but then I've never really understood why people buy something that's going to lose 10% of its value the moment you drive it off the forecourt.

Well that would be because a brand new car is lovely and the smell of the new leather etc is hard to beat, but there's the technical aspect of things as well.

LyndaNotLinda · 23/11/2015 18:56

You do know they spray that new leather smell on, don't you Sansoora?

Sansoora · 23/11/2015 18:58

You do know they spray that new leather smell on, don't you Sansoora?

Ive always said if it was available as a perfume I'd buy it. Its lovely.

SirChenjin · 23/11/2015 18:59

You can buy that smell in a can Grin

PiperChapstick · 23/11/2015 19:00

I actually think it's wise thing to do. It's not a banger that will have high repair costs and most come with road tax, breakdown cover, MOT and even insurance thrown in. Cannot bear competitive thriftiness on MN of "YANBU, I strung together 4 seats, pedals and a steering wheel and my DC were over the moon!" - if that's what they want to buy their daughter then it's got fuck all to do with you, and just makes you sound jealous TBH

balletgirlmum · 23/11/2015 19:01

I didn't get a new car - but was given almost unlimited use of the families second car.

My dad has alwsys wanted me to be driving a reliable car - even now I'm an adult he's helped finance cars because he doesn't likevthe thought of me driving his grandchildren round in an old banger.

YellowTulips · 23/11/2015 19:08

I think you and everyone else are second guessing the parents reasons for doing so.

The upshot is that it's their decision and their money.

SlaggyIsland · 23/11/2015 19:09

Still gobsmacked at suck it up princess

On the actual issue at hand... if your situation is such (living in the countryside, suburbs with crap public transport) that your children need to drive, then definitely something small and safe is the way forward so a new car makes sense.
I do raise an eyebrow when parents buy their children unnecessarily powerful cars though. That seems to be at best very indulgent and at worst asking for a world of hurt.

cashewnutty · 23/11/2015 19:09

We bought both our DD's cars (not brand new but maybe £6/7K each) on their 17th birthdays. Then paid for lessons and tests. DD 1 now pays her own car expenses as she works and lives away from home. DD2 is still at school so we pay all her expenses. We can afford it and as we live rurally DD2 can enjoy some independence. Neither are spoiled princesses. Not really sure what business it would be of anyone else.

Senpai · 23/11/2015 19:10

We'll be helping our daughter get a car when she's older. Whatever she saves for it, we'll match. If we have the money, and she's getting the best grades she's capable of, I would be happy to buy her a good (used) car because I know she'll be responsible with it. We're also in America, so depending on where we move when she starts school she might not have access to public transport to get places.

Right now though, she's 2. The only car she's getting in the near future is a Cozy Coupe.

We personally always get used cars. It's easier to haggle down a price on a used car than it is on a new one. I haggled our current one down by a couple grand (really I got it to it's true market value), and it's an excellent car.

You really can't get a good car for only 1-2k. The mileage will be shot and you'll just be spending more money on repairs than the car is worth. Not to mention I'd be worried a car that cheap would malfunction. 5-8k is a reasonable amount to pay for a good quality used car.

Sansoora · 23/11/2015 19:11

You can buy that smell in a can grin

And you can if you want to. Wink

Headofthehive55 · 23/11/2015 19:14

I agree SirChenjin it depends on what they are studying and where. There is of course long term affordability.

I just know my DD has used hers a lot and has actually surpassed my mileage this year.

It has given her opportunity to drive the up and down the country, thus giving her lots of driving experience.

LaLyra · 23/11/2015 19:18

If buying a 17yo a car is something that will see them have no work ethic and expect things handed to them on a plate then that attitude will have been long since installed in them.

We intend to buy DS1 a new car when he passes his test. He is planning on paying for his own driving lessons from what he has saved and is planning on staying at home through university (assuming his plans go as he hopes). A car will really help him with his job with the photographers he currently works for and DH has costed it all out and some of the cars you can get with all inc deals for insurance and servicing etc it works out much better than buying him a not-new car and leaving him with bills to pay.

DS knows the price of things. He contributes to the house already from his job (some is put away and some is used for the cost of some of the brand 'must haves' he wants). He's a sensible kid with a strong work ethic, he's worked hard in his wee job and he's juggled school and working brilliantly (he had strict criteria - if his grades slipped at all then the job went).

We can afford it and it'll benefit him massively. I fail to see how it's any different to the parents who send their child money at uni every month and yet that's not frowned upon.

Children don't become spoilt, greedy and entitled because their parents buy them things. Children because spoilt, greedy and entitled because their parents allow them to be so.

ThePastIsObdurate · 23/11/2015 19:25

My mom bought me a new car when I was 17. £5000 it cost and there is nothing wrong with my values or how I was taught or brought up.
Don't assume what other parents are teaching their children. You sound jealous of them more than anything....

SirChenjin · 23/11/2015 19:26

Lyra - from experience, Iwould caution buying him a car if he passes his test before he has his place at university confirmed and accepted. DS1 had planned to stay at home and commute to uni, but that all changed Smile

RoseWithoutAThorn · 23/11/2015 19:32

I really don't see how buying a car for a 17 year old means having no work ethic or them being handed everything on a plate. It also doesn't mean they don't appreciate things or are spoiled. All four of our children have had new cars as soon as they passed their driving tests. All worked pt and were still at school. We have always renewed their cars every 3 years until they were 25. At 25 they have finished their degrees and are earning a decent wage to afford their own cars and insure them. We also paid for insurance, tax etc until age 25. We live very rurally and it was our choice to live where we do. Cars gave our children freedom to come and go as they pleased. I don't see the issue of buying new cars for 17 years olds. Not one of my children had accidents either.

LaLyra · 23/11/2015 19:33

SirChenjin - He'll need a car wherever he goes to uni. He works with a couple who do wedding photography and intends to keep his job (or he'll need to find another one if he ends up at another uni). I'll keep it in mind though! Thanks.

Part of the reason we'll be buying it is because he can't drive DH's car because it's a company car and one of his siblings has a medical condition that requires frequent appointments/hospital trips and urgent pick ups from school so he can't have mine either.

Headofthehive55 · 23/11/2015 19:34

I think individual circumstances play a huge part. Ability to fund the car, how the car will be used and what for.

stupidgreatgrinonmyface · 23/11/2015 19:35

Six month old cars are often available because they are the vehicles leased by car companies to their staff. We have a couple of family members who change cars about every five to six months. They have on one occasion, purchased the cars at the end of the lease, for their dcs. A six month old, top of the range car for less than half the list price of a brand new vehicle? I would absolutely do the same if I was in a position to. The safety and security features mean that it is both safer and more economical than an older car. I have just updated from an old banger to a three year old car. My insurance is less, despite it being more powerful. The insurance company told me that a big reason for this is the many safety and security features compared to my old car. I can see this would also make a big difference to the cost of insurance for a new driver. So it seems a sound decision to me. We could not afford to help out our dcs when they bought their first cars, but we did advise them to buy the newest they could afford. Neither of them has had any accidents. When they replace their cars, they are both adamant that they will go for the newest they can.

Mistigri · 23/11/2015 19:37

Personally I'd rather my teenager drove a modern, reliable car with airbags and ABS rather than an old banger.

Doubt I'll be buying my two cars at 17 but I can think of worse things to spend money on esp if you live in a rural location without decent transport links.

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