Car for 17th birthday. Is this the norm?

[folly115]

It seems to be the norm around here to have a car for your 17th birthday. A couple of my friends have done this for their DC's and all except one of my DD's friends have a car ready and waiting for when they pass their test. It isn't just the car it is the insurance and costs that go with it.

A few of her friends seem to get the car bought by their dad (mum and dad are divorced) a couple by their grandparents as their parents can't afford it and they don't want them to be the only one without a car and a few the parents buy.

We can't afford this. She is going to have to save and maybe we can help her out. AIBU to put our foot down and say this isn't happening??

No. I've got a 17 yo DS and we haven't bought him a car. We live rurally and I'm driving a £600 car to get me to work. The very idea of buying, taxing, insuring and running a car for a teenager who is still in school is ludicrous to me. I can't even put him on my insurance as it would cost too much.

He'd like driving lessons - but 10 lessons are £300 apparently. That's too much for me to shell out for a birthday present. I've told him that if he saves from his Saturday job I'll go halves with him.

I don't understand how ordinary people on ordinary wages could possibly fund this kind of teenage entitlement to be honest.

A mix here. Some got one for their 17th to learn to drive in, but more often they got one once they passed their test.

DS is 17. He has a couple of friends who were gifted cars for their birthdays but also some who have bought their own and some who aren't interested in learning. We bought him a block of lessons and he's bought himself a car and is paying for the extra lessons he needs (plus his insurance, tax and petrol).

I don't think it's any different to parents being able to afford differently priced gifts for any other birthday. When he was 12 some got the top of the range iPhones while others got £10 in a card 🤷‍♀️

We got cars for our birthdays after we passed our tests - so 19 for me and 18 for my brother. It was pretty normal but a rural community and I was required to have a car for my university course.

When I was a teenager back in ye olde 90s we did in our family but my dad was in the trade and insurance was £400/year!

These days... no chance

Nope, Dc1 was bought a provisional licence, and money for both written and practical test. Payed own lessons from part time job. Then for 18th got money which as well as savings payed for a car.
I couldn't afford to do anything else as I'm single parent on disability benefits and also have 2 more dc I need to treat the same.
Dc is so proud of car and paying for insurance etc without help. His friends all seem to be in similar situations too. I waited till I was 21 and left uni to learn to drive so that I could afford it.
Your dc will learn valuable lessons saving for what they want.

Like a PP, many of my friends lived in quite rural areas, so in many ways parents were gifting themselves not having to be taxi drivers anymore. I got a car despite living near town, but it was an absolute heap. In fact all of us were given very, very old cars that weren't safe, broke down all the time and would have crumpled to nothing in a crash. If we're in a position to, we would want to buy DS a decent second hand safe car like a VW polo or golf, but if we're not, he'll have the use of ours.

Ha ha ha ! No!

Given the number of threads where people are struggling to pay their electric bills - no I don't think it's the 'norm' to buy DC a car for their 17th birthday .

Normal where I am. I had all my lessons and an old cheap car for my 17th birthday. Then I kept that for a year whilst learning the roads and I got a much better car for my 18th birthday. Most of my friends also had lessons and a cheap starter car for their 17th

Nope. I'm thinking about getting ds some lessons for his 17th

It’s the norm here when they pass. Dd got lessons for her birthday, an old banger when she passed. And less than a year later a much newer car as I was fed up of it breaking down weekly. We are rural, she can’t get to work without driving so it meant I got my freedom as well.

I don't understand how ordinary people on ordinary wages could possibly fund this kind of teenage entitlement to be honest.

I don't think it's necessarily fair to call it entitlement.

It's different if you can't afford it, but if I had teenagers and could afford to help them with lessons, insurance and a car then I can guarantee that that's what I'd do, because it will be even harder for them to afford lessons and a car as adults when they're also paying rent, bills and council tax.

I live in one of the most expensive towns in the country and it's still only the norm for a) the very wealthiest private school teens b) a certain subset of people who choose to prioritise very visible wealth displays but arent necessarily the most well off (eg living in a 3 bed semi yet have teens in moncler puffer jackets) c) another minority who live out of town where transport is a mission, who tend to buy kids utter bangers that they share with siblings, out of necessity.

Most "normal" teens are insured on the smaller of their parents cars and have fairly frequent access to those.

Definitely the norm in my culture, but no one would look down on you for not doing it.
Help would be nice if you could afford to though

Completely normal in my circle.

I don't know anyone who could afford this.

No, not the norm at all and like a PP I wouldn't do this even if I could afford it.

Same here.
My DD wanted to buy it herself with her own money from her p/t job.
It does them no favours to have everything they want when they want it. What do they ever have to look forward to if they have everything handed to them on a plate?

Not the norm I don't think. Surely it's more common to get lessons for the 17th birthday rather than a car they can't actually drive yet?

Well. I am very surprised how often this does seem to be normal amongst MNers. A window into others very different lifestyles is one of the things I like about here though.

Only three got cars when I was at school - that I remember anyways, two of which were from Disney Daddy and they never had fuel etc so it was pointless think they were brought and then their mothers were expected to fuel etc them, third one got a much loved banger.

Honestly I think a lot of people must bullshit or be borrowing money a lot of the time. Even a really crap second hand car costs a grand or more plus insurance mot & tax bringing that to more like 2k. There is nowhere in the UK where it is "the norm" for ordinary families to buy cars for teenagers, given the number of families who are currently struggling to pay electricity bills.

I’m old school here , unless they can pay the outgoings of a car then no kid should have a car . Mi don’t mind helping with lessons and initial cost but there is no way I’m paying for insurance and fuel on something that is the first bridge to independence . Even if I can afford it’s a massive no from me .

The norm here. We saved for ages, and he put something towards it. Appreciate it may be hard for you now, but we planned for all of this for ages.

The driving age where I live is 16 and EVERY SINGLE kid I know has had a car bought for them by the time they turn 16. They drive a huge range of cars from 20 year old pick up trucks to shiny new Mercedes but they all have one!