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??

I had a selection to choose from on my 17 th but I imagine that isn't very common ! 🤣
We bought dd a nice car for her 17 th because we can , none of her friends got one or even lessons so I don't think it's the norm !

@AnneElliott
From personal experience in my family we put learners insurance on for practice until we do pass

No child of mine is being bought a car even if they're Lewis.

A contribution to a car yes, when it's needed to get to a job which in turn will pay for it when something inevitably goes wrong with it!

*Hamilton!

For many people they're buying themselves freedom from the perpetual taxi-run, and ability for their DC to earn thousands of pounds at weekends and over the summer. It's a worthwhile investment for many if they can find the money.

Nope but then again i live in a big city. This was the norm where my cousin used to live in a small village.

I think it’s kind of the norm around here. Most of my very dds very average friends have been helped out by their parents to get a car when they are 17. Not many have them as purely a birthday gift though.

we helped dd out with buying her car. It’s just a little 1 litre run around which cost under £1k. We have her money towards it for her birthday and Christmas presents as it’s what she wanted. She also had a little extra saved which went towards it.

we’re lucky that I have a close family member who is a driving instructor and is teaching her to drive for free. So that’s a load saved. We will pay her insurance, but it’ll only be the same as we pay now for her to get the bus to college so no big deal. She will fuel it herself.

she’s pretty normal amongst her friends and my friends children. None of us are at all well off by mumsnet standards.

No

Really depends where you live. I grew up in a town with good transport links and low income so no one got cars until they were working a few years. When we moved down south of England to the country then everyone got cars at 17 as there was no public transport really so the only way to get about.

it will give her the opportunity to work more over the summer and get out and about with her friends.

fingers crossed she passes her test in a couple of weeks.

It’s the norm here. All 3 of our children got new cars for their 17th birthdays as well as driving lessons. Most of their friends did too.

Driving lessons, yes. The use of a small family car, yes. Their own car, not a chance.

You just have to set your own boundaries. It's not reasonable for anyone to expect to be bought a car. It's a lot of money.

So being told you are not getting a car is reasonable. It's about what you can afford, what you think would bring the best outcomes for your child, and what you want your child to expect or learn from life.

It really doesn't matter what other parents are doing, for anything.

Quite often around here, not only is the 17th birthday present a car but it also comes with a personalised number plate 🙄 DS2 and I have had a conversation about expectations!!

Not the norm. My son bought his own at 19 we did help to the insurance. His sister wont be get a car but she still young 16 half.

I was never bought a car or any money towards one by my parents (for my 17th birthday or otherwise). We'll probably buy one for the DC though (to share between them as they get to 17). We can afford it, and we live rurally so it will be great not to have to give them lifts everywhere!

I got one. Still ranks as one of the best days of my life as I didn’t expect it at all.
I still don’t know how much it cost-I suspect my dad had got it fairly cheap and fixed it up as he’s good at things like that but it was a genuine amazing surprise.

Id love to be able to give my kids a similar surprise but it probably won’t be the same (partly because I’ve told them how lucky I was!) and partly because nowadays I’d want them to have a much safer car than my beloved metro plus insurance is much more expensive.

I’ll probably trade in my car for a smaller one when the time comes and we can share it.

How were seventeen year-olds able to afford to buy, insure and run cars?

A lot round here buy cars with money saved from a part time job etc and mum/dad pay the insurance.

I live rurally, so yes.
Lessons at 17, car at Christmas.
We have a spare car they could use until they got their own.

I do wonder if this is part of living rural but every kid I know got Saturday jobs by 14/15 with the single aim of getting a car, birthday, Xmas everything went towards driving. But then with no public transport it is the only way to escape.

If we lived in London this wouldn't happen though.

We played for lessons, test, car ( £2k per annum) and car for noth of ours. Ds was 17 when we did this and Ds2 was 18.

No.

YANBU but my 2 sons got driving lessons for their 17th birthday and my dear OAP Dad saved up and bought them both a car for their 18th.