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??

You didn't know that some people have less money than you and your friends?

I got one but this was 2001. Little Fiat uno with a manual choke, had a ridiculous low mileage on it!
I worked in holidays and evenings to pay the insurance and petrol

I can never understand why so many kids are given a car when they are 17 as they can't have lessons until then so then the car is just sitting around for months and just may be used for a bit of practice. I thought when you became 18 was when you were given a big present. However if they are likely to go away to uni at 18 then most don't have student parking when they are in halls and living in a city they don't need a car. We didn't by either of ours a car. Now both in their 30s Dd would rather cycle as cars a bad for the planet and Ds took test once failed and gave up!

If you live out of town and can afford a cheap runabout at saves a lot of hassle running kids to college or work when they are 17 or 18. It’s too expensive to get their own insurance, so insure them as an occasional driver, which will have a high excess if there is an accident.
Ban other passengers and nights out, for youngsters to gain experience it is much cheaper than them getting a car of their own, after 3 yrs driving they can get insurance at a sensible cost

Brand new cars?

Mine had lessons paid for

We have good public transport

Not the norm and i dont know how people afford it anyway

i just read theres no driving tests avialbe now till next year because of the backlog of covid

DD1 started working at 16 so paid for her own. DD1 and her boyfriend bought DD2 a car when she turned 17. I bought her a block of 10 lessons and helped out with lessons until she passed. She paid her own insurance out of savings when she passed.

Driving lessons yes, car no. If they're planning on going away to uni a car is not generally useful, and can be an expensive white elephant. OTOH, learning to drive before uni is easier I think - you are in one place for lessons, you can maybe practice on a parent's car, etc.

For many, it's not about getting stuff "handed to them on a plate".

If you can afford it and live somewhere rural with no public transport links, a car makes perfect sense and over a year, is often cheaper than paying for bus passes and taxis, even when you factor in insurance and fuel.

It's also the case that (as many have pointed out) driving is expensive and many adults can't afford lessons on top of rent and bills, so if parents can help out and give their kids a helping hand (and open up things like cheaper living areas and job opportunities), it makes perfect sense to me that they would do so.

It is a mixture with ds and his friends, some got cars bought, others maybe had a family car that was kept for them (grandpa cant drive anymore so keep the car for dgc), others are saving for their own. Probably around 1/3-1/2 who pass so far have cars.

You do you, just because others do it doesnt mean you have to, and at the same time doesn't mean others that do gift a car are wrong, or should be accused of spoiling their dc.

We got ds(18) a 9 year old fiesta 1L and his 1st years insurance after he passed his test for both his Xmas and 18th birthday. He was told he would need to get a PT job to pay for fuel and future insurance which he has and is saving for. But ds is an only child, if we had multiple children we probably wouldnt have been able to afford it.

DS1 and DS2 both had driving lessons, insurance on my car to practice, cost of test etc as a present for their 17th birthday. But not a car of their own.

DS1 bought himself a car when he passed his test using money that he had saved working over the holidays etc. We paid his insurance, MOT, tyres etc until he left school but he always paid his own petrol. He went to university where a car is useful so took it with him, but pays for everything himself now.

DS2 is planning on going to a city university so doesn't need his own car. We've paid for insurance on my car for him and will continue to do so once he's gone to university so that he can drive it during the holidays when he comes home.

We live rurally so being able to drive and having use of a car is pretty important (no evening public transport etc), but outright owning your own car isn't essential.

@AnnieMay55
It may not suit some, but it can suit others. We bought ds1 a cheap but good car that he contributed to. Dh and I taught him. He has lessons aswell. Passed a couple of months after his 17th birthday. Will have been driving for over a year when he leaves for Uni, so will have 1 years no claim bonus, which will make a big difference to insurance cost.

It seems to be the norm among quite well off families I know but not most of us and wouldn’t say is something teenagers should be expecting or parents made to feel a failure if they are not able/don’t want to do

I do know people who have done this, but it’s the exception rather than the rule.

it’s quite common for 17 years old to get some driving lessons for their birthday.

Yes they were all new cars.

Someone mentioned upthread that cars sat around for months after purchasing them. We chose to go down the intensive driving course route over 2 weeks instead of lessons every week. Many parents I know do this as the children are often driving on private land before their 17th birthdays so have some driving experience.

It's the norm here, brand new car and personal numberplate when they turn 17. My DC didn't have have their own car and weren't bothered but they did get to use my car - all their friends had their own cars though. I just can't get my head around being handed a new car at 17.

Definitely not. DD1 took a gap year and bought her own car. We paid for lessons. She needed it at Uni for veterinary placements etc. DH paid most of the insurance and servicing as he used it when she didn’t need it.

Was literally about to post about this the other day.
Also, not just any car - brand new cars costing thousands and thousands of pounds with personalised number plates etc?!

It was really important to us to get DS driving as soon as possible, he’s just passed at 17, we paid for lessons, we bought him a small car, however he has decided to opt for an apprenticeship instead of going to Uni, one of the companies requirements offering apprenticeships is a driving licence. We feel like we’ve helped set him on his way, he really did not expect a car, but our family car was unsuitable, he does have a part time job and has paid his 1st years insurance in one go from money he saved.

The only people I knew who got given a car on their 17th birthdays were a pair of twins whose parents were loaded. Everyone else either got lessons, insured on their dad's car, or some money towards one.

(Both twins crashed their brand new cars within 6 months which my mum took as proof that buying teenagers brand new £15k cars was a ridiculous idea)

Not the norm but more common maybe in rural areas where parents are fed up of being taxis? We're giving our DD the option of using her child trust fund (boosted by our small monthly contributions over the years) at age 18 to buy a car. It's her call and we will help with running costs but it won't be a gift

Mine arnt at this age yet but a few of my friends have bought their DCs cars, usually for 18/21st. Another got one at 17 but she works at her grandparents farm so needed it for work. I think it went through the farm books anyway.

We got DS driving lessons for his 17th! What 17 year old would have passed their test and need their own car? Even more so with the test delays there are now. It costs enough to have a teen added to your own car insurance let alone paying for and insuring their own car. People must be very wealthy around where you live!

We have for our dc. We aren’t well off but did save for them to have a car.

Given the cost of uni nowadays I think it's foolish these 17 year olds 'buying, insuring and fuelling their own car from a part-time job' aren't instead putting that same money aside to subsidize themselves while at uni 😱 people on this thread saying they saved in order to buy their child a car, please tell me you have also saved for their uni costs, they will come out with £50k of debt which they will pay high interest rates against. They might not ever officially pay the loan back but I can assure you they will pay back plenty of money!