Buying teens new cars

[Lippitymoo]

I’ve been with my partner for 3 years. He has twin 16 year olds (mum isn’t around at all she upped and left them all). Ae don’t live together but are very serious, just won’t live in while our children are at home (I have a 15 year old).
His kids birthdays are in a few months. He’s told me he is planning to buy them both a brand new Hyundai i10. He says he just wants to get new as he hopes it will last them until they are financially independent and beyond that way. He also said he wants to be able to get the bigger engine for the sake of motorways and get them an automatic, so getting new will save the faff of finding something situ the requirements that they both like.
AIBU to think this is totally ridiculous?

I don’t really see why it is ridiculous?

Good luck to him affording insurance for two teenagers on brand new cars.

It’s £40,000 on two brand new cars!!
They might not pass their tests or decide to go to uni in a city where a car isn’t necessary etc.

Well if he can afford it and they're good kids it's a nice thing to do...

If he can afford it, then that’s a great gift for them

And they can easily be sold if they are no longer needed.

Sounds sensible to me.

He has a point about getting Hyundais because they have a long guarantee.

Not sure it is worth getting new cars for learners though.

IIRC I dinged my first car I got after passing my test quite a few times because I was getting grips with the width/parking in enclosed spaces etc.

It's incredibly generous. If they're good kids and will appreciate them then I don't see the problem.
But I guess if it highlights major differences in how the 2 of you live and spend and raise your kids then maybe that's a problem.

Why would it be ridiculous? If it’s affordable there’s lots of advantages of a new car- better safety features in case of a crash, more reliable so less likely to break down and leave them stranded far from home, longevity factor, often weirdly insurance is cheaper too than with a banger. I’m 35, went to state 6th form and actually the majority were bought new or nearly new cars for the reasons above.

His money he can do what he wants with it. I would buy my DD’s brand new cars if I could afford to when they turn 17, some of these little new ones come with really long warranty and good service packages so he is right they should last them for many years. My daughters won’t be getting brand new but I certainly won’t be getting them cheap run around, I want to know they will be safe and very unlikely to break down.

Are they going to learn in them? Learning in an automatic is limiting them to only be able to drive automatic - lots of cars are going that way but still useful to learn manual where possible.

Yes, it’s insane to buy two brand new cars for teens but, if that’s what he wants to spend his money on…

Have his children expressed a desire to learn to drive, and if so, have they said they want to start lessons as soon as they turn 17? If they want to learn but not for another year or two, no point buying the cars now.

He’s decided they want automatics, but do the children prefer automatic to manual? (Personally I hate automatic cars, but I realise I’m in the minority)

Do the children even get the chance to choose the colour?

Seems really extravagant tbh.

Sorry, but what has it got to do with you?

I agree, it's loads of £££ but surely he can afford it. He sounds like a caring dad. Why do you take umbridge? Does it impact you negatively in any way?

Ah! I misread your op then, I read it as they would be sharing.

That is quite extravagant to be fair, but if he can afford it I suppose it’s up to him.

I had a brand new i10 in 2010, had it 10 years without issue before needing a larger car due to having a baby. He could get a perfectly good second hand one with lots of life left.

We do this for our DCs. I don't want them driving around in old bangers.

It's his money so he can do whatever he wants with it, however, I wouldn't be buying a new car even for myself. As a fairly new and inexperienced driver, I would wreck the car well before the warranty runs out. I clipped mine for the first time on a country road two months after passing my driving test and for the second time 8 months later trying to reverse out of a tight parking spot. Add to that irresponsible teenage driving and possibly DWI and it's basically throwing money away.

Personally I think he'd be better buying used for first cars as there's bound to be the odd scrape or ding because of lack of experience and treat them to new ones later on, maybe 18th birthday? They sound like very lucky kids.

Seems a bit daft if generous. A three year old car would make more sense it's setting them up with high expectations when they are unlikely to be in position to buy a new car next time and they are bound to prang it a bit

It astonishes me that so many people buy cars for their kids. Teenagers don’t ‘need’ their own cars. What kind of lesson is this teaching them? Sure, we’d all love someone to just gift us a nice free car to use, but in the real world if you want a car you go out and earn the money to buy it.
I think it’s irresponsible parenting to do this; you’re not teaching your kids the value of things, and on top of it you’re adding yet more unnecessary cars to our already overcrowded roads.

The question is can he comfortably afford it? If he's doing PCP etc then no. He's not proposing he buy them BMW/Mercedes etc a Hyundai is a sensible choice, he might be better off going 2-3 years old as they depreciate quickest the first few years, although the cost of second hand cars at the moment is outrageous.

The other aspect to this is what you don't live together, won't for a number of years and have separate finances so it's really nothing to do with you what he spends his money on

I think this very much depends on location - I will be purchasing a car (as new as affordable) for my DC to drive from 17. They will need something to learn in, (not my company provided car which wouldn’t be allowed) and so they can have independence. We live rurally with no public transport so it makes sense to us as a family 🤷.

if we lived in a town or city I would think very differently though.

His money, his choice, but buying a new car seems extravagant when a nearly-new one can be had so much more cheaply.

I'd much rather DC had their own new cars than getting lifts from other teenagers.