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?

It's a fab car. I've had two of them. But the small engine is fine on the motor way. And I wouldn't bother buying new. My last one was nine years old and still going strong. Only replaced it as the dealers gave me. Deal I couldn't turn down.

You can think it’s ridiculous if you like, of course you can.

But as you don’t live together or share finances, and I’m sure he didn’t tell you in order for you to give him your opinion - you might be better to keep that thought to yourself.

He isn’t financing them, he’s taking the money out of savings that have built up over years and some inheritance. He claims after the cars they will still have £300,000 plus each but I’m not entirely sure how!!

Hes a GP so not struggling but he’s not exactly rolling in it either.

@Lippitymoo nothing wrong with that! We bought both our children cars but refused powerful motor and went with 1200 cc. we are also planning to do the same with grandchildren.

Why not buy a brand new car for a teenager? Why not pay their mortgage for them for the rest of their lives? Holidays? No problem! Destination weddings? Don’t worry, Bank of Mum and Dad will cover it! Anyone fancy the latest iPhone? a Rolex?

And when we read stories of pure entitlement by young adults, we wonder how on earth anyone could have developed such an expectant attitude. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I gave my DS my 10 year old car when he passed his test. Eight years on and it has never broken down. And frankly even if it had, the odd day of inconvenience of it being in the garage isn’t worth 20 grand! Even new cars can break down. I’d much rather pay 20 grand towards a house deposit or a pension than buy an expensive car for them to show off in.

I paid for a used, taxed and Mot’ec car and the first insurance payment (a big lump sum) They paid for everything else because they had part time jobs.

Having a car means that they can work anti-social hours and earn more if that’s what they want and fits in with their life. Waiting at bus stops for a bus that may not turn up isn’t an option here and taxis aren’t cheap although they will factor in taxi costs when a night out involved alcohol. It’s safest that they drive home than rely on a lift from some one who may have taken drugs or been drinking.

Brand new automatic cars that are around 1L are actually really cheap to insure.
Two reasons:

1. very few teenagers drive automatic cars so the stats on teenagers having accidents are favourable leading to lower premiums. The worst car to buy a teenager is a manual 1L Ford Fiesta because it is the most popular teenage car and the one that most accidents are recorded in.
2. New cars have far more safety features the most important one as far as far as the insurance companies are concerned is collision avoidance. This automatically applies the breaks if the sensors detect that you are not breaking early enough. Very useful in urban driving, they tend not to be as effective at speeds above 30 but prevent a lot of rear end shunts, probably the most common accident insurance companies pay out.

If he can afford new cars then that’s his decision. But as far as insurance is concerned it’s not necessarily more expensive.

Also the car is likely to be more reliable and maintenance costs low in the first three years.
DS 19 drives a VW Polo1L. I pay less than 1k for insurance and apart from a service it has cost very little to run. The car was 10mnth old when I bought it and since I drive it from time to time it is an automatic so it’s easier swapping from my car to his. He is the main driver on the insurance so is building up no claims. I may add him as named driver on our family car because it would be handy if he could drive it occasionally. It is a 3L though so may not be possible.

I'd say he's fiddling his taxes or in secret crippling debt if he can afford to throw money around like that on a GP salary

If he has the money then why not buy a car? People on my street with more money than me seem to have gone for cars that are 2-5 years old and their teens/young adults are happy

If they haven't even passed their tests yet, it's a complete waste of money. Wait until they pass at least.

The cars will need to be taxed, insured and maintained and for what? To sit on a driveway until the kids pass their tests?

If he can afford it, why not? It's not as if he's asking you to chip in.

I wouldn't get them automatics but apart from that why not. Plus you imply it's their money anyway?

I very much doubt that (he’s so not that type of person).
He’s mortgage free and his parents left money to them when they passed so I guess it’s mainly that helping. They also live in the north so his house was much more affordable.
I can’t say wholeheartedly he wouldn’t get into debt or do anything to avoid tax, he’s very reserved normally and financially savvy, but would do anything morally questionable.
I just think it’s extravagant!

We live in a large-ish city in the South West and our public transport is virtually non-existent. It's hilly and it rains 9 months a year so cycling is out of question on longer routes. True, my teenager wouldn't die without a car but her having one means we, adults, can work and have a life rather than ferrying her around to college, sport and social outings.
In London, I wouldn't entertain a car for a second. I managed fine on public transport myself for 20+ years but when we moved it quickly became clear that neither of us would simply be able to manage without a car. I have to take two busses to get to work which would take 1,5h IF they came (and they frequently are cancelled due to driver shortage). We also had multiple bus routes cancelled last year as they were deemed not profitable. So I got a car.
If you are prepared to give your life up to be your teenager's taxi driver, have at it but in most parts of the country having a car is absolutely necessary.

Good luck to him.

The first car my brother had, he backed into a lamp post within a fortnight and spent the rest of its life driving around with a badly repaired dent all along the side panel.

Thank god it was just a £400 polo.

If you don't live together and it doesn't impact you - then it's not really any of your beeswax is it?

This is why kids don't like step parents.

If he doesn't regularly spend extravagantly then this seems like a reasonably practical thing for him to make his one expensive exception, given the practical and safety value and that they'll appreciate the gift and use them for years. I wouldn't personally, I'd think like you that a slightly older car would be better value. But I certainly wouldn't argue with a partner with separate finances and good savings about his decision to do so.

Your DP sounds clueless about cars to be fair. You don't need big engines to drive on motorways and generally speaking, the smaller the engine, the more affordable insurance will be. Additionally, new cars do a lot of depreciation in the first couple of years so being sensible, a 2 year old car is a much better idea - let the previous owner take the bulk of the initial depreciation.

Op, I live "in the North". Doesn't save you that much

Watch the engine capacity.

Was very surprised to find my 1.8 boring ol' ford considered a 'high performance vehicle' when trying to add DD, aged 17, on to my insurance and every company I contacted refused to even give a price, let alone a quote.

Well that’s not true at all. The whole reason he is mortgage free is because he moved from London to the Lakes when his kids were about 11.
He has a lovely house worth about £500,000 mortgage free, he told me his London home sold for £1,350,000 - that’s a massive difference!!

1.2 I believe.

It's his private business and irrelevant if you think it's extravagant. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I got bought an old banger when I was 17 and I will be doing the same for mine. I grew up i work hard, I saved and have bought many other cars since. I'm not spoilt and I know the value things. As a teen I did need a car to get to work and back and my parents wanted me to have one. Before that we had motorbikes 😂 mum and dad weren't running us around for anything on the road from 16

🤣 it's £40k not £4m, how little do you think a GP earns