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?

This

Seems like a nice gesture to buy brand new, but for a small hatchback what's the point? Buy 3 or 4, years old and it's half the price... especially with the insurance!

Give over. My parents bought my first car, and all my ponies until i was 21 (when i finished education)
It has not remotely hindered me on learning about money, or paying my way.

The numbers you are mentioning clearly illustrate that £40k is pretty much like £4k for most people. He is pretty loaded if he made £800k on moving house and are you saying he took some of the money from the £600k the kids are inheriting?

The one thing he does have is certainty of income in retirement which most people don’t have the luxury of. As a GP I would hazard a guess that his pension will be in excess of £50k a year and he will have the state pension on top.

it sounds to me like he can afford it.

Good luck with the insurance is all I can say. I bought 2x10 year old Aygos and the insurance was double the price of the cars!

I'm 45 and a couple of companies declined to quote me on my 6 year old BMW (just a regular 2l!) when it came for renewal this year. I've got over 25 years no claims too!

He's really going to struggle to insure them. I'd kindly suggest to him that he look in to that first before he commits to buying a car that they can't actually drive.

That said, it's likely cheaper to insure them on a car that is new but has excellent safety features, than a clapped out banger that has none. DH was dreading changing his insurance when he changed cars, but they actually gave him a refund, even though he'd just bought a £40k car compared to one that was worth about £10k.

He's obviously got plenty of disposable cash, so in the scheme of things it might be a drop in the ocean.

He refers to having £300k each, so there's at least £600,000 around. If he's financially savvy he's probably getting a return of at least 3% a year on that at the moment, so £18,000 in interest ("free" money) would almost cover one of the cars. Taking a further £22k hit in to the savings that would be recouped within another year or so really isn't much of a hardship.

Is it what I would do? Probably not, because I'd be pissed off if they bumped it in a car park.

He can afford it though and obviously thinks it's a nice thing to do and the cost isn't an issue for him, so I'd let him get on with it.

I would never buy someone I loved a car until they were at least 25 years old. Young men tend to think they are immortal and take way too many unnecessary risks

I’d do the same if I could. Much safer than a falling apart third/fourth hand pile of scrap. We’ll be spending as much as we possibly can

Not your money, not your concern really.

Well, if he can afford it, why not?

My parents bought both me and my sister our first, second and third car, albeit young second hand cars. For them it meant we always had a way to come home safely as we lived rural. Most of my friends received new cars when they got their drivers licenses and depending on wealth this meant a small new car up to a Mercedes or BMW. Nonetheless, a car is a car and I think it is sensible as it will enhance their independence by being able to go somewhere without having to check if someone can drive you if the car is needed by someone else etc. And it is not necessarily spoiling them as well, as that depends on the whole of their upbringing.

That's one hell of a generalisation. Lots of "young men" are actually very responsible and well behaved.

It's bloody ridiculous we bought dd a four year old hyundai i10 when she was 22. To help her get to work.

We are very comfortably off and could have bought a new one. It just isn't sensible for a first car and certainly not at 17. At 18 ds got a 10 year old Ka.

Kazzyhoward · Today 15:45

Coyoacan · Today 15:42

I would never buy someone I loved a car until they were at least 25 years old. Young men tend to think they are immortal and take way too many unnecessary risks
**
That's one hell of a generalisation. Lots of "young men" are actually very responsible and well behaved.

Came on to say the same, Kazzyhoward. Ours is incredibly sensible. Our daughter, wasn’t so much 😁

I just bought DC a nearly new car (5k miles on the clock). Wouldn’t personally buy brand new as I don’t think it’s good value but that’s personal preference. Would much rather they were in a modern car with the latest safety features than an old rust bucket. So if he can afford it, why not?

Why is it not sensible for a first car?

It’s just not true that cars lose half their value in the first couple of years any more. Second hand cars really hold their value currently, my c3 has barely depreciated in the past 3 years.

If he can afford it, then it's his choice. But I think it's very foolish. Most teenagers prang and scrape their car in the first year of driving it.

Has he obtained quotes for insurance yet? I'd do that before buying.

@Catapultaway because they prang them, the cost of insurance, and the depreciation.

DS's little ka mostly sat on the drive when he went travelling and was at uni. It did however, help build up his no claims bonus!

I can't think of any of the dc's friends getting a brand new car as new drivers aged 17 and they went to fee paying schools. Pare ts mostly had funds.

If he's working full time (or thereabouts) and is older/experienced, he'll be certainly on £100k or more, and a lot more than that if he's a partner (or owner) of the GP practice where he works.

As for tax fiddling, if he's a partner/owner, he'll probably be buying them through the business as a tax fiddle, claiming they're "pool cars"!!!

This tbh! My GP surgery published their net earnings for 2023:

"The average pay for GPs in the last financial year was £66,499 before tax and National Insurance. This is for one full-time GP and two part time GPs." [From their website]. We're outside of London.

Plus if he has assets like you claim from the sale of a London house he's hardly on the poverty line, even without his salary.

Ultimately, it's his money and his choice. And Hyundai's last longer than Fiats so he's being relatively savvy!

Is it not a right of passage to have an old banger as a first car ?? Certainly is where I'm from 😆

I agree with you that it is insanity. New cars massively depreciate the second you drive them off the forecourt. Then a lot of new drivers have little dings and scrapes (and some bigger accidents). The insurance would be astronomical also.

His kids, his choice. Sounds batshit to me but up to him.

You've provided rather a lot of very identifiable information about this family OP.

The real money in being a GP is in the practice itself. They probably only pay themselves that as employees with the rest coming as dividends from the business.

The real concern is clearly that he wont buy your 15 year old a car and you will feel ypu come up short explaining to your child why they srent getting the same treatment when they turn 17.