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?

Personally, I think it is a little excessive/wasteful to buy them brand new cars when there are so many decent second hand options.

You could buy an automatic 2019 Honda Jazz (superior car IMHO) with under 7,000 miles for £13k.

Where we live, we are about 11 miles from the train station and 3 villages away from a bus stop. And from there, probably 4 buses a day, not necessarily in the right direction for our teenagers weekend jobs. So yes, we will be buying them cars and hoping they pass their tests promptly once they are 17! Not everyone lives in places with good public transport.

I can still remember my friend buying her 17 year old a brand new mini and him wrapping it around a lamppost within months. For me I’d be focusing on reliability. I would not be trying to buy a powerful car for a teenager.

He’s completely mad and he’s not doing them any favours but it’s his money and his kids and his decision.

I don’t think her child would expect mums boyfriend to buy them a car. They don’t live as a family

This is a non issue - the kids have probably met all of 6 times in the last 3 years, we aren’t a blended family, we don’t do family holidays etc.
I parent my way, he parents his.

Are you in the UK? I don't understand why he would buy them cars at 16 when they can't learn to drive until they are 17. Seems a bit of a waste. They will sit on the drive losing money for a year . Doesn't make sense .

Their 17th birthday is in a few months (it’s right there in the OP), and the lead time on new cars at the moment is 4 months or so.

So the cars won’t “sit on the drive” for a year losing money.

As soon as they turn 17 he’ll be able to take them out for driving lessons in their own cars.

My children all learned to drive as soon as they could because of our rural location. I wasn't in the position to buy them cars as I'm a single parent on a fairly low wage but they worked hard at their part time jobs to pay for lessons and save for a car. I did help them where I could especially once they had insurance to pay for but I'd have had to buy them bus passes for college anyway.

If I had unlimited funds I would have probably bought cars for mine given our location but I'd have probably got ones a few years old rather than brand new, but new enough that they would be problem free. My daughter is 17 and her first car has a few 'quirks' and isn't as smooth and easy to drive as a newer car would be. I think they are a great way to promote independance. My daughter is able to get to work, get to college, go for day trips with her friends, back and forth to gym etc. She even gives me the occasional lift!

I parent my way, he parents his. So what's the problem then?

I don’t see it as such a big deal, as long as he is prepared for the cars to not look quite so new in a very short space of time! We bought our son a relatively new car which was pristine. He’s had it just over 18 months and it now bears a sizeable number of battle scars - despite having parking sensors!

I liked the idea of him having a safe, reliable vehicle as we live rurally with no bus service. When he goes off to uni after his gap year it can sit on the drive until he comes home for the holidays and bash it into stationary objects again.

The cost of the car is neither here nor there, it's the ongoing cost of maintenance and car tax, fuel costs etc. That's a lot for a teenager to afford! That's the one reason DS will be using the Young Scot card instead of learning to drive.

'I parent my way, he parents his.'

So the thread is completely pointless then.🥴
Why did you feel you had to write so much personal details about these people?

Statistically, most crashes happen in the first two years of driving. Personally, I would buy a reliable banger and upgrade in two years.

It's a bit daft buying them before they've passed their test. My parents did this for my sister and still to this day she never passed 😂 it's a nice thought to have them on their 17th but a bit of a waste.

Old, old first cars, which come with a million miles and a lot of problems on them are around £3000 so I see why he wants to buy new.

My son accidentally got an almost new car (10 months old).

Have to say after a lot of grumbling on my part about entitlement, I’ve changed opinion.

We live rurally so a car for him was always desirable for our own quality of life - no public transport or safe cycling routes, so we were constantly running around for the family while having full time jobs.

The plan was for him to have my 82 year old mother-in-law’s 10 year old car and she would get a new one. She crashed three times a year before he passed. Got a new car. Became scared of it and the bumps she’d had and decided her driving days were done (probably rightly). So she just gave it to him.

While being shocked at the time he’d been given such an expensive gift, I feel it has made him drive carefully, I think.

Lessons for their 17th

Car for their 18th.

Notwithstanding affordability etc.

@Devilshands

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.

So one full time at £100k and two part timers (say half time) at £50k each equals £200k, divided by 3 gives £66.6k average!

The published figures aren't "full time equivalent" - they're just simple averages of total wages divided by number of people. So, basically, they're meaningless until they give the full details of how many hours/days that the part timers work!!

Wouldn't you want your kids to be as safe as possible. if statistically they are more likely to crash would you not want a safer car rather than an old banger. Or does money top safety?

I know how averages work 😊The part time hours were also published on the page with the salary information - I just didn't copy it as it's not relevant as the point was even on their 'average' a GP is on more than enough to afford a nice
car...

But tbh as I said, OPs partner can spend his money on what he wants.

I don't have issue with buying the cars in general. I get his thinking about having them until they are financially dependent etc. A nice thing to do if u can afford it and the huge insurance they both will come with. I think I'd prob do similar or consider a cheap lease when my kids are about to or have passed their tests.

It's strange to buy them though as a birthday present before they've even had a lesson. It might take them the best part of a year to pass or more and the car just sits there depreciating in the meantime. Someone else mentioned they might go to uni in a place where they don't need or wld use a car much. It seems quite a show off thing to do especially for their birthday.

@CharmedCult Ah sorry ! Of course - if they are already 16, they will be 17 on their next birthday. Duh! Ignore me.