Car gift for 18th

[mommabear2386]

So just something that came up today.. I have been gifted my late fathers car so my own car (1.2 megane) now needs to be sold as I still owe £1500 on it. I had the idea that we can speak to my SS mum about us all possibly giving it to SS for his 18th (end or august) rather than sell it.

She's refusing however to spilt any money with us to pay it off and gift to SS however saying as we already own it it's up to us if we want to give it him or not... my SS Has now been told this also by BM and thinks it's a done deal.

Now a friend of the family has offered to buy it for £1650 which would clear and leave me profit.

We've tried to explain that he's going to need a car soon anyway so why don't we just do this?? I think it would be ok for him to insure too. Which we've said we'll help with.

I've recent lost £500 a month going part time and working and really don't want to have to keep up car payment for over a year!

My dh is saying we just explain to SS that mum won't agree to half it so we have to sell it but I'm torn on what to do!

For an 18 year old new driver, insurance is
likely to be sky-high on a 1.2 engine.

Hardly, it’s a 1.2 litre, not a Ferrari 😂

And tbh a 1.2 Megane is most likely going to be cheaper to insure than a 1.0 Corsa as the latter are associated with young drivers and boy racers, which drives insurance costs up.

Car insurance is expensive in general regardless the car type

I passed my test at 32 and my insurance on a 1.2 was still £900.

Car insurance is expensive in general regardless the car type

Yea but the car type is a factor of how high it will be. Cars that are considered “uncool” are cheaper for younger drivers than Corsas etc

@19lottie82

Car insurance is expensive in general regardless the car type

Yea but the car type is a factor of how high it will be. Cars that are considered “uncool” are cheaper for younger drivers than Corsas etc

Expensive cars higher insurance.

I don’t know anything about cars and coolness, I think most teens just want a car.

Expensive cars higher insurance

Not always the case. More expensive cars can have better safety feature which means the insurance will be less.

Mommabear2386 I think most posters are missing the main point here.

OP asked the mother to contribute to a car (which sounds like a good, safe, reliable deal) and she refused BUT THEN TOLD HER SON HE WAS GETTING A CAR !!

Cheeky cow.

As for a car being indulgent/luxury etc. Not where we live. (Rural) . Pretty much every one of my DC and DC friends have had money towards or a car for 18th if they are learning to drive. The only condition has been that they have a part time job sufficient to cover half the cost of the insurance.

I would absolutely offer him the option to have the car for £5/600. He is going to be 18 . You (depending on your relationship) and/or DH need to have an adult conversation with him.

If he gets a car on his 18th will your other DC get one too? That is when it gets tricky.

Asking the DC to contribute to paying off the finance is an idea

Dh gave ss18 a car. He bought it despite me saying he was too young and wouldn’t look after it because he hadn’t had to work for it. First day he had it he crashed it into the garden fence. A few months later he wrote it off. He’s now spent two years working and saved up himself for his own car which he looks after better

@Itsbeen84yearss it’s statistically common for young drivers to crash their cars, hence their insurance is so high. Don’t think it is necessarily down to whether the car is a gift or not

I think it's a bit silly to be discussing this until he's actually passed his test. One of my dcs only passed his test on the 4th attempt.

I also can imagine that she feels she's being manoeuvred into contributing a large sum of money to something which is nevertheless going to be perceived as primarily a gift from you and her ex.

In my experience with teenage boys they don’t value anything they haven’t had to work for. I think they’re much more likely to take care of they’ve at least had some input into the purchase