Did you/will you buy your 17 year old a car?

[Robertsmithdoesmyhair]

My DD is 17 on Mon. She wants driving lessons and a car to drive to college in! Lots of her (wealthy) friends are now getting them! I've explained that we could afford to buy a car if she could tax and insure it. She doesn't even have a PT job so that's a no then.
Since when did 17 year olds expect their parents to pay for a car? Is this a thing now? It's utter madness! I thought she'd want a new iphone!
Did you get your DC one??

Does she have a savings account? I used my savings at that age to buy a car and insure it etc. I also has 2 part time jobs to help pay for it.

Is there a reason she doesn't have a job?

I don't think you're unreasonable to not buy her a car. Especially as she doesn't have a job. As then maintenance and fuel will fall down to you as well. And with no concept of what it takes to earn that money it won't be properly appreciated!

I will be doing

We will pay for lessons and insure ds1 on my car when he passes.

Then he can get a job and save up for his own!

Dd14, I have a small car 2016 plate when she is 17 it will be about 6 1/2 years old so I will add her to the insurance

My oldest DD is learning to drive she will NOT be bought a car she will have access to mine. Yes her friend's parents have bought cars but we aren't.

No.

Wow! I am truly shocked at how many of you have bought them cars! I honestly didn't even consider it.

I don't think MNers are a literal reflection of society though
Just look how many private education threads there on here compared ith the % of pupils that attend private school, or the % of people that don't think £60K is a high income.

@BackforGood I think depends where you're from too. It's normal for me, I'm from a very rural area, not at all an affluent area quite the opposite, but still most of us had cars (not brand new or leased though!!!) even if they were shared with siblings. Cars are very much a necessity where I'm from.

Yes, we paid for driving lessons, for DD, then brought a (decent) car for her. Taxed and insured it too.

Did not want her to pass her test and not have a car to drive and, as, we live rurally wanted DD to have a decent car.

Fair point newjobnerves - when living rurally it does become more of an issue

I paid all costs of learning to drive for first 2 DC and then provided them with cars which I insured, taxed, maintained and fuelled through sixth form. Worked out well for me as they took DC3 to school too whilst they were in sixth form and the net cost was not bad as I avoided costly school coach fares (I think about £5 per child per day). It’s also a bonus when driving is such a novelty they are actually happy to do drop offs, nip to shops for you. DC3 we are doing the same and she is just coming up to her first practical test. She will definitely have a car and it will make a huge difference to her as the bus service to her college takes 1.5 hrs and driving around 30 mins. Her uni plans are impractical for taking a car so haven’t quite worked out what best to get her as don’t want anything unsafe but don’t want to be stuck with an expensive rapidly depreciating asset either but she’ll definitely have something on passing.

After nearly six years of driving dd the 3 miles to the nearest bus stop for secondary school (actually the nearest bus stop for anywhere) and picking her up there eight hours later......you bet I'll be buying her a car. It's the only way I can give up working night shifts (as working night shifts is the only way I can earn enough money whilst still being there to get her to the bus stop).

Three friends of DS have cars, two have gone kaput, they were small engined, old high mileage and just plain wore out. The third is unreliable. So if you are buying a car do not go too cheap

I got bangers for both my boys.

In Australia, the age group with the highest death rate on the roads is late teens. And it’s not for the reason you would expect. It’s not speeding, it’s not reckless driving, it’s because of the shitty old cars they drive. They are death traps.

I have told DH in no uncertain terms that, when the time comes for DS to have a car, he will have a good one. Even if I’m paying it off for the rest of my life. I don’t want my DC to die on the roads for the sake of ‘teaching him independence.’

Can’t comment on other countries but having shopped around it worked out much not much different between leasing a brand new car as opposed to buying an old banger

I was looking at cars which were £3-4000.

After 2 years the depreciation would be about £2000. Then there was probably going to be at least one £300 repair each year and getting through the MOT would be probably another £300.
So in total £3200 as a basic.
2 breakdowns per year would make it even more expensive.

Dds lease is £150 per month so between an old car which could go wrong late at night at the side of a creepy road and driving a new car I am paying an extra £3-4 per week.

It was a no brainer in our position.

Absolutely not.

HermioneMakepeace Perhaps "bangers" means something different in Australia than it does in the UK? The cars I bought my boys were old and inexpensive, but were roadworthy. Teen male driving accidents are bad round here, as they are in many rural areas, but it absolutely is down to recklessness in most cases.

@HirplesWithHaggis The point is that newer cars are far safer than older cars. The safety features in modern cars save lives in the event of accidents. I want to protect my DC as much as I can and that includes ensuring that they are as safe on the roads as possible.

DD’s bought their own cars with savings and a small inheritance.
We paid for lessons.
They paid all their own running costs.

Yes, but they share it. They are also insured on mine so it isn’t usually an issue. They are at university in a different country now though, so may look into getting them cars there.

I will be doing yes

We have 4 kids and bought one car for them to share. We tax and insure it. They pay their own gas. We didn’t want them driving our cars and if they don’t like it, they can buy their own.

No. We barely use our own cars for selves. Chose a town to live in with good transport links.

DD has train pass for school anyway.
BigDS earns & got his own car.
Younger DSs not interested.

Yes we did.

We paid for driving lessons as 17th birthday present, and have bought a car for them to share. As it turns out ds1 soon bought his own car, ds2 hasn’t learnt yet, so ds3 aged 19 has it all to himself at the moment.

We will be as DD at 16 needs taking to and from the station every day.
We both drive performance cars. We both work full time, me including out of hours and on call and DP is away a lot.
We live very rurally with no public transport of any form.
Getting DD a car and driving will make our lives considerably easier.
DP works in motorsport so it will be serviced at home in our garage, will have a high NCAP rating and a small engine.

We have one car, a Galaxy, which is automatic, so it is our intention to buy a second, smaller manual car next year when DS1 turns 17, if he wants to learn to drive. It will be my car, although he will have reasonable access to it. DH commutes to London by bike and train and I work less than a mile from home, so car is likely to be available.