18 y/o DS wants a car

[user20]

Hi

My 18 year old DS is 18 and has just got himself his first ever part time job. He will be working 12 hours per week on minimum wage (£6.15/hr)

He passed his test 6 months ago and hasn't driven since. He has set his sights on a 2018 Vauxhall corsa limited edition and costs £150 a month for 4 years + £100 deposit on a finance contract.

With this job he will be earning £295.20 a month, Would he be Able to afford the corsa?

He will also have to pay for fuel, maintenance and his road tax which is £145 for the car he has his eyes on. His insurance will be just under £2000 so me and DH will contribute £500 to it and he can pay the rest himself.

He says he is desperate to get a car ASAP, I have said I don't think he will be able to afford it with only under £300 a month, he is using his savings account money to pay the insurance which is what I put away for him years ago and was really only meant for educational purposes eg uni loans etc.

Should he wait until he is earning a bit more? He also wants to pay his monthly phone bill, his gym membership etc

@justbeniceplease and that's to be commended, if they pay it entirely themselves then no that's different. I didn't mean it to sound that way.

What I did mean was that not many teens would be in your DDs position and therefore in most cases I'm sure the teens with the really fancy and brand new cars have had them bought and paid for them.

But in your DDs case that's really impressive that she worked for that. I hope she loves her car

@AlunWynsKnee and I agree.

I hope to god he never does crash his car though. Awful situation.

Obviously nothing compared to him being seriously injured or killed but still awful

DD went for new because the benefits of it cost wise over the next 4/5 years far outweighed anything else.

How can that be true when driving off the lot in a new car costs you thousands? Depreciation is cliff-edge with cars.

How can that be true when driving off the lot in a new car costs you thousands?

Cheap pre reg car. Often works out more cost effective that servicing and repairing an older car. The car is covered by a warranty for 3 years. It doesn't need an MOT for 3 years, only servicing so minimal outlay until year 4 at least. The model seems to hold quite good value on the second hand market at 4/5 years old. Not such a bad decision.

The problem with my DS is that he has no patience and expects everything handed to him with no work on his part.

As a child he used to be so giving and hardworking and didn't want much, now he's the complete opposite.

The other day he asked DH and I why we hadn't bought him a car yet and that it's unfair that he passed his test and can't drive!!

I don't know what's happened to him. Can somebody adopt him?????

How long do you expect the job to last given his oh-so-strong work ethic?

He can't afford any car.

He needs to do all the calculations including taxes, insurance and fuel.
Then see how much that is per month.
That will be more than his earnings. Then he needs to wait until he has saved up for the difference and not using his education savings.
Why not a second hand car?
I never had a car or a licence but my DH bought his first second car himself and was ever so proud, still is, so I see the value in the idea.
But OP if he doesn't save first you will pay for it.
Also account for service, unexpected expenses (I just had to pay for some repairs)

The problem with my DS is that he has no patience and expects everything handed to him with no work on his part.
OP I am this person.
It is weird because I work non stop at work and I am helpful to others.
But I seem incapable to wait and work hard for something for myself. I take the blame, my parents were too kind to me and they gave lots.
But somehow I didn't learn this, whilst my DH did.

No, he can't afford this car.
he can't really afford any car.
he uses savings to pay for this year's insurance.
What happens when next year's insurance comes around?

He shouldn't buy a car on 4 year's finance. he may well have written it off long before he has finished paying for it.

You have no idea whether he will stick at this job.

My DD ran a car from finishing college. We had bought a £500 rust bucket for her to learn in, so she used that, and we paid for her first year's insurance. She paid for all other running costs, and her mobile phone, and clothes, and holidays with her BF, and, and...
Then after the first year she used money she had saved from her job to upgrade her car, and pay the next year's insurance.

If you help in any way him with this car you are rewarding his laziness for the last 2 years. That includes you subbing him everything else because all his money is going on the car.

Is his FE place for Sept sorted? Have you found a way to get that for free, or is your DS paying?

imo you need to:

• make it clear you are not underwriting any finance agreement for the car
• make it clear you are not subbing education / insurance when he is spending so much on a car, nor clothes, phone, gym etc
• he needs to realise that if he wants nice things he needs to work for them. No one owes him a living.

Even if he gets the finance he may well find himself in a position of owning a car but not being able to afford the fuel. (Costs DD ~£100 / month).

The other day he asked DH and I why we hadn't bought him a car yet and that it's unfair that he passed his test and can't drive!!

I wouldn’t be contributing a penny for a car to a child with that attitude.

He hasn’t even started this job yet and he has mentally spent most of his wages. Who’s to say he won’t be sacked after 3 weeks for being lazy and arrogant?! Who would pay the monthly instalments then?!

I have been working for 20 years and have never had a one year old car-he sounds really entitled.

I know a few 18 year olds driving new cars but they are from the bank of mum and dad. All the kids I know with parent funded cars live out in the sticks so it's also helpful for their parents (no buses so the parents are fed up being a taxi)

He wants to buy status. His parents need to show him he needs to earn people’s respect and work hard for a satisfying life.

Not stepping in here will be the best bit of parenting you could do. Let him fail the credit check, learn what he needs to do, think about affordability of insurance (don’t pay any of this in the first year and only then if he has stuck at working). Yes he will blame you but you won’t be in the wrong.

Just send him into the garage on his own. I expect he will get a reality check once he talks to a salesman about finance.

The problem with my DS is that he has no patience and expects everything handed to him with no work on his part.

Well that’s how YOU have brought him up, so 🤷🏻‍♀️

This thread is ridiculous on the back of your other thread

So much for the remorseful little boy act he was putting on.

He needs to sort out the situation with his education first and you need to put him straight on that AND the fact he is NOT OWED everything he wishes for - more free education when he was pudding about and a FRRE CAR when he’s treat you so badly

@IncrediblySadToo tell me about it. Really wish I was more firm with him and that he had a childhood that was hard going like my siblings and I did.

I could slap him in the face so many times until he's black and blue. Honestly!!

I would not be contributing money for a car to 18 year old who has just failed his A-levels. I stand by my previous comment on your other thread that his Aspergers diagnosis is a major issue to him behaving like a much younger child and engaging in rigid (not to mention magical) thinking.

DD1 bought a 2006 Ford Focus using savings when she passed her test in 2016 as she needed it for her nursing placements that were 40 miles away and not accessible by public transport. We helped her with insurance.

DD2 also passed her test in 2016 and drives my old 2002 Corsa that I can no longer drive. She drives it when she is home from Uni but it would be too expensive for her to run by herself.

Just don't give him any money at all. He sounds (again) extremely immature. There is no way he can afford to run a car and pay the finance on £300 per month. What if he does manage to get into some sort of FE? How will he pay then.

My car costs me around £200 a month to run which includes petrol/insurance/road tax which is fine on a month to month basis but it only takes one thing to go wrong and it costs you double or three times that. The newer cars are more difficult to fix too as they often have electronic components which need to go back to the actual dealer for diagnostics and parts are also often expensive

@Lunde he will be told to move out soon. I'm sick of his demanding behaviour. I don't know why he has turned so arrogant. He has gone from somebody who never asked for a penny and now he expects so much. I don't know what has happened

He wont be able to afford to move out if he takes on this car.

It would be better for you to put your foot down now. Tell him the car is unaffordable and that you will not contribute anything. Tell him to talk to you again when he has a realistic proposition - such as to use his savings to buy a car outright that he can afford.

User20, you are once again bouncing from 'Should we buy him everything he wants?' to 'He's going to be booted out of the house/slapped in the face.' You can't really hold both those views simultaneously, so I think you need to take a step back and prioitise here.

Your son has Asperger's and possibly other diagnoses. He is young for his age, naive, grumpy, obsessive and utterly unrealistic. He has thrown in two of his A-levels and probably failed the third.

What he does need is stability, food, a roof, routine and eventually a plan for the future (it's good that he has a part-time job!).

What he doesn't need are dramatic statements about chucking him out, new cars or a slap in the head.

For now, I'd just go with saying blandly, 'See how the job pans out and save up first.'

He may steady up a bit with the nice predictable dull routine of work, and start to make connections between income and outgoings. Or he may chuck it in next week, who knows.

Having read your previous thread I think what your son needs to do more than any ruddy A levels or whatever is instead some type of personal finance course. One that explains how personal finance works. I believe some banks offer 'life lessons' about these things. Perhaps he should get involved with a charity event that involves raising money some he can learn how much effort has to puts in to actually end up with a profit.
But you will ignore this. So whatever.

Car finance and the like is a very adult choice, and getting bogged down with that amount of debt at that age is a big step. He seems to want to be an adult and have nice flashy things, but he's not living like one. He's still living at home, not paying any rent, bills, food etc., and only working 12 hours on minimum wage. You shouldn't even be asking the question really.

Is this a joke? You should be teaching your son, who hasn't done a days work in his life, that if he wants something he'll have to work hard for it instead of offering to contribute money towards it. Jesus Christ!