Do you buy your teenager a car?

[RosieRosie]

My daughter is 15- years old and wants a car. She has saved up $500 - what can you get for how much money? I can't afford a new car otherwise I would give her my 1994 honda. Should we get her an old car just to drive in town to school, sports, etc?

 

[Serena]

I wouldn't have the money even if I wanted to. But, I bought my first car for $400.
I had connections. It was my bf's friend. They made sure it ran really well.
It was an ugly brown tank. But it ran so nicely. It surprised a few teenage boys that's for sure. lol

 

[snoopy]

My brother just bought his daughter a car for $1500, a 1994 Honda with about 90,000 miles on it. It looks o.k., runs perfectly. She contributed about $500 toward it.

You should be able to get something decent for under $2000, if you can afford to help her a little on the $500. Just get a Honda or a Toyota, those cars last forever.

 

[Pam]

DH & I did NOT buy our teen DD a car - she purchased it all by herself! She just turned 17 two days ago. She bought a 1995 Chevy Lumina in May for $3300.00. It has 105,000 miles on it - but body, engine, etc. is great. The insurance for one year is $1400. We were going to make her pay for all of that herself as well - buy considering she is a good kid, high honor student, etc., we pick up half the tab on the insurance.

Pam

 

[MerryPoppins]

DS is 15, so DH and I have talked a lot about this. We want him to concentrate on school, not a job to pay for car repairs. We have decided that when the time comes we will buy an older car for him to drive. But it won't be HIS. He will help with the cost of gas, we'll do insurance unless he has wrecks (then we might have to rethink that one). We also plan to have him "deposit" the deductable with us. That way if there is an accident he has met that in advance.

When he graduates from high school, we'll look at him getting his own car. That's about the same time DD will be 16, so we'll start the whole thing again with her.

 

[Snoozan]

My DS's each inherited a car when they got their licenses. The first one, a 1988 Mazda 323 in mint condition-which he promptly slid down an enbankment 10 days later. We replaced the door with one from a junkyard and banged out the roof. That car lasted until he was hit by someone who slid through a stop sign in a snowstorm. We then bought my grandfather's 1988 Mercury Tracer wagon for him to drive which his younger brother inherited 6 months later when he bought his own car. That little wagon made it 3 weeks shy of my 2nd DS's 1st year driving anniversary, when it was hit while my son was parked at the bank. We'll bang that quarter panel out and just pray the car holds up throughout the rest of this school year!

 

[WDW2002]

I don't plan on it. I bought my own car when I was 16 and was a 16 yo with car payments and insurance payments.

 

[Kitty 34]

Our middle son bought his cousin's Ford Tempo '92 for $500 this summer. I would rather he practice driving (he's only 15) in that car than in the Family Car!!!

 

[missymouse3367]

I don't plan on it, My DD (13) can't even drive a golf cart.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

my girls are 10 and almost 12. I'd have to buy two cars. shudder.

 

[Pin Wizard]

When DS is out of high school and off to college, sure.

 

[tiggerlover]

When my neice turned 16 her parents gave her the families third vehicle, which is a Dodge Caravan, but my neice has to pay for the gas and part of the insurance.

When I was 17 and got my license my dad bought a car for me to use and paid for the insurance (I paid for gas), but when I got married (at 19), the car stayed with my dad because it was his. When my DH was 17 he paid for his own car and a years worth of insurance up front, he paid for it from money he had saved over the years and from money his mom took from his job. Every time he got paid he had to give his mom half to put in the bank for him to buy a car and the insurance.

My DS is only 6 so I don't have to think about this for a very long time. I guess it depends on circumstances when DS is eligible to drive and our feelings at the time.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

My parents SOLD my car....cuz I wasn't getting my license.

 

[Antonia]

I gave my son my OLD car and bought myself a new one!!!!