First Car

[KPeterso]

That's one thing I feel some people don't think about. You know those people "you shouldn't buy your kids a car (phone, computer, whatever)! If they need one, they can earn money and buy it themselves!" What they don't realize is many times, these items actually help the parents also. Whether it's taking/picking up younger siblings, going on errands, or just not having to transport them, it can help immensly.

That was exactly it. I was an only child (so no sibling driving), but I had a crazy schedule. It started on the ice at 5:45 AM and then someone had to pick me up at 7:30 AM to get me to school. Then I would need to be picked up around 1 or 2 (depending on the day) in the afternoon from school and taken to the rink or home (depending on the day) where I would skate for several hours before someone would have to pick me up again.During the summer was crazier. Before I could drive, I would often take the public bus from school to the rink to skate or to where my Mom worked (only 3 days a week thankfully)to pick up a car. And we had a crazy summer before I had a car that I would be dropped off in the morning for skating then during a mid morning break, my Mom would come by the rink to get me so I could drop her off at work to then go back to the rink and have the car for later. And then would have to pick up my Mom from work at 6. It just did not work out well at all until I had a car to be able to help with some things as needed.

 

[CynBeth]

When I first got my license I used my DM’s car but got a new Saturn as a graduation gift because I was commuting to college and would have been too hard to share with my schedule.

 

[Colleen27]

My first car was a hand-me-down from my grandfather, who died the year before I got my license. No one else was using it - my grandmother never drove - and it wasn't worth anything on the resale market, since it was a 16yo base-model Dodge gas guzzler from the late 70s. It didn't even have an FM radio! But I loved that car.

DS22's first car was a hand-me-down from us that we got as a hand-me-down from FIL; he chose to commute to school, and part of the 'deal' on that in our conversations about college funding was that he'd get parental help with a decent used car in lieu of what we'd have spent on room & board if he'd gone away. The car was cheaper for us by far, even with paying his insurance while he was a full time student!

DD19 went away to school at an urban university that doesn't allow undergrads to have cars on campus, so she doesn't have a car at all yet and doesn't expect help getting one when she eventually decides she needs it. When she's home, she borrows my minivan or my mom's car when she needs wheels.

 

[fla4fun]

I bought my first car after I had been working my first job about six months. One of my neighbors worked at the same place, and I had been riding with her, but she wasn’t a very good driver and I didn’t feel safe riding with her. My dad offered me one of their cars for free, but knowing my dad and his love for his cars, I figured in his mind it would always be his car. I was proven correct when my sister took him up on the offer a few years later. I kept that first car for 13 years, and once it was paid off (at 27% interest, yikes!) I just kept putting the car payment money in the bank so I was able to pay cash for the next one. I am on my fifth car, and figure I will probably only have one more in this lifetime, barring any accidents.

 

[tvguy]

DD19 went away to school at an urban university that doesn't allow undergrads to have cars on campus, so she doesn't have a car at all yet and doesn't expect help getting one when she eventually decides she needs it.

Wow. I did a number of academic internships off campus, I would have been sunk without a car. And the University made money selling parking permits. Also gave a lot of classmates rides who didn't have a car. I also had a typewriter (I was in College 1975-79), and I was amazed at how many classmates didn't have one. No computer labs in that day, or typewriter labs and many of those who did not have typewriters did their term papers long hand! I also had a TV, a 9" black and white Panasonic portable. Only one in the dorm with a TV, but I was a Broadcast Journalism major. 30 years later, my son moved into that same dorm, and I was shocked at the procession of big flat screen TV's being moved in. How times change.

 

[krissynina]

My parents gave me a car before I had a license . They liked not having to drive me around. My school was in the middle of no where and most of my friends lived over an hour away.

My dad is a mechanic with a dealers license. So he would always offer to buy customers cars when the repair bills would be more then the cost of a new car and he would fix them up when the shop was slow.

I think he bought me 3 or 4 cars before I even had a license that he ended up selling for a better offer. The one I ended up with was a 2 door hatchback that hated the cold. The power stearing would freeze and I would have to crawl through the trunk to start the car to warm up the locks enough to open the doors. And It took me months to figure out that the spedomiter was always showing that I was driving faster then I actually was (sneaky dad tried to keep me from speeding by not telling me). But it was a free car so I still loved it.

 

[adzfoster84]

My parents purchased my first car. A 2000 Saturn. No power windows, lock or cruise control but I was very happy to get it.

 

[bjscheel]

First I got a hand me down, then when it was kaput my parents bought a used car for me. Not sure if my siblings had to pay for first cars- I tended to get more freebies because I was the tail end and parents had more money then.

We have bought used cars for our girls and paid for the expenses till they get out of college. That way they could save more money for college. (In DH's mind he would rather pay for vehicles than school. Whatever works.)

I'm just hoping DD19's Jeep makes it through the rest of college, I'm not sure what his position would be on buying another before she's independent (plus she loves her Jeep). Though we first got DD22 a pickup, then when she went to college he wanted to keep it, so we got her a car. So technically we bought her 2.

 

[tvguy]

My dad is a mechanic with a dealers license. So he would always offer to buy customers cars when the repair bills would be more then the cost of a new car and he would fix them up when the shop was slow.

It seems that mechanic's spouses and kids always end up with clunkers. A friend just retired after 50 years as a Toyota factory tech. His rule for buying a car for him or his family:
1)Toyota
2) Salvage title
3) At least 200,000 miles
4) Purchase price under $1,000.

 

[HannaBelle]

In 1987, my 1st car was a 1967 Mustang with no air conditioning, no power brakes or power steering. My dad loved it. LOL It had been parked in a barn for years and was a project car, but when it actually ran it was a beauty!

DH and I bought both of our kids Scion xB's when they turned 16. The are both still driving them DS has had his for 11 years. It is time for an upgrade, but he wants to find a FT permanent job 1st. He recently graduated with a graduate degree in counseling and is anxiously waiting for his state license before he can start working.

Both of my kids still run errands for me. We still pay 100% of the car insurance, they buy gas.

When our DS is ready to buy his 1st car, we have offered to co-sign for him and will make the payments for the 1st year as a graduation gift.

 

[nene0182]

My parents bought me my first car. We bought my son his first car when he got his license at 15 with the condition that he start to repay us half of the cost when he turned 16 and could work more hours. He got into an accident before he could repay us completely and totaled his car. We didn’t let him drive really for a year while he still worked to repay us the 50% cost of the first car. Unfortunately his school schedule this year requires him to have a car to get from one HS campus to another. So we used the money he had given us towards repaying the first car to purchase a second car and we are in the same place we were before with him owing us the same amount.

 

[Colleen27]

Wow. I did a number of academic internships off campus, I would have been sunk without a car. And the University made money selling parking permits. Also gave a lot of classmates rides who didn't have a car. I also had a typewriter (I was in College 1975-79), and I was amazed at how many classmates didn't have one. No computer labs in that day, or typewriter labs and many of those who did not have typewriters did their term papers long hand! I also had a TV, a 9" black and white Panasonic portable. Only one in the dorm with a TV, but I was a Broadcast Journalism major. 30 years later, my son moved into that same dorm, and I was shocked at the procession of big flat screen TV's being moved in. How times change.

My daughter is at U of San Fran. The campus is tiny and right in the heart of the city, and her tuition and fees include a transit pass. She has had no problem getting to work and volunteer commitments on public transit with the very occasional Uber or Lyft, particularly if she's getting home very late at night. If she needs a car for a summer internship, we'll cross that bridge when we get there - her brother is a car guy so getting a beater that would be good enough without a major investment is always a possibility. But as it is, the internships she was applying to for last summer were all cancelled and this coming summer isn't looking a whole lot more promising so far.

But speaking of TVs and how things change... neither DD nor her roommate have a TV, and she said almost none of her other friends did/do either. I guess college kids just don't even bother bringing them any more. They stream on their personal devices or use the TV in the lounge for group viewing. So I guess it has kind of come full circle, from few to all and back to few again.

 

[Kitty 34]

I bought my 1st car, a '66 VW.

 

[tvguy]

My daughter is at U of San Fran. The campus is tiny and right in the heart of the city, and her tuition and fees include a transit pass. She has had no problem getting to work and volunteer commitments on public transit with the very occasional Uber or Lyft, particularly if she's getting home very late at night. If she needs a car for a summer internship, we'll cross that bridge when we get there - her brother is a car guy so getting a beater that would be good enough without a major investment is always a possibility. But as it is, the internships she was applying to for last summer were all cancelled and this coming summer isn't looking a whole lot more promising so far.

But speaking of TVs and how things change... neither DD nor her roommate have a TV, and she said almost none of her other friends did/do either. I guess college kids just don't even bother bringing them any more. They stream on their personal devices or use the TV in the lounge for group viewing. So I guess it has kind of come full circle, from few to all and back to few again.

I hate driving in San Francisco, so I can see that. I turned down a job there just for that reason.
Funny about the TVs. My College, which was also my son's college, University of the Pacific in Stockton just put in HD cable in all the dorms.

 

[kdonnel]

I was able to give my daughter my old Honda Accord as her first car and buy a new car for my wife and I.

Then when my son needed a car we gave him the Accord and bought a new car for my daughter. I was in a position where I could give her a new car that should last her into her late 20’s.

The plan is to do the same for my son. Around his second or third year of college buy him a new car to start his own life with.

My parents never had the money to buy me or themselves a new car but they did buy me a car at 17. I was very appreciative.

 

[antmaril]

My parents did not buy me a car, but they did let me use their car just about any time I needed it. I bought my first car when I was 22 - a brand new, bright red 1974 Chevy Camaro. It was sweet. I paid cash for it.

 

[mrsap]

My parents did not buy me a car, but they did let me use their car just about any time I needed it. I bought my first car when I was 22 - a brand new, bright red 1974 Chevy Camaro. It was sweet. I paid cash for it.

My dad bought me a a 1971 Chevy Camaro when I was in High School. (1996) I’m petite, so driving around this boat was pretty funny! My dad drag races and was hoping that buying me this car, I’d drag race too. Well.... technically he got his wish.... every red light I pulled up next to, people would rev their engines. Let’s just say, I didn’t back down - and, well, I didn’t lose either Looked like this but all gray

 

[amez]

My parents did not buy me a car. My mom did co-sign a small loan when I bought my own used car. My husband’s parents did (but after he got out of college, he was presented his bill for their “help”
We have four children and bought each of them a $5000-6000 car. We live in the country so it’s been a great trade off- When they turned 16 I no longer had to drive them everywhere!

 

[disneyeveryyear]

I bought my own first car 5 days before I graduated college. It was a new '85 Chevy Cavalier with a 3 month deferment on the first payment, and a deal of an interest rate at 8.88%.

We also swore we would never buy cars for our kids, because nobody bought us cars. Then situations changed, 4 drivers, 2 cars, 3 jobs, 1 school, etc. So we bought an '02 Alero for the kids (DS21, DD16) to share (in 2015). DS took it back to college with him at end of summer. Another change in circumstance caused us to buy a car with short notice for our DD in September of '15. She got a '99 Buick Century with 29,xxx actual miles. The car was as old as she was. She wasn't thrilled at first but "Ron" (the car is burgundy - if you get the reference), has served her well. She is still driving it and plans to keep it until it dies (that is the way we deal with cars in our family).

 

[Planogirl]

I bought my Dad's old Beetle by making payments. He didn't charge me much. I miss that little car.

DS got lucky. A friend inherited a decent car from an elderly lady and he gave it to DS. He still drives it.