Teen parents how much $ for used car?

[kkmcan]

My dd gets her permit next month so we've been thinking about this same thing.

We were thinking $2000-$3000 and she had been start saving since she's going to need to put in some money.

Wish we had an old car to pass down to her. We've got my 2009 Nissan Altima which is still a new car to me and my dh's 2003 Nissan Xterra which is older but I think is way too top heavy and may not be the safest car if you take a corner too fast. Besides DH likes his Xterra and thinks we should just get her a cheap used car.

 

[rcraw45425]

We paid $10K cash for an '04 Nissan Xterra. It has 80K miles on it. So far we have had to change out the starter, which was covered by the extended warranty we purchased. It's survived a year of student parking and been hit twice with no damage to it. My daughters refer to it as "The Tank"!

 

[Priorityonecb]

We bought our oldest daughter a used Ford Escort for $1500. It lasted her through high school and into college. Our youngest just got her permit and has talked about getting a "nice" car for her 16th birthday literally since she was THREE!!! (Oldest wanted anything that would run!). Youngest turns 16 in March...we have no idea how much/what we will be buying her!

 

[PHXscuba]

We paid about $6000 after taxes and license for a used 2004 Kia Rio hatchback. It had only 65,000 miles and new tires and recharged AC (vital around here). It has NO bells and whistles -- even manual locks and windows. For the money I'd rather have the low mileage and good condition than power accessories.

DS16 has to keep it filled and help with maintenance. His high school is 6 miles away and he stays after almost every day for activities so it is saving me a lot of trips out there. He has 2 summer jobs to stockpile some money. We told him getting good grades is also his "job" and that his percentage of his car insurance would be based on his grades. So right now he owes us $30/month for insurance.

We were willing to spend a little more than some because we hope to pass it down to DD13 in a few years.

PHXscuba

 

[Dreamer2012]

We have 5 children and right from the start we made sure they knew they would be responsible for buying their first car. We helped them by looking at ads, checking out possibilities and networking on their behalf. We felt that if they were responsible enough to have a license they would have been responsible enough to have saved money to buy a car. We also felt strongly that they NOT start out in a "newer" car -it is a great time to teach the "live with in your means" lesson that so many parents forget to teach either by example or by lesson. Just because the car is older, dented, paint peeling etc - does NOT mean it is not safe. This is also the perfect time for this "lesson" as they will be making decisions about college and their futures coming up - nothing like a daily reminder of what your job at McDonalds can buy you versus what possibilities lie ahead with a college education and all done with out a single lecture!!

 

[pigletto]

We bought a 2005 Cobalt last year with 19,000 kms on it (about 12,000 miles) from an older lady that literally only used it for errands around town.
We needed something small and cheap on gas as my husband decided to go back to school and between that 3 hours of driving and driving for work, gas was going to kill us.
As soon as he's finished next year we will buy something larger and nicer and then the Cobalt will be a second car to be shared with dd. She'll be 16 next year. She will have pretty exclusive use of it (I work at home). I expect her to pay half of her insurance and I'll pay for gas once in awhile for her, but I expect her to kick in when she is able.

 

[ilovezach33]

My DD is taking drivers ed this August and will get her license by next April. With this new added expense headed our way, I was wondering how much we should expect to pay for a safe used car?

I realize everybody may have a different idea of how much to spend, but I am just trying to get a good idea of what it may cost for something relatively in good condition and safe.

She has been saving up for one, but I am not even sure what a good amount to shoot for would be.

What did you do when your teen needed a car? Did you pass down a car or buy used?

And...yes...we are thinking need more than want in respect to her having a
car. The high school is almost 30 minutes each way. Between work, sports and activities between all 3 kids, we look upon it as saving our sanity.

Thanks!

This year I got my first car, a 2005 dodge neon w/115k miles on it for $5000. My parents didn't check it out good enough and had to pay $600 more on repairs. I'm sure they could have found something better/cheaper
Whatever you do, look around a bit, and make sure everything works before buying.

 

[DisnyMik]

We didn't pay more than $1500 for either of our 2 oldest children's cars. Since they were new drivers we knew there was a good chance they would hit or get hit and why spend a lot of money on a car? Sure enough our son swiped OUR mailbox! Our daughter knocked out a tail light and mirror more than once. They are both good drivers now (23 & 21), but things like that tend to happen when you're just starting out.
So we have one more coming up in about 18 mos. we may spend a little more on his b/c he and my DH want to get a small truck.

 

[MSSANDRA]

DS got a 2003 Honda Civic for about 6000.00. He had saved about 2000.00 and my mom gifted him the rest. We did not work in high school so he had saved from gifts etc. We are a Honda family and though they cost a little more but they last forever!

BTW- In 1980, I got my first car! It was a tiny white Pinto and I named her "Miss Emma" My parents took what I had saved and finished it out though I can not remember the amount.

 

[Patience]

We bought our daughter a four door Civic for $4500. She drove it for almost 2 years and then we came across a great deal on an Acura that was a newer than the Civic. We sold the Civic and recouped our money on it- love, love, love how Hondas hold their value!

I have seen threads on here where people are borrowing money to buy cars for their teens. That is something we would never do. We bought what we could afford to pay for without borrowing. My daughter starts college this fall and I can't imagine paying for college while at the same time having a car payment on the student's car. Yikes!

 

[bdcp]

We never bought our kids cars, but we did buy cars for them to drive. In 2001 when our oldest DS was 17, we bought a 1992 Honda Accord for 5K that had no a/c and he drove til he went to college, then his brother drove it til he left. We then bought a 2001 Accord in 2003 (14K) for oldest DS to use that he drove for the rest of college and youngest son used the older Accord when he was home (neither could have a car at school the first year and we decided they didn't need one til after their second year, but they did need one to work during the summers). We then bought a 2004 Honda Civic (16K) in 2006 for youngest DS to drive his last couple of years of school. They both worked summers and needed a car for that. After that, they could either purchase the cars from us or buy their own. They both bought newer cars.

We paid for insurance, but they paid for gas. At 26 and 28, neither has ever had a ticket and the accident my youngest DS was in wasn't his fault, the other driver was charged for running a stop sign.

We didn't want them driving old cars back and forth to college and work, so we spent a little more than some, but less than others. I know kids getting brand new very nice cars at 16. I wouldn't buy them really old or high mileage cars that will need repairs or break down easily.

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

We bought a third "Family car" instead buying a car for or making DD17 buy her own car. We have 5 kids and the twins get their permits in 6 months. I do not think that they each child needs their own car. Plus DD will be going away to College next year.

We spent $3000 on a 2009 Ford Focus. It had 110K miles on it. It was actually a used driving school car. My DD17 works for the school (doing database work) we know the owner takes care of her cars.

I drive a Toyota Sequoia and DH drives a minivan. DD17 HATED driving our big vehicles, once we got the "little" car she was much more comfortable driving.

 

[MrsPete]

The answer to how much to spend is the same as the answer to how much does she have and how much are you willing to kick in.

Our DD has her permit and will likely get her license in November. I had hoped to pass down my car but it died last month so that idea is shot.

She has plenty saved. DW and I certainly plan to help and I suspect grandmom will want to be involved too. I would shoot to spend no more than 5-7K.

I think this is the right answer. Whatever you're willing to put in is the cost. You can get a car at any price point, but the question is how long you need this car to last and how much dependability you can afford.

When our first turned 16, a car was in no way a need. Yes, she was heavily involved in school and other actinides, but we are minutes from the school and I could take her. Still, it was a splurge that we could afford and were willing to provide. I got a new car and she got my old car. A small SUV, it sits up high and is safe to drive, but it can"t pass the gas station without a drink. It also isn't particularly dependable anymore with it's high mileage, but she only uses it around town. We have allowed her twice to drive it to the college she will attend next fall -- a two hour trip, but we've made sure we were near the phone at those times.

We are not allowing her to take the car to college in the fall, andshe's accepted that. Mainly she agreed because she sees that the freshman parking lot is two miles away and requires a bus ride. It makes more sense just to ride the (free) bus. Also, she has a younger sister who is just starting to drive.

We told her when she began high school that if she earned a good scholarship for college (so that we didn't have to pay the whole bill out of pocket) we'd buy her a car when she began student nursing as a junior. With the money she earned, we will be able to buy her something quite nice! We are choosing to wait 'till her junior year because it won't be a real need until that point, and if we wait, we'll be able to count on the car lasting her well into her first job.

As you look into cars, do consider the insurance that you'll need. We pay our insurance once a year -- cheaper that way -- but our oldest's car insurance costs as much as my husband's and mine . . . And our home insurance. It went down a touch now that she's 18 and has had a clean driving record. It's really going to hurt next year when the youngest gets a full fledged license.

 

[fun4me]

My son got a fixer upper. He paid for most of the car and the parts but my husband put the labor in to fix it up. We also wouldn't let him get his license until he got a job. So we never had to pay for insurance on his car or buy him gas. He also pays for any parts that the car may need.

It is a small Ford Focus, I don't remember the year ...maybe 2004 or earlier. Now that he is working he is content to keep his insurance low and just have a vehicle to drive that gets good gas milage. So he is going to hang on to it for awhile....hopefully it can get him though college.

 

[jmb912]

My DD is taking drivers ed this August and will get her license by next April. With this new added expense headed our way, I was wondering how much we should expect to pay for a safe used car?

I realize everybody may have a different idea of how much to spend, but I am just trying to get a good idea of what it may cost for something relatively in good condition and safe.

We are car shopping for DD right now! She will be 16 in 6 weeks and we told her awhile back we would buy her a car. We recently moved from the South to the North and she actually already had a permit and started some driving but had to stop when we moved (( So she will be retaking the permit test again. Driving one of our vehicles is not the best option. We have an Expedition and a large pick-up truck, neither of which give her a good teaching vehicle or vantage point as she is very tiny....80 lbs and 4'11". So I want her to have her car on her birthday so I can spend alot of time driving with her. She will also be doing 15 hours with an instructor through school in January.

We are looking in the $8,000 - $9,000 range so we can get something with lower miles. I'd rather pay a bit more for the something with not as much wear on it so we don't have a money pit! We are still new to this area, but we will probably let her look for a small part time job sometime this school year. School work comes first though so we have to see how her classes go this year. When she does get a job, we will have her contribute something towards her gas and insurance. She is a super good kid who has not had an easy life due to health problems she has endured, so this is something we are excited to do for her!

 

[bethy]

Our plan is to have safe, relatively new family cars available for our kids to drive. But not to outright buy them cars. And this is mainly because we have 3 kids spread out in age and I could really use my oldest DD's help with driving everyone around. After years of carpooling I will be ready for some relief, lol!

My DD will likely be one of the few kids driving around with a carseat in the back of her car!

In our area, MANY 16 year olds receive brand new or almost new cars complete with big red bows for their 16th birthdays or for graduation. Many are BMW's and the like.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

When my son got is license I got a new car! My son has been driving my hand-me-down Dodge Caravan. It's great for his hockey equipment.

Conveniently, my kids are almost 7 years apart in age so by the time my DD gets her license it will be time for me to upgrade again.

As for your question, it really depends on where you are too. My dad is a used car dealer here in NH. He says there's nothing on the market right now for under $8000 or so in decent condition. He has not been able to by anything in the $4-5000 range for a while now. With the economy the way it has been more people are buying used. Plus that whole government buyback program from a few years back really took a lot of those potential cars off the roads.

 

[C-CMom]

I'll admit I didn't read every reply, so someone may have said this already, but Consumer Reports magazine does a very thorough "Cars" issue every April with all sorts of evidence-based information on safety, reliability, even average costs for used cars. I've shopped for years for cars and all sorts of other things with Consumer Reports guidance, and been very happy with the results.

And, no, I don't work for them or have any incentive to recommend other than good personal results.

 

[clutter]

Just went thru this decision. DD won't get her license for another year, but I'd been toying with the idea of a 2nd car for a few years. I have a long commute in an HOV exempt car, and the local trips were really adding on to the mileage. I started thinking I'd get an old Accord/Camry for under $5,000. Then decided to go for a small AWD SUV to balance out having a sedan. That moved me up to the $8,000 range for a RAV4 or CR-V with around 100k miles. I ended up paying more than that when I found a 8+ year old RAV4 at a Toyota dealership with only 16,000 miles. (There was a carfax history of maintenance.) So I paid a bit more, then paid extra for a 5-year Toyota warranty good at any dealership. She's looking at a college on the west coast, so this should be a good car for her for years!

So, it just depends on what you are looking for. You can get a sedan (Corolla, Civic, Accord, Taurus) with 100k miles for under $5,000. You can decide you want a diffferent type, like an SUV, for a bit more. Or you can decide to get one with less miles for even more. Go with what you think will work.

But I agree with the others, it's MY car. She has the ability to use it, but it's mine. (And it will be hard to give up. I love that thing for running errands!)