MSNBC has an article called The best cars of 2007 for teenagers. While the article does cover options for actually affording the vehicle, a more important question should be should you actually buy your teenage a new car to begin with?
With 3 teenagers (two are driving age), and one preteen, my wife and I have talked about cars on several occasions. Sometimes we talk about various things like what kind of car each child seems ‘appropriate’ with, but one thing that we both agreed on very quickly was that we would not buy a new, or even a fairly new car, for any of them. Are we just being mean?
How We See It
It doesn’t matter how good a kid is, they aren’t going to be the best drivers around. First is just inexperience. They don’t pay enough attention to what is going on, they don’t know how to react to situations, etc. Second is kids being kids. I see it like this: I was a good kid, made good grades, was above average in the responsibility category, etc., etc. and while I was a pretty good driver, I still drove that car into the ground (a nice 79 Turbo Regal). Everybody I know now and then was pretty much the same way. It didn’t matter if their parents bought them a new car or they had clunker.
Our Plan
Year One
So what we plan to do is buy them (or help them get) reliable but older car that doesn’t cost a lot for their first car. We call this the ‘one year car’. It only really has to last for the first year or so while we look for a better car. During this first year they will learn about paying their insurance, paying for the car itself, maintenance, etc. and let them get over having a car in the first place.
Year Two
During the first year we will be looking for their ‘real’ car. While it may not be the one they really want, it will be something that they like. Something that they can look forward to providing that they don’t mess up with their first car.
With a couple of the boys this might mean not actually buying a second car, but fixing up the first one. My dad built his cars for a long time, I’ve worked on a few myself and my wife’s dad owns a salvage yard so it kind of runs in the family. Besides it would be a fun project, if they so chose.
So would you or have you bought your teenager a brand new car?
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I love this topic!!
Kids should have a car that is cheap, solid, and has the ability to be worked on for their first car. Personally, I like 80’s or older, because they still have metal around them. Kids are going to be kids. I destroyed my first car, even though I loved it. My first few cars were cars I could pay cash for. I’ve only financed one car in my life, and that was after working at the same job (career) for over 5 years. Part of the fun was learning how to fix my own car, if for no other reason than so I could know if a mechanic was lying to me later on.
I hear ya Wil! I didn’t actually finance a car until I was 27. I learned pretty early how to work on cars since my dad had 60’s muscle cars for a long time, so the mechanics came from helping and watching him.
Thanks for the comment!