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Go Ask Your Mother: Should I buy my kid a car?
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Hi. So my 16 year old has finally gotten the gumption to get her licence and join the rest of us on the road. My problem is this...
I have always worked for a living, earning everything I needed, with little help from my parents. I have reached a point in my career where I could help my daughter out with getting her first car, but am unsure if it is the right thing. I know buying my own car certainly taught me a whole lot about responsibility and accomplishment, but would hate for her to be driving around in a clunker.
She has good grades and is more or less trustworthy, but still unsure if it is a good move. What do you think?
My first car was a convertable yellow VW bug. It was older than I was, and not in great shape (you had to lay a fork across the battery terminals and get a spark before it would start) but loved it. I think I loved it all the more because I paid for it myself. I was pretty independant in my teens, and wouldn't have wanted my parents to buy me a car. Every time I got in the car I felt a sense of acheivement.
However, I doubt you want your daughter driving around in a car that is as likely to strand her on the road than not. And, I don't think that buying one's own car will necessarily mean that a teen will be more responsible with it than if her parents bought it for her. It's easy enough to reason that if you bought one thousand-dollar car, you can always save up and buy another. I would say that whether a teen is going to be responsible and careful with a car depends on how responsible they are in other areas in their life.
So if you think your daughter is demonstrating the maturity to own a car, I don't see anything wrong with getting one for her. I would say that she should be responsible for its upkeep -- checking tire pressure regularly, keeping track of oil changes, etc.-- and probably have her pay the insurance (or her share of the insurance if you put her on yours) with the understanding that if she causes the premiums to go up, that's going to be money out of her own pocket. That way, you can get her the safe reliable car you'd like her to have, but she still as a financial stake in it.
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