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Smart Shopper Best Car for a new teenage driver
554 messages, Last post on Nov 08, 2009 at 7:33 PM
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A large local newspaper is looking to interview 18-25 year olds on what type of car they are looking to purchase. Please send an e-mail to ctalati edmunds.com no later than Friday, August 18, 2006 by 2:30 PM PT/5:30 PM ET containing your daytime contact information.
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Having had 3 teen drivers, I offer the following: 1. Buy nothing you or they are passionate about. Teen drivers make mistakes and the car will take some lumps and bumps -- one kid totalled his first car -- the others had parking lot dents and encounters with deer and sliding on ice. They can fall in love with their second car. 2. MPG does matter. Gas is expensive even if they don't drive a lot, so either you or they will pay for it. And eventually they'll drive more than you think. 3. They will be more responsible if they have to pay for at least some of it. Yes, they may make mistakes but they will feel a lot worse if some of their money was on the line, and be more careful next time. The teen who totalled his car has been accident-free ever since. Which leads to: 4. Don't buy an expensive car. Insurance is very expensive, even for teen girls. The cheaper the car the less you have to pay. Everyone will feel much worse with a big dent in a $20K car than a $5K one. 5. My vote has always been: big, safe, and slow. Buick Century, Toyota Camry, that kind of car. 6. A 2 seater? YOuve got to be kidding! They will drive with friends eventually, and need a lot of trunk space if the car goes to college with them. And 2 seaters are often more speedy than they need. A Jeep Wrangler? Never! 7. Safety equipment is more important than the cool factor. If they want cool, they can get jobs and pay for it themselves. Given a choice between no car and uncool car, most teens will opt for a vehicle of any kind. And if they don't, well, they can walk. |
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Replying to: suydam (Aug 18, 2006 7:17 am) |
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Replying to: suydam (Aug 18, 2006 7:17 am) I'm wondering if you have experience with the hand-me-down approach versus the one owner approach? My kids are two years apart. Do I buy daughter #1 a car to use for two years and then hand that down to daughter #2? or does daughter #1 take that car to college (the one owner approach) and I buy a different car for daughter f#2? I agree with having the kid pay some money toward the car, but I think that can be worked out with both approaches, though obviously it is easier with the second approach. And I feel strongly that every "problem" needs to be OWNED, and the first approach does not give any true ownership to the first daughter, since the plan is to hand it down then again, I don't need to tell her what my plan is, do I?  admittedly, it's not very fair to make her pay for half the first car and then have me give it to her sister but the college car could easily be a different car than the "around town" high school car, but there may be no point to that
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Replying to: alp8 (Aug 18, 2006 5:04 pm) A few ideas: 1) I believe that the parents, not the child should own (and control) the vehicle. That gives the parents more control should the teen driver need an attitude adjustment. As for OPERATING costs, she who uses the car shouls pay for them. 2) My parents believed in the "fleet" approach. Two cars for five teen drivers. 3) Who knows if a teenager will need a car for college? many universities discourage drivers as parking is often pretty limited. |
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Replying to: alp8 (Aug 18, 2006 5:04 pm) You might go with the ownership approach since you also don't know what will happen to this car -- it might be just fine in two years or it might not. Keep in mind that accidents can happen caused by other people than your children -- high school parking lots are a nightmare! So, if fine, she could take it with her. If it doesn't seem like a good safety bet, or if it's fine around town but not driving all over the place (college students dont always stay in one place . . .!!), then it might be wise to consider getting the college student something different. I do think it's important to treat each kid as an individual so the younger one may have different needs. While parking is limited, the trend is more and more for kids to bring cars to college. They are more used to driving and the freedom it brings than in the past and are reluctant to give that up. I teach at a small liberal arts college and it is much more common for students to bring cars even though the college would prefer that they didn't. Sometimes the first years will not bring cars but after that they will. |
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I agree with what suydam and jlawr said. I couldn't have afforded a car at college. Hell, I barely had beer money. And I'd rather that my daughter spend her money on pizza then on gas. It would be great if she could go to a college where you really didn't need (or want) a car, at all, freshman year. That experience, alone, is valuable. I've lived without a car, before. There are disadvantages, to be sure, but I didn't miss having to move it on the street cleaning days, or having to maintain it. But I lived in a place with a great mass transit system, or a place where bikes were the preferable way to travel (Goleta, California - UCSB). Barely missed not having a car in FOUR YEARS at SB. yes, the parents do need to be able to control the car, but that's an academic question, since there's no way my daughter will be able to afford buying her own car, right away I don't mind buying the car, as a good percentage of her driving will be errands that my wife is currently doing. If she's doing family business, there's no reason the family shouldn't pay. But I also favor her bearing a good deal of the expenses. I agree that it can have a direct relationship to them taking responsibility for the car, which is important to teach. |
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I had a car in high school, which my twin brother kept our first year in college (at my school, Freshman were not allowed cars), but he was in the city, so it was a bit of a pain for him. Sophomore year, I kept the car, which was nice at times, but a big pain more often (people wanting to borrow it, being foolish enough to say yes), just another thing for my already-overwhelmed head didn't need....things were a bit unstable, I had no money, I was partying too much, it was just another distraction, another burden, and it just was kind of...a crutch. Made it real easy to be one of those suitcase college kids. I did kind of 'need' the car, though, since I went to NIU (DeKalb, IL) and when I went away to school, my parents moved out of state (to St. Louis and Connecticut); nice, huh? Anyway, if your family situation is somewhat 'normal', the kid isn't too far away and other transportation to and from (you pick them up, they car pool with locals, Amtrak, Greyhound, cheap flights) are an option, I wouldn't recommend sending junior away to school with a car. I mean, if you and they couldn't afford the car, that wouldn't be an option, so why is it just because you can...does my reasoning make sense? I think for most kids, it's a burden and responsibility they don't need and many can't handle, whether you're aware of that at the time or not. Remember, college freshman are 18, which doesn't make them adults anywhere except in the eyes of creditors and the armed services, IMO. |
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2 of my kids went to college 500 miles away, and we got very tired quickly of transporting them to and fro or paying for airfares. I love not having to do that! My oldest child's car was a stick shift, which few college students can drive, so it didn't become the "dorm car". All I'm saying is it's not a bad idea to have college (or elsewhere -- one of our kids joined the Navy) in the back of your mind as a possibility when you consider a car for a high school student. It may not work out -- the car could get wrecked or be mechanically unsound, they could become commuter students -- but a car that gets good gas mileage and has enough room to tote stuff has the potential to save you shopping for yet another car come college time.
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| ...in that case, it made more sense, financially and from a time standpoint, for your kids to have cars. 500 miles is a pretty long way, especially with $3+ gas, and running there and back TWICE (to both pick your kids off and drop them off) at holidays or other breaks would be obnoxious and expensive. I was about 300 miles from my mom, that was bad enough, though gas back then (1987-88) was pretty cheap, so even with a large car (77 Caprice), I probably only spent about $20-25 each way on gas. | |
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