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Back in High School and even College... all the guys I know with cars had to pay for them... no one had a new car and many were quite old... some did what amounted to full restorations over time... the point is we had cars as soon as we could and worked to keep them.
Just about all of my friends buy NEW cars for their kids... one has a daughter in college that must be a spoiled brat... her grandparents bought her a new Miata for High School Graduation... she drove it for the summer and ever since has been wanted a BMW X5... so she can go skiing... she has never had a job and does go to school.
What is it with parents, at least most that I know, buying kids NEW cars?
Generally they are Honda's by the way.
**Split from another thread**
Same here.
When i turned 16, it was a general understanding that if i wanted a car..i was paying for it. Maybe my parents chipped in with registration fees and such, but pretty confident my first car was 95% funded by myself...including insurance, maintainence, etc. This was 1998, so not that long ago...and the car i bought was $4500. I actually ended up not playing basketball my senior year because I chose to work to continue to afford my car, and insurance, and other minor bills I was starting to have then. Some might say this created a hurdle against focusing on my education....but I went to college and became a Mechanical Engineer...so no, it didn't.
Nowadays, parents buy their kids a relatively new car. It's almost to the point where it's expected now. It just goes along with the other things that parents continue to pay for. A coworker here actually pays the car payment and insurance for two college aged children while in school. They both drive new(ish) cars. My car in college (99-03) was a $1500 Lincoln Mark 8 that I worked at the local pool hall to pay the insurance for.
Even college these days seems to be something the parents assume they will pay for. When i went to college, i knew that 100% of the cost would be on me. My parents chipped in here and there for books, but the final school loan balance (nearly 70K) fell on me to repay....and I did within 10 years.
I read an article the other day how children pre ww2 did contribute to household expenses. They would actually work and do odd jobs at young ages or work on the farm or other tasks. After ww2, that stopped as the economy took off and life generally improved. As a child of the 80's and 90's, it was never expected that our parents would pay for everything once we began to work. I, as well as other friends, knew that if we wanted a car, we needed to get a job. So we did as soon as we could. Nowadays, i see people paying for everything for their kid through their 20's. Iphones, computers, cars, etc etc....paid for by parents. Evenchild support in some states goes to 21 or 23 years old. Paying child support on a 23 year old sound rediculous to someone who's parents were married with 3 kids by that age back in the late 70's.
When my son gets old enough, i expect him to contribute to his own expenses as well. I'll help him, but he needs to have some skin in the game as well. Even if i help him buy a car, i'd like to say that he would be expected to contribute 25-50% towards that as well. I just think teaching financial responsibility, and understanding of what a dollar is and how hard it is to earn that is a valueable lesson to learn. Supporting them until their 20's will do more harm than good in my opinion.
Last edited by Jaded; 02-01-2014 at 01:13 AM..
Reason: Split thread
Back in High School and even College... all the guys I know with cars had to pay for them... no one had a new car and many were quite old... some did what amounted to full restorations over time... the point is we had cars as soon as we could and worked to keep them.
Just about all of my friends buy NEW cars for their kids... one has a daughter in college that must be a spoiled brat... her grandparents bought her a new Miata for High School Graduation... she drove it for the summer and ever since has been wanted a BMW X5... so she can go skiing... she has never had a job and does go to school.
What is it with parents, at least most that I know, buying kids NEW cars?
Generally they are Honda's by the way.
I live in an upper middle class suburb. Not even one of my friends purchased a new car for their child, not even one of my son's or my daughter's friends received a new car from their parent or grandparent for either HS or college graduation. Our 27 year old daughter uses my husband's old 1999 Ford Escort and our 31 year old son has never owned a car (disclaimer, he now shares his wife's car).
It is true that many parents helped their child buy a good, but fairly inexpensive, used car or gave them their old car when the parents purchased a new car but it was mainly so that their children could get to and from their part-time jobs.
Relatives of mine had a family income of about $250,000 per year, when their children were graduating from HS & college. They had plenty of income to buy them new cars but did not. They did buy each child a good 5 or 6 year old used car or gave the child their old car when they purchased a different car. When the adult child had a good income they purchased their own new or used car.
Ultrarunner, we obviously live in much different circles.
I live and work in the medical field in the SF Bay Area...
It could be the Bay Area is unique?
The past year two Nurses each bought new cars for their daughters... they were going off to college and they did not want any worries about car repairs far from home... they both bought new Honda Civics and not the stripped down models.
One of the Docs works a lot of ER time... he bought his son a new F150 pickup... said he has seen too many fatalities related to small car accidents...
My father was quite a bit older when I was born... he was a child of the Depression and contributed to the household when he got his paper route... they expected the same from me...
It is quite a revelation knowing most of the kids I know have never had a job... I started paying into social security at age 12... then it was no problem to open a bank account on my own too... the local Bank of America manager said anyone responsible enough to earn a paycheck is responsible enough to have a checking account.
I live in an upper middle class suburb.Not even one of my friendspurchased a new car for their child, not even one of my son's or my daughter's friends received a new car from their parent or grandparent for either HS or college graduation. Our 27 year old daughter uses my husband's old 1999 Ford Escort and our 31 year old son has never owned a car (disclaimer, he now shares his wife's car).
It is true that many parents helped their child buy a good, but fairly inexpensive, used car or gave them their old car when the parents purchased a new car but it was mainly so that their children could get to and from their part-time jobs.
Relatives of mine had a family income of about $250,000 per year, when their children were graduating from HS & college. They had plenty of income to buy them new cars but did not. They did buy each child a good 5 or 6 year old used car or gave the child their old car when they purchased a different car. When the adult child had a good income they purchased their own new or used car.
Ultrarunner, we obviously live in much different circles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner
Ilive and work in the medical field in the SF Bay Area...
It could be the Bay Area is unique?
The past year two Nurses each bought new cars for their daughters... they were going off to college and they did not want any worries about car repairs far from home... they both bought new Honda Civics and not the stripped down models.
One of the Docs works a lot of ER time... he bought his son a new F150 pickup... said he has seen too many fatalities related to small car accidents...
My father was quite a bit older when I was born... he was a child of the Depression and contributed to the household when he got his paper route... they expected the same from me...
It is quite a revelation knowing most of the kids I know have never had a job... I started paying into social security at age 12... then it was no problem to open a bank account on my own too... the local Bank of America manager said anyone responsible enough to earn a paycheck is responsible enough to have a checking account.
I don't think that the Bay Area is unique, I just suspect that I am talking about true upper middle class parents and the parents that you know are far above that level. I am sure that in the very, very wealthiest areas of my city parents do buy new cars for their children. Heck, when I was in HS one of the "movers & shakers" in my home town purchased their son a new top of the line Lotus Europa for HS graduation (1970). It probably cost more than some of the houses of his classmates.
The rich are different from most people. My daughter has a good friend who she met at a language camp. Her parents are extremely wealthy. When the daughter had some fairly serious drug charges filed against her in HS, her father donated a million dollars to the local police department to pay for a new addition to the jail. Somehow, all the charges mysteriously "disappeared". While the daughter's tale to my daughter may not have been 100% accurate I'm sure that the key facts were true. Daughter got into trouble, prominent family threw money around and problem disappeared. That rarely happens to regular people.
Last edited by germaine2626; 01-31-2014 at 11:42 AM..
I live in an upper middle class suburb. Not even one of my friends purchased a new car for their child, not even one of my son's or my daughter's friends received a new car from their parent or grandparent for either HS or college graduation. Our 27 year old daughter uses my husband's old 1999 Ford Escort and our 31 year old son has never owned a car (disclaimer, he now shares his wife's car).
It is true that many parents helped their child buy a good, but fairly inexpensive, used car or gave them their old car when the parents purchased a new car but it was mainly so that their children could get to and from their part-time jobs.
Relatives of mine had a family income of about $250,000 per year, when their children were graduating from HS & college. They had plenty of income to buy them new cars but did not. They did buy each child a good 5 or 6 year old used car or gave the child their old car when they purchased a different car. When the adult child had a good income they purchased their own new or used car.
Ultrarunner, we obviously live in much different circles.
Lots of teens here have very fancy brand new cars bought by their parents. These are not people who would be classified as "rich" in this area, either, but I don't know if they would be in the rest of the country.
Lots of teens here have very fancy brand new cars bought by their parents. These are not people who would be classified as "rich" in this area, either, but I don't know if they would be in the rest of the country.
Some of this is regional. Cars are a big deal in the south, southwest, and California. Not so much in the PNW, parts of the Midwest, or Northeast. This is of course a generalization based on living a million places.
I don't think that the Bay Area is unique, I just suspect that I am talking about true upper middle class parents and the parents that you know are far above that level. I am sure that in the very, very wealthiest areas of my city parents do buy new cars for their children. Heck, when I was in HS one of the "movers & shakers" in my home town purchased their son a new top of the line Lotus Europa for HS graduation (1970). It probably cost more than some of the houses of his classmates.
The rich are different from most people. My daughter has a good friend who she met at a language camp. Her parents are extremely wealthy. When the daughter had some fairly serious drug charges filed against her in HS, her father donated a million dollars to the local police department to pay for a new addition to the jail. Somehow, all the charges mysteriously "disappeared". While the daughter's tale to my daughter may not have been 100% accurate I'm sure that the key facts were true. Daughter got into trouble, prominent family threw money around and problem disappeared. That rarely happens to regular people.
Some are certainly well off... but they all work to support their families... one of the moms is a Nurse and her husband works for UPS... the other is an OR Tech and her husband is a Police Officer.
My neighbor is a grocery store butcher and he bought his only child a new Mustang for her sweet 16 party... they definitely are not rich... both parents drive Fords from the 80's!
My Uncle had a Europa that I helped him cut up into pieces... the car had nothing wrong with it and was maybe 3 years old... it was worth more parted out than it was as a single car... about 3 times as much.
I'm still in the same area where I grew up... no one had a new car back in high school and many had no car... I had an old Chevy pickup and would often give friends a ride home... of course this would now be illegal for a 16 year old to do in California.
Some of this is regional. Cars are a big deal in the south, southwest, and California. Not so much in the PNW, parts of the Midwest, or Northeast. This is of course a generalization based on living a million places.
Yes and no. I grew up (not long ago) about fifteen minutes away from here and almost no teenager had a car. It was the same region but the income level there is a whole lot lower than the income level here. Cars are still considered to be important things there, but it doesn't mean most parents were buying them for their kids.
I see a lot of young teens around my area that drive brand new full-size pick-ups these days. These trucks retail 28k-35k. I don't understand the mindset behind it.
I don't remember a single one of my friends back in high school owning a brand new vehicle. Most were fixer uppers. But that was over 13 years ago.
When our son turned 16 he inherited one of our old vehicles which was just sitting. He pays all maintenance, gas, etc. for it.
That being said, right now he lives at home and commutes to the University campus every day. My husband and I both work from home so our vehicles sit most of the time. We allow our son to drive our cars on occasion since they get better gas mileage or if the weather is bad since mine is AWD.
Don't assume that just because you see a teen (or 20 year old in our case) driving a brand new car that it's theirs. They just might be be borrowing it.
Most people don't know the full story behind a families financial situation and why they have chosen to do things they way they do in THEIR family. Guess it's easier to make snap judgements looking from afar and assuming all young people these days are lazy mooches. Frankly from what I've seen it's quite the opposite.
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