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My oldest daughter, who is 17, will be a HS senior starting in a few weeks. She is a straight A student and takes college classes as well. She is not working yet, but helps in the house.
She hasn't gotten her drivers license yet, but should in September.
We live less than a mile from her school. There is no bus service, no sidewalks and she has to cross a busy road with no crosswalks. Which is why we have driven her for the past three years.
My wife (stay-at-home mom plus teaches my youngest at home) really wants me to get my daughter a car. Since at the moment my daughter is not working and may not the entire senior year, I'm balking at buying a car. My daughter works hard on her studies, so when she is at home, she is mostly studying. She would only need a car to drive the 2 mile round trip to school and back and occasionally meeting up with friends (who have cars but live farther away).
So besides a limited need for a car, I don't see a reason to pay higher insurance which in my area would be over $180 a month just for a car that needs liability. Not including I will have to buy her a car. The car will be sitting in our driveway or parking lot over 90% of the time.
My thinking is to continue to drive her to school for now (or let a friend pick her up) and let her drive one of our two cars when we are not using them. Normally there is always a car available - one car is a minivan. Then towards the end of HS, I will get her a car, then right after HS she can get a part-time job before college and help pay some of the insurance costs. (She is planning on going to a local college to finish up her associates degree first).
My daughter actually agrees with my side. My wife is the one giving me grief. I don't see a reason to have 3 cars right now.
How about your daughter has earned it? And the reason your daughter doesn't go anywhere is because she doesn't have the means to. How about your wife really gets tired of driving your daughter everywhere? And if you think your daughter actually agrees with your side, you're just kidding yourself. She wants to have wheels. She just doesn't want to annoy you.
You know, there's a big difference between being financially prudent and just being a cheap b**tard. Nobody likes a cheap b**tard. Don't be a cheap b**tard.
How about your daughter has earned it? And the reason your daughter doesn't go anywhere is because she doesn't have the means to. How about your wife really gets tired of driving your daughter everywhere? And if you think your daughter actually agrees with your side, you're just kidding yourself. She wants to have wheels. She just doesn't want to annoy you.
You know, there's a big difference between being financially prudent and just being a cheap b**tard. Nobody likes a cheap b**tard. Don't be a cheap b**tard.
What an ugly post. The daughter doesn't work, doesn't appear to have extra-curricular activities that would pose a hardship, doesn't even have a freaking license.
Yes, under the circumstances, it is not only financially prudent, but a complete no-brainer. She doesn't need, and isn't pining for a car.
It makes no financial sense to buy a car, and all the responsibilities that come with it, that's going to be parked the majority of the time. I agree with the others who say you should wait until it's needed.
I know several teens who have no interest in having a car or driving, so I don't believe his daughter is lying.
How about your daughter has earned it? And the reason your daughter doesn't go anywhere is because she doesn't have the means to. How about your wife really gets tired of driving your daughter everywhere? And if you think your daughter actually agrees with your side, you're just kidding yourself. She wants to have wheels. She just doesn't want to annoy you.
You know, there's a big difference between being financially prudent and just being a cheap b**tard. Nobody likes a cheap b**tard. Don't be a cheap b**tard.
Somebody didn't get a free car from Daddy at license time. Try to remember the thread is not about you.
To continue the topic - there is no need to get a car for your daughter at this point.
I drove my kids to school every day from Kindergarten through high school and in high school it was a 40 minute round trip in the morning and then I had to go to work all day. That was torture because school started at 7:30am...
That was how it had to be because my daughter wasn't ready to drive until after she graduated.
The other point that the OP made was that the road to the school has no sidewalk. I wouldn't let my children walk to school on a road with no sidewalk. I didn't.
Buy her the car. She sounds like a great kid who studies hard and does the right things. A car to a kid is more than point a to point b, it is part of the growing up process.
When my twin sons were 14 we started building together their two first cars so they would be finished by the time they turned 16. Those cars were their status symbols and their love. My one said, as we were starting to see his car come together, "This car is going to change my life !" They kept those two cars for years, even after they had enough money to buy brand new cars. Mine too were good kids and it kept them away from drugs and trouble because their money was going into little things for those cars.
You wife is the same as my ex wife , she was the negotiator in the family. She would slip me hints about what I should do about some issue and urge me to be soft when softness was needed. Listen to your wife, she is right, and it is only money.
Buy the damn car, your daughter deserves it and will always remember her first car. It will also make you feel great.
She needs practice driving. A sensible good student is better off with her own car than being driven by her friend or friend of friends. You do not want her walking home from somewhere to get out of bad situation.
Does she give gas money to friends for hauling her around?
Your wife wants her to be more independent & is tried of driving a high schooler. If you want your car to always be available for daughter, she doesn't need her own. It sounds like you want your wife to lose use of her vehicle.
Assist your daughter in getting her license, then address getting her a car when borrowing doesn't work out.
I don't have a teen driver yet, but we plan to provide a car because it will help US tremendously. Both kids are busy with sports and activities and it is nearly killing me to drive them everywhere they need to be. I might even be able to increase my work hours, so it could even out money wise.
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They kept those two cars for years, even after they had enough money to buy brand new cars. Mine too were good kids and it kept them away from drugs and trouble because their money was going into little things for those cars.
