NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm just throwing a question out there to get some responses. Should a teenager's first car be a brand-new car that their parents buy for them, or should the teen try to raise enough money themselves to pay for at least half of an older, used car? Just wondering.

Used, so if they crash it, their parents won't be quite so pissed at them. :p

Then when they go to college or graduate from college, they can get a nice new car that will last for awhile.

People shouldn't get cars at all. They should take public transportation, or private jets.

Private jets? Do you have any friends who have private jets? I sure don't. And public transportation doesn't always go to where you need to go, like out to visit grandma way on out in the boondocks somewhere.

What are your legs for then? (And don't say for pressing the accelerator)

Personally, I think that one of the silliest things on this planet is car payments. The teenager should buy her own car--ideally a late 1980's American car that is easy to fix. Show her where the spark plugs go, how to change the oil and replace a fan belt.

It's much easier to maintain older cars than new.

If a $500 car only lasts a year, then consider the payments at under $50/month. Certainly a new car depreciates faster than that.

Besides, her 1978 Nova or 1985 Cadillac will impress the boyz.

E.

My parents bought me my first car. It was a 1989 Mitsubishi Lancer (this was in 1998, mind). It's not that I'm a spoiled little rich kid or anything, but the parents wanted me to have something that wasn't so expensive that the insurance would be astronomical, but new enough to be reliable. I mostly grew up in rural Queensland and used to travel fairly long distances in those days to visit friends and family. My parents lived in mortal dread of me breaking down in the middle of nowhere.

Wrote the blasted thing off in the middle of Beaudesert on Show day. Geez it was a nice car. :(

People shouldn't get cars at all. They should take public transportation, or private jets.

You don't live in the country, do you?

It was sarcasm, with emphasis on the "chasm" between seriousness and sarcasm.

Mea culpa

I think they should get a used car. It helps them get used to owning a car, while not having to deal with the immediate stress of high payments and worrying what would happen if they wrecked it.

My parents bought me a 1998 Saturn SL for $4200 for graduating high school with a 4.0 GPA, getting accepted to college (University of North Dakota, if you're wondering), and earning a $12,000 scholarship. They'd pretty much decided that I deserved it for the work, even though I won't be needing to use it much.

So I think the best option is buy what the person deserves, but not something terribly expensive.

Were I grew up everyone thought that cars were either for lazy people or cripples (basically people with Arthitis and so on). If you have a good strong pair of legs, you don't need a car. I'm 41, never got my drivers license, never needed a car, am not lazy, and can walk anywhere in the city to go where I need.

And if that isn't enough, there's always mass transit.

A teenager should definitely work for and pay for a used car, it would teach him/her responsible financial planning, budgeting (insurance, gas, and any repairs). Buying a car for that teen does nothing other then "Oh well, if I break it, daddy/mommy will buy me another one".....if the teen owns it, he/she is likely to appreciate the hard work that went into purchasing it.