dubi said:

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Our son's $1500 civic was totaled. Cheaper to buy another than get full coverage.

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You're not wrong. But in my experience it was still stressful to get totaled car out of storage lot, sold to a salvage yard, broker that whole deal, and throw down for a replacement automobile at a time we weren't counting on doing all that. I just make them pay me the extra $$ each month for the peace of mind that comes with full coverage. But you're right, that probably doesn't totally make sense from a purely financial perspective.

I totaled my truck this year (cost of repair exceeded pre-wrecked market value) and only had liability on it. Had to get it out from the tow yard over to a repair shop for estimate, sold it to a guy at that shop after getting the estimate back, got pre-approved for a loan at my credit union, and went car shopping for a replacement. Took me 2 days of vacation time from work. Was kind of a hassle and lost more in vehicle value than I saved in insurance premiums.

But I still think I would have gone with liability only again on that vehicle assuming a less than 100% chance of wrecking it.

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It's amazing that there are any drivers alive over 30.

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True.

But if I can select an affordable vehicle with side airbags, i would do that to protect them. My kids did not have that in their first cars.

Rexter said:

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I've got a '93 f150 that I went thru. Runs perfect and is mechanically sound. Paint is a bit faded and has a couple of dings. I dropped $2500 into the mechanicals since I needed something to drive all over the state.

$2800

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Pics and where at?

agracer said:

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Aust Ag said:

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Or actually, vehicles for twins!

Mine turn 16 next month, and are wearing me and my wife out about "getting" them a car. Daughter has no money, and not that choosy. Son has a little money and more choosy, wants a truck. 6 months ago, this wasn't an issue, they were going to just drive our cars around when we didn't need them. Now....after 90% of their friends parents have outright given them $10K plus vehicles, (over half are driving $20K+ rides, a couple new cars), they pretty much are expecting something when they turn 16 in January. Big source of resentment on both sides right now.

Wife and I were going to just let them work for it over the next year, but what slows things down on that front is my son is a football player, and he messed his ankle up bad to the point he can't work over the holidays, probably into Feb. Daughter is a cheerleader and they keep her busy. Church activity once or twice a week at night. Not much opportunities to work for either. Weekends are really the best option for them. Either way, after school/weekends its' a long climb at minimum wage. But it's going to be happening, soon.

Bottom line is, I don't want to or really have the $$$$ ability to provide two kids at once, 2 vehicles...along with the insurance, save for college (for 2). Don't understand why parents just give kids nice rides, but that's another subject.

I guess I'm just looking for stories from parents that have had to deal with this lately...not "Well, when I was a kid...". I get that angle. And I'm afraid of just getting them each a beater, that always has issues, drips oil in my driveway, etc. Then they'll be hitting me up to get it fixed for them.

Any creative ways around all this?

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A bicycle.

And consider yourself lucky. In our school district there are kids driving brand new $30-$40k cars....

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Well, I was lowballing it. My daughter got picked up this morning in her friends' '16 Benz.

Again, part of my problem.

I had a brand new F150 the summer I turned 16. Drove it through high school, college, and law school.

I hope my kiddo doesn't expect that from me. That said, I'm going to get her a car at 16 and will cap the budget at X amount. If your kids are being that way, I would tell them either quit after school activities and work for a vehicle, or go with the original plan of driving yours when you aren't using them.

The one thing I have going for me, is 1ags is my daughter's godfather. I'm sure will be able to find her something in my price range that she can live with.

EskimoJoe said:

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Congrats on your upcoming Panther platform.

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Which will be a base model crown vic with a town car signature series interior

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Most likely a P71 CVPI.

Corps_Ag12 said:

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The Wonderer said:

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I had a brand new F150 the summer I turned 16. Drove it through high school, college, and law school.

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Same, put 145k on the new truck my parents got me in high school. Bought myself a new truck after college.

Just because a kid drives a nice car, doesn't mean they don't appreciate it. That's on the parents.

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My truck was clean and in perfect condition when it was totaled. Kind of miss it more than 2010.

First car was a '91 Grand Am from my aunt. She was trading it ina and offered to sell it to us at what they were offering ($4500). My parents told me that I had 2 days to find another car with that budget or I'd get that. Found a '89 Mustang LX 5.0 for like $6k, but my parents wouldn't budge. Drove the Grand Am throughout HS and until my senior year at A&M. My dad gave it to my cousin who drove it through HS.

The Wonderer said:

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Complaint Investigator said:

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The one thing I have going for me, is 1ags is my daughter's godfather. I'm sure will be able to find her something in my price range that she can live with.

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Congrats on your upcoming Panther platform.

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In all seriousness, I'm in the same boat with my oldest. We are leaning toward the cheaper car solution since it is likely to get banged up.

Didn't have a car until I was 22 and got access to a shared car with my siblings (Grandpa's 15 year old '98 Oldsmobile 88). If I needed to go somewhere I could borrow one of my parents' cars or get a ride with a friend. Just because they want cars doesn't mean they need cars.

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Complaint Investigator said:

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I hope my kiddo doesn't expect that from me. That said, I'm going to get her a car at 16 and will cap the budget at X amount. If your kids are being that way, I would tell them either quit after school activities and work for a vehicle, or go with the original plan of driving yours when you aren't using them.

The one thing I have going for me, is 1ags is my daughter's godfather. I'm sure will be able to find her something in my price range that she can live with.

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Cant decide if its going to be a CVPI or a Delta 88 on 23s.....regardless I'll make sure it has impressive tires. Need to see if the bedliner place can spray candy colors...

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Make sure they can put a bug guard in bedliner on the hood

We bought the oldest kid a 7 yr old Volvo S60 for around 7k. It was a love-hate relationship for me due to the quirky mechanical issues but he loved the car. The second kid drove it as well. She also loved the way the car drove. The car met it's fate in a hail storm.

We replaced the Volvo with a '12 Mazda 3. It's a LOT of car for the money. Great gas mileage and plenty of safety features. Unfortunately those features were tested 10 days after purchase in a multi-car accident that included a Tahoe rear ending the car at 35+ mph. The kid walked away without a scratch.

We replaced the totaled '12 with a '14 Mazda 3.

WaltonLoads08 said:

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MouthBQ98 said:

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They were killed because they were terrible inexperienced new drivers with little concept of their own mortality and an inability to appreciate and understand the risks they were taking by not driving to both their own and their vehicles limitations, if you want to get to the truth of it. It's sad but true.

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Unfortunately, two were killed when a drunk driver t-boned them in their early 1980's Honda that had very little in the way of safety equipment.

I guess now that it's almost a couple decades later, this probably isn't as much of an issue as most cars that these kids will be driving will be year 2000+ models.

You definitely don't need to spoil kids, but I would be careful about what I let them drive.

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My cousin lost a daughter at around 17, she was driving a newer Tahoe and left the edge of the road. She didn't recover correctly end ended up flipping the thing, so my thoughts tend to be to keep the center of gravity lower to the ground.

Aust Ag said:

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agracer said:

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A bicycle.

And consider yourself lucky. In our school district there are kids driving brand new $30-$40k cars....

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Well, I was lowballing it. My daughter got picked up this morning in her friends' '16 Benz.

Again, part of my problem.

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I'm guessing from your username they're at Westlake? I knew a few people over there, all of them were idiots that totaled new Acuras and whatnot. One of them even totaled a new Jeep and wrecked its replacement in the span of about 6 weeks.

So yeah, my vote is something used and possibly Panther platform.

my kid drives a '13 Camaro

has blind spots to work with but won't flip

Good luck OP

I'm a few years out from having to worry about this, but a semi-reliable beater seems worth the money it would cost to stop being a suburban taxi driver.

Cars are status symbols, no getting around that, though I'm hoping that 16, I can get my kids around to the long view on that one. People want nice cars/status symbols to show the rest of the world that they have tons of cash, whoever controls the cash gets to set that among their priorities.



My first car was a rust bucket Mustang SVO that had nearly every major and minor component fail in the six years I owned it. I fixed nearly everything that I had the tools/equipment to do myself. It taught me the value of mechanical work and a decent bicycle. I loved cars since I knew what they were, so having something unique was super important to me at the time. What I ended up with was a pretty good compromise of beater value and interesting enthusiast choice. In hindsight, I wish that I would have been more satisfied with a 2wd Toyota pickup, it would have made my life a lot easier.

I'm within a year of dealing with this issue. Boy will be 15 in Feb. I've been trying to get a feel for what he's interested in. Only thing really catching his eye is the WRX - 2012 ish model year. I'm not crazy about it. Too fast IMO.

My truck and wifes explorer are 5 years old. He's not really interested in the explorer and wife is adamant that she doesnt want a new car (payment).

I've jokingly told him he could have my truck if we could convince the wife to let me buy a King Snake. I'm not sure I want to go back to a mustang for a daily.

I had a line on a 97 Jeep with only 82K on the clock - he didn't like it. It drove like a 20 year old Jeep.

My personal issue is that when I turned 16 my parents bought a $500 buick skylark 1980. Tranverse mounted v6 that ran on 5 cylinders. Had a bent cradle that kept it out of alignment until we found it and replaced the cradle. My father and I worked on it and I drove it through HS. It was a good bonding experience and I learned a lot - ultimately helped guide me to A&M because i wanted to become and engineer and fix the BS issues on the car design.

Wouldn't mind getting something we could work on together but since i'm in better financial condition than my parents - I don't have the time or patience to fix something older.

Anyway - I'd like to get him something more in-line with what his peers will have or something that would hold some value and be interesting. I'm not in love with the Accord/Camry route. I'm afraid it is more about what I would want as a 16 year old.

It's also difficult not to consider Uber - $12/ride from School to Home when the wife and I can't pick him up. Much cheaper than car/insurance/worry about him driving etc.

Still have time.

dubi said:

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Only thing really catching his eye is the WRX - 2012 ish model year.

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Why does a vehicle need to catch his eye? How about he doesn't get any say in the purchase unless he writes the check?

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I'd like to get him something more in-line with what his peers will have

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Seriously? When did this become a requirement?

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Not a requirement - Just something I would like. He's a good kid. I have all the same concerns you guys are talking about. It will be something I pay cash for and likely under $10K. Unless we stick with Uber.

Just remembering how I felt driving a POS in HS and College. It did give me some drive to accomplish more in my life.

dubi said:

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Quote:

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Only thing really catching his eye is the WRX - 2012 ish model year.

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Why does a vehicle need to catch his eye? How about he doesn't get any say in the purchase unless he writes the check?

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I'd like to get him something more in-line with what his peers will have

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Seriously? When did this become a requirement?

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It's not a requirement, but if the kid likes the car, they're more app to take care of it.

The Wonderer said:

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dubi said:

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Quote:

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Only thing really catching his eye is the WRX - 2012 ish model year.

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Why does a vehicle need to catch his eye? How about he doesn't get any say in the purchase unless he writes the check?

Quote:

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I'd like to get him something more in-line with what his peers will have

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Seriously? When did this become a requirement?

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It's not a requirement, but if the kid likes the car, they're more app to take care of it.

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What the hell, hot rod it, tear it up, and dad will buy me another one that catches my eye

dubi said:

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Quote:

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Only thing really catching his eye is the WRX - 2012 ish model year.

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Why does a vehicle need to catch his eye? How about he doesn't get any say in the purchase unless he writes the check?

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I'd like to get him something more in-line with what his peers will have

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Seriously? When did this become a requirement?

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Why do you care so much about how other people spend their money? There is nothing inherently better about giving a kid a crappy car if money isn't a big factor.