We bought a car for our kids.
I think I mentioned to you guys that Joshua's has a learner's permit, and in a few months, he'll graduate to an actual driver's license.
So far, his driving practice has been in my van, which is working out fine. Once he gets his license and is driving by himself, though, Mr. FG and I didn't really want him using the van.
For one thing, it's a pretty new van, and I'd really like to keep it for years and years.
I'm not saying it's a guarantee that Joshua will get into a wreck when he gets his license (or that there's any guarantee I won't while I drive it!), but Mr. FG and I would prefer for him (and the girls, eventually) to drive something else.
We'd been keeping an eye out for a while, but geez, used cars are really expensive right now. Most of what we saw was only a couple thousand cheaper than a new small sedan, so we were feeling pretty discouraged.
But then recently, Mr. FG had to work from home for some training, so he and I went for a walk at lunchtime together those days. Because of that, we happened to see that a neighbor was selling an older Honda, and when we got home, I called the number.
He'd just listed it two days ago, and luckily, Mr. FG got finished with training early, so we got to go give the car a drive that very day.
(Not the actual car. Ours is less....shiny.)
It's 9 years old, but it has less than 100,000 on it and it's a Honda, which should be quite reliable. And since it already has its fair share of dings and scratches, it's pretty perfect for a new driver.
(Joshua says he prefers to drive something with scratches! Less pressure.)
We got it for a good price, and it's used, so if it does get wrecked, at least insurance will give us close to what we paid for it (that would not be the case with a new car).
For now, it's pretty cheap to insure, since Joshua just has his learner's permit.
We wouldn't actually have to get it insured right now, because Joshua can't drive on his own. But I'd like him to get really comfortable driving the actual car he's going to be using.
So from now until he gets his license, we're going to practice driving all of the places he'll go, using the new (used ) car.
This purchase is a big financial weight off of my mind and I'm so grateful we were able to get something reliable and safe that was within our cash budget. Yay!
(And it's pretty stylish to boot. Joshua might be a little bit tickled about that....)
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How did you handle the car issue when your kids started driving? Did they use the family car? Did they buy their own?
P.S. Joshua will eventually need to buy his own car. This is a family car, meant for our kids to use, and we definitely are not planning on buying an individual car for each of our kids. Just in case you were wondering... 😉
Sounds like a solid plan. Just brace yourself for the cost of adding a teen driver to your ins.-esp. a male.
I know! It's going to be bad.
At least we only have one son...the rest being girls will save us some money, at least on the car insurance front. 😉
When son got his car I called my insurance agent to see how I could lower my insurance bill. He told me that if my son signed an exclusion form stating that he would not be driving my car then the insurance would go down. The down side being that if he did drive my car no damage would be covered. I saved quite a few hundred dollars this way. He could not drive my car, anyway, it is a standard. It might be worth checking out.
The insurance for a boy wasn't as bad as I expected! But be sure to shop around! We have switched insurance every time we've added a new driver (3 so far and 1 more coming!). It's a pain but the savings have been worth it!
And we are always sure to get insurance that has roadside assistance included. That saves us the extra expense of AAA, etc. and give us (and our teen drivers) peace of mind. We've used it more than once!
Congratulations to all!
The flip side of this is that you can price car insurance through AAA and then gift Joshua a membership for Christmas.
A good plan for your kids-and a good car! Our last new (used) car was a small Honda and it was so fun to drive! I've been driving my Honda for 10+ years with no problems.
Having a 3rd vehicle is really helpful when you have additional drivers - but I will second the 'brace yourself' for when he gets his license. My daughter added about $75 a month to our insurance costs - my son was an additional $110 every month (just because he is a boy).
I really wish my parents had done that for me. I was told to get a job if I wanted to get driving lessons and then I had to buy my own car after I got my license (which took me another year.) I suspect I would've moved out and become more independent earlier if I had but I can see where my parents were coming from, I guess.
My parents did the same for me (making me earn money to pay for driver's ed and my first car), and to this day I am thankful for it. I learned invaluable lessons about work and money and saving up for things by going without other things that I wanted. We are doing things a little different with our kids than my parents did with me, but trying to be sure that the opportunities are there for the kids to learn those same important lessons.
Yeah, and that's important to learn those lessons but I think my parents were too much in the "Go do it yourself" category. Some kids thrive on that but some need help taking the first few steps.
I have a long, long, LONG way to go until my daughter learns to drive so I have plenty of time to plan and think for it.
I'm with you, Battra, my parents were completely UNSUPPORTIVE on this front. They actually made me take a bus to go take my written test!?! It was actually 2 buses and took about 1.5 hours each way (driving would have taken 20 minutes). I'm convinced they thought I wouldn't do it.
I don't think it taught me any lessons but resentment.
Our son won't drive for 4 more years, but I will be following a plan much closer to Kristen's. Tentatively we will get a new-to-us van at that time and the kids will get our well-loved one :).
It's hard to find the right balance there, isn't it? We want to be supportive but we also want them to learn responsibility. And probably the right balance between the two will vary for different kids.
Parenting. It's hard.
(I'm sorry your parents weren't more supportive!)
I think we're going to pay for driver's ed, but Joshua's getting a job this summer and will be paying for at least part of his car insurance.
And of course, when he moves out, he'll need to buy his own car. This is just one for him and the girls to use while they're still at home.
Having two boys, I know all about the increase in insurance by adding them. And the rates don't go down until they're 24. There are usually some kinds of rate reductions for taking a safe driver course and good grades. Not sure how they handle the grade thing with home schooling.
Our kids drove the family car or rode the bus until they could afford one of their own. However, sounds like you have a good plan.
Yes, adding a teenager to your insurance adds quite a bit to your insurance bill. We added our oldest daughter to ours last year when she got her license, and what we found was that you need to shop around! The insurance company that we had at the time was a great value to us when it was just my husband and I, but when it came to adding a new, young driver, our annual cost was going to be astronomical! My insurance agent told me that was simply the way it had to be. Discontent with that answer I started doing my own research and found that we could indeed get a far better price than what she was quoting me, and with a reputable insurance company, too. When I called back and expressed that to her, she started doing her own research and came back with some better quotes, but at that point I figured if I had to do all the leg-work, I might as well skip the broker and deal with the insurance company directly. I actually got a better deal that way than I could get through the broker for the same insurance.
We ended up with Allstate. We like their accident forgiveness program, and you can earn discounts for good driving. Our daughter was able to get a good student discount. That helped. Also, she was older than lots of kids when they get their license, which helped a little, too. Asking questions and doing our own research saved us hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds!) of dollars. I have three more teenagers following right behind her, so it was a valuable lesson.
What a great find. Both of our boy's 16th birthday came really close to the time when we were ready to replace a car and instead of trading the old one in, it became the third car. This time around, he typically drives my Prius since a)I currently work from home 3 days a week and b) the third car is a not-gas-efficient, 10 yo mini van.
Providing a car for our sons to drive was a priority for us since our school district does not offer busing for high school students and the school is in the opposite direction of where hubby and I typically go. (Of course mine varies since as a modern day consultant/contract worker, my location changes with the assignment). I also pay for gas to and from school since I will not tolerate excuse for not getting to school.
But yes, the 16th birthday of my son doubled my car insurance premium.
I took my drivers test in 2002 in my parents' new Prius. I loved that car!
Be sure to check on any discounts that are available too, I know you home school but also if he will be attending college -discounts for good grades. We still had to insure our oldest even though he was away at college without any auto, they would not even offer an discount for that.
Good choice on a car! We are sold on Hondas and Toyotas. And...we were pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive it was to add our son (and now our daughter) to our insurance. Since the car was in our name, I think it made a difference. Both our cars have well over 200,000 miles, and other than checking the oil regularly, give no problems. Our first one rusted out way before the engine was bad.
We learned after nearly 20 years with the Gecko that it really pays to switch insurance companies on a regular basis. We saved a ton of money last year when we finally made the switch to Progressive. Also, this seems so obvious, but once your adult kids finish college and move out of your house, they need their own policy. It just never even occurred to us in everything else that needed to be done when our son bought his house.
That's good to know! I'll shop around for quotes when it's time for him to get his actual license.
I was not impressed by Geico. With them, cut rate prices meant cut rate insurance and cut rate service.
Check out USAA, if you qualify (your father was military, right?). I was impressed by the service they gave me when I - not even a USAA customer - was (gently) rear ended by a USAA member.
I agree! I love USAA insurance. Not sure if anyone else mentioned it, but the number of cars vs the number of drivers makes a difference with rates. They assume 3 cars and 3 drivers gives each person their own primary car. Whereas 3 drivers and 2 cars is cheaper because they are shared. Also, they can look to see which car is "assigned" to your son makes a difference in the rate. We had 3 teen/20s boy drivers at once.....and it was not cheap!
Geiko is cut rate insurance, went to Geiko after 30 years with AAA- started with them at age 16. Extremely poor choice. Had an accident for which I was not liable....Geiko sucked. One month later no resolution at all. Back with AAA...no comparison! Some things are worth paying for!
We have three girls - 2 drivers and 1 will get a learner's permit this coming June. We had a 2000 Toyota Sienna minivan with high mileage and 13 years of growing family use. Just before our oldest got her learner's permit, we purchased a new car for the family and passed on the minivan for teen driver use. They did most of their learner's permit driving in the new car as that was the vehicle going to be used for the test. When we needed a car for the oldest last summer, we were fortunate to find a friend of a friend situation and got a 2-year-old car with less than 2000 miles on it for an excellent price (senior citizen driver could no longer drive). Oldest daughter is paying us for half for it over 5-years. Our girls are required to pay a majority of their car insurance. We pay gas for the minivan since we figure they are saving us from doing the running around! By the way - it might not look pretty and it may have a sports smell, but the van is still going strong with over 200K miles! We are praying it makes it at least another 2-3 years.
We have noticed what you noticed with buying used cars. For whatever reason right now, it is not nearly as good a deal as all the personal finance literature portrays it to be. Maybe it's a demand thing -- so many people decided to buy used cars that the prices got pushed up. Also, the vast quantity of different "packages" available (navigation, entertainment, etc.) obscures some of the pricing on different models.
Yeah, there's always an ebb and flow with this kind of thing, and at the moment, it's a good time to be selling a used car but not such a great time to be buying one.
Two other factors are the leasing market and the car rental business. Both businesses keep cars for 3 years or less, so when they slow down their acquisition we know that 2-3 years down the road there will be fewer used cars to buy.
I expect to be in the market for a car soon. Good to know the condition of the used market. Used are (used to be?) a better bargain but more work to find; sounds like it's even more work now. Probably even more so for the types of cars I buy: boring workhorses such as Honda or Toyotas. OTOH, that should mean I get more for my current Honda SUV, right?
The increased price of used vehicles is in large part to the "success" of the Cash-for-Clunkers program, which took many lower-end used vehicles off the market. Auto folks knew this would happen and it would especially hurt lower-end consumers, but politicians like to be seen "doing something for the economy" even if it's a negative for many folks.
Cash for Clunkers had a big impact on the used car market, no doubt. What also happened (also thanks to the recession) is that people are simply hanging on to cars longer. It's good for the environment and things lasting longer is always good but yeah, the youth and lower end are being priced out of the car market.
Indeed, folks are hanging on to cars longer. Increased quality over cars of yesteryear and improved materials and fluids have increased the usable lifespan markedly. Folks forget how bad the "good ole days" of cars really were. I have a '57 Chevy that was originally owned by my grandparents -- you know what the warranty was on it? 90 days or 3,000 miles!
Pros and cons - there's no great gain without some small loss and no great loss without some small gain.
Ma from little house on the prairie always said that 🙂
Can't speak for my kids yet, they are only 10- and almost 8.
But I can say what my parents did. When I got my license, my parents had just bought a new car a few months before so they saved the old car so I could drive it. ( 1976 Chevy Impala station wagon! AKA the Boat Mobile!!! I drove that almost a year. after that they surprised me with a new used car when I graduated high school, catch was I made the payments on the car! And we sold the Boat Mobile! They paid the Insurance until I moved out of the house. Then it was up to me. I think pretty fair! Hope I am able to do the same or pretty close for my kids.
I strongly suggest having Joshua (any any other teen whose parents are reading this) do Street Survival if it's available in your area -- or take a trip to do it if it's not in your area. Most driver education involves discussion on obeying the law, not drinking and driving, not texting, and wearing your seabelt -- and that's it. Street Survival includes classroom instruction, but more importantly involves instruction in how to handle real-world emergency maneuvers in the teen's own vehicle -- something that cannot safely be demonstrated on the street and something you definitely do not want to encounter for the first time on the street.
Instructors are chosen for their teaching skills and ability to deal well with teens, but especially for their demonstrated car-control skills and knowledge -- most have racing experience and some are professional race drivers. I am an instructor in the Atlanta-area events. Street Survival is not a race event, nor do we teach teens racing techniques, but successful racers understand vehicle maneuvers at a level someone who has only done street driving does not. Many folks believe a ticket- and wreck-free driving record means someone is a "good driver," but that is definitely not a good indication of a good driver.
http://streetsurvival.org/
This is good to know. I'm hoping to find an education program that includes driving in all kinds of weather when my kids get to driving age. We encounter many different weather issues in Michigan--sometimes all in one day!
I just think it's crazy that Joshua only has his learner's permit but is taking college classes! That's so amazing 🙂
When your mom has to drop you off and pick you up at college, it might be a little bit embarrassing. Heh. He's a good sport about it, though. 😉
My son was doing the same. Taking some college classes and being dropped off and picked up by mom. He is now driving on his own and we have not bought him a car. Why would we, when he will not be taking a car to college? Most colleges discourage students from taking a car as most do not have room for many to park and most students don't need a car, either. We are running into car issues though. He drives himself on weekends, allowing us to stay in our bed clothes, etc., but school nights when he stays late, we have to pick him up. So overall, another car would be nice, for now, but in a two bedroom apartment with two car parking spots assigned, a third car would need to be parked on the street, which can be hard to find here and to pay for insurance on another car. Yes, our insurance doubled when we added our 18 year old.
I bought my first car midway through senior year of high school, using cash from my savings account. (My parents opened them up when we were 5yr and started getting an allowance, but they never put any money in it - that was our job.) It was a 2000 Hyundai Accent, so about 6 years old and with <50K. I paid around $4K including the title stuff. We bought the car in my dad's name. I was supposed to pay insurance on it, but my dad brushed away the question every time I asked how much I owed him. He does that.
This is affectionately called the "deus ex machina" car, because I had *just* told my dad I was looking for a car because I saw what a burden it was to him to either chauffeur me around or loan me his car for all my activities. It was sitting outside a rehearsal space - literally right in front of my eyes! There are many other instances where it was in the right place at the right time, but that's a longer history than we need here. 🙂
In both this first car and the first new car that I bought to replace it, I prioritized gas mileage over most everything else except basic condition. The only thing I'd wished that first car had was a manual transmission, but that ended up working out because my mom used it while I was in college and thus bought herself three more years to save up for her own new car. She doesn't drive manual.
We had a "teenager car" for all our kids - who are now grown. My husband got a company car so we started our oldest with his old Grand Am and it made it through him. (We sold it on Craigslist when the repairs got too much for us to handle) Then our oldest daughter got her license and we bought a Ford Taurus - off of Craigslist - with 130,000 miles on it. It is now with our youngest, who is a senior in college, and it has 230,000 miles on it. All 3 drove it - and my oldest used it 2 summers to deliver pizzas - and it has worked out very well for us. When they graduate, they can buy their own - one chose to and the other uses public transportation. Congrats on the new car!
Please don't be so casual about dings and wrecks. It's not a pair of skates, if there's a wreck or scratch it could be at cost to someone else as well. I'm sure you understand the gravity but for everyone's sake, make sure they do as well.
Oh yes, please don't think we are taking driving lightly. Joshua just meant that it's nice to not have worry about things like someone else opening their car door into his, or the girls scooting by his car on their scooters and such.
Joshua's a pretty conscientious driver thus far and we are doing our very best to teach him to be a defensive driver, but we also know that statistically speaking, it is quite likely that he'll have some kind of an accident at some point. So, it makes sense to us to buy a car that's safe and reliable but also that is not really high-priced.
I'm biased to think you made a great choice because my own first car when I was a teen was a ten-year-old Honda Accord. Lots of good memories!
I paid for my licenses at 16 and my first (and all of them after) car at 19, and to this day this is something I am really proud of. I worked enought to cover gas, insurances and payments on a brand new car, plus all the things like clothes, outings, school fees, etc. All the extras.
My (single) mom gave me shelter and money to do my own grocery (60$/week, and I could keep what I did not spend). It showed me that in life you need to work if you want luxuries. And for me a car is a luxury. I will do the same for my kids.
My parent did not buy me a car either and I do not resent it a bit. I didnt feel they owed me one and I still dont. I couldnt buy my children a car and not one of them resents it. They understood that they needed to make thier own way in life and they did and they are all doing well. All 7 of them.
We have 2 sons who were both driving at the same time, WOW! Insurance cost! But they never had any accidents or claims.
Supposedly girls are the better drivers but our daughter sure wasn't. She was the one who had the fender benders.
In my experience instructing teens (see my comments above about Street Survival), I find that boys are far more aggressive initially than girls, who are often initially reticent about the emergency maneuvers we teach in the course. This can be an issue if the girl will not drive the car aggressively enough to properly do the maneuver, but not going all-out from the start also makes it easier to progressively increase the aggressiveness instead of having to deal with it right from the start. That often makes for easier instruction.
The year I turned 16, my grandparents sold their 1990 Toyota Corrolla to my parents for its trade in value, it was about seven years old and had about 30,000 miles then. I drove it through high school and college until it was totaled (not by me!). They paid for insurance and the car and I paid for gas with my after school job. My parents said they wanted me to focus on school, not on working. My kids are little so who knows what we'll do when they get older. The thing I remember clearly, and that I will probably do myself, is that even after I had the car and my license, I did NOT have free reign to go anywhere I wanted. I wasn't allowed to drive to school till I was a senior, and after school was limited to to and from work and after school activities. If I wanted to drive somewhere with friends I had to ask every time.
I don't have children, but my parents did buy my first car - a 1987 Dodge Omni in almost white. It was a great car. It was 10 years old when they bought it and had less than 70,000 miles. God bless little old ladies! While my parents bought it outright, I had to make monthly payments to them and I had to pay all of my insurance. I had a part time job at the library at the time and I was only making 4.25-4.50 an hour. I was also responsible for all car related expenses, e.g., gas, oil changes (they never had my brother change the oil, I had to pay to get it done), new tires, wipers, etc. It was a learning experience for sure!
Also I second (or maybe third) the good grades discount. It can really save a bundle. Good luck to you, Mr. FG and congrats on the new (family) car Joshua!
I am glad to see the positive comments about Hondas and Toyotas. We are wondering if it is worth the extra money to go with a Honda over a Town and Country. I also am enjoying all the "Right Place, Right Time" stories, and the fact that others are seeing a trend of high priced used cars. I think that is my signal to wait until we get what we really want.
Both of our vans have been Toyotas and we've been really happy with them.
I had to rent a Town and Country once while my Sienna was being fixed after an accident, and I really, really did not like it as much as I like my Sienna. I was so happy to get my Sienna back! The Town and Country had lots of bells and whistles, but my Sienna drove so much more nicely and it had way more interior space (which is interesting, because the outside measurements of the two vans weren't that much different.) I think the Sienna must just be engineered a little better.
I feel the same about our Odyssey...rented a Town and Country and it seemed like junk in comparison to the Odyssey. But I know others like them...
The Odyssey and the Sienna definitely do have a more sturdy, quality feel to them in comparison. But the only van car rental companies seem to offer are the Caravan and the Town and Country! I tried so hard to get a Sienna or an Odyssey rental, because this happened when we were supposed to go on vacation. But no luck.
(What are the odds someone would back into my parked car the week before vacation??)
We also preferred the Sienna and Odyssey when we were minivan shopping years ago and wound up with an Odyssey 2001. 🙂
Agreed. The T&C has nice fancy bits, but they don't endure well. So it's a fine vehicle to rent but I wouldn't buy one. Too expensive over the long term and I expect to own cars for the long term.
We bought our 2008 Caravan used in 2012. It was $17,000. The same car lot was selling a 2008 Odyssey for 30k. We wanted to pay cash, so we went with the Caravan. We love it and have driven many miles in it with our 4 kids, and love the Stow and Go. We're missionaries heading overseas soon, and we've already been getting offers from people wanting to buy it from us when we leave. Definitely not sorry that we went with the cheaper option.
Our current drivers both were provided with a car (by us) when they went to college. Both lived at home for college and commuted, hence the need for a car. We handed down our oldest (2000) car to the first kid who drove, and bought a used and very basic (no electric windows, etc) car for my husband. The second kid to drive got a hand me down (very old) from an extended family member. Already had some damage, and was old, so it's the perfect car to insure for a boy! We pay for insurance, they pay gas. Each work part time. We feel that college is their 'job' right now and getting through that in 4 years (done!) is more cost efficient than them working more to pay for more of their own expenses, but taking longer to get through college.
I love the idea of having one car that all the kids can use as teenagers living at home - I never would've thought about it that way.
My mother had decided pretty early on that she would match each of the three kids savings for their first cars and 2 years of college.
Practically speaking, she helped my brother purchase his first two cars and some of his community college classes; she helped my sister with 3 years of college (she didn't get a car until after graduating university); she gave me my first car (her previous vehicle, a 10 year old purple grand am with around 160K miles) when she bought a new-used car (I ended up not needing assistance with college costs). We were all responsible for our own car insurance, gas, car repairs, etc.
Yay for old Hondas! My 1999 is still going strong. As long as I don't roll down the driver's side window.
When I was in middle school, my father told me that if I made straight A's for three years in high school, he would buy me a car. What he meant was apparently that he would buy a pickup truck and give me exclusive use of it for my senior year. (Actually, I loved that truck. It was a little candy-apple red Nissan.) Later, when I was allowed to bring a car to college, my grandparents gave me some money to buy a used car. (From the "value" section of Carmax.) They paid for my college, so this was just an extension of their support.
I'm extremely grateful, and I'd like to note that there was a budget--I had x amount of dollars and I had to make it last.
I had a Toyota that was almost paid for so I let my daughter have that and I got a new car for myself. She did pay for the insurance with her part time job while she was in school. We had to help her pay that a few times but now she has moved out and is paying for her own car.
Our daughter learned in the family car and even took her driver's test in that car. Then my ex brother-in-law had an old beater car that he gave to us (trade in value was not worth it) that was actually my father's car. It was about 12 years old. She drive that car for her last year of high school and then a short time at college. She eventually got an RA job at college and had to be there before students arrived and stay until students left every semester so she really couldn't hitch a ride from other students. Since that job cut down on her college expenses, we used the money we would have given her for college, to buy her a really decent car for going back and forth. And it just so happened to be that car she wanted at a great price.
I have no kids at this point... but my parents had bought a new car and gave me their old one. I started driving in 2002 and got their 1995 Dodge Neon. I LOVED THAT CAR. When I used it to take to college (an hour away through a steep, high-elevation mountain pass), it kept dying. And it'd die right on the pass, in bad weather. After that happened 4-5 times and my parents had to drive to help me....
I was surprised wtih a different, newer, used car. It was a 2002 Ford Escort. I had that up until last month. Also loved that car. I felt awful getting rid of it... but I got stuck 3 times in the snow this past winter...and finally upgraded to something with AWD. I now have my first payment...and feel lucky 🙂
I really wanted a Neon when I was a teenager! They were such cute cars.
My daughter will have here permit in a few weeks. She's also been learning to drive in my Sienna. The back up cameras are an excellent tool, although I don't want her getting too comfortable using them 😉 We've been looking at some used cars. I'm very partial to Hondas myself. I loved my Honda Accord but we had to switch over to the Sienna after baby #3 came along.
Here in NJ all kids are required to take drivers lessons before getting their permit. Very proud that my 16 yr old has saved money from her job to pay for it herself! $325 is not cheap!! I checked into insurance and they reccomended putting the car in our name instead of hers to make things cheaper...but that's still an extra $200 a month!! *sigh*
It is sort of weird that you can get your learner's permit before you take driver's ed here. Joshua's going to end up taking driver's ed after having lots of hours of driving under his belt! I'm sure he will still learn some things, but a lot will be review for him.
We chose to opt out of Driver's ed with our son. We've lived in 5 different states between us with different driving laws. We just got a book from the revenue office & he studied it to pass for his learner's
The only down side is that we could have gotten a discount for it on our insurance.
My parents paid for drivers ed, but I had to use one of the family cars. They bought me a car when I was going into my junior year of college because I transferred and started commuting. Repairs were usually on me and I took on insurance when I graduated. I bought my second car (a 3 year old vw bug) with some help from them a year and a half out of college.
I wish I could have had my own car in high school but I lived in a very walkable area and could borrow the family car often so it worked out.
When I was growing up, Driver's Ed was a regular course at the high school, like Math or P.E. We had a semester of in-class instruction, including the effects of drugs and alcohol on driving, and six weeks of driving in the school's Driver's Ed car, which came equipped with two sets of brakes and a stern football coach. My husband grew up in another state, but it was the same for him. In our states, it was required, before one could get a permit, to take the driver's ed classroom course, even if it was a night course for adults, also offered at the high school.
My dad bought my late grandfather's car for us kids when I was in high school. Before that, we just used the family car, but since we had a farm, we always also had a pick up truck as well. And, my mom didn't drive -- she didn't learn to drive and get a license until she realized her last child (me!) was going to leave home and she'd be stuck at the house all day with no way to go. I was the only kid I knew who had a mom who didn't drive, but it meant my siblings and I got lots of experience, driving her around.
My husband and I gave our kids his used little pick up when he got a company vehicle, and then bought each child a used car for finishing high school. Both were commuting to college for a year or two and had a 60 mile trip each way, so it wasn't like he or I could take them. That was all I planned to do, but my husband was so proud of each child for graduating college, he bought each of them a brand new car. You know daddies and their girls.... One got a 2005 Honda Civic brand new, and she still has it -- it gets driven every day. It's never needed any repair, just brakes and tires and such. She loves it.
I had the same set-up with Driver's Ed as a class in school and the driving instructors were also the football coaches. I was always amazed by the nerves of steel they must have had to take a bunch of new drivers out on the road.
In high school, I drove the hand-me down minivan or our truck. When I went to college, my parents bought a used Dodge Duster for me (but it was in their name). Even though I only used it on the weekends, I really liked having the ability to get off campus. I drove that car all through college until I bought my own (used) car after I started working.
I really appreciate my parents' support in that way and think it can be a mistake to push kids to take on too much financial responsibility related to cars if it makes them spend too much time/energy on a low-wage job versus on their studies or other activities with more long-term payoff. (I did have various PT jobs through high school and then well paid engineering co-ops in college, so I still did work but was able to put my money elsewhere other than car expenses.)
We let our son drive on private property (off road) very early, probably 9 or 10? & he was driving a small tractor earlier than that. He got his learner's at 14, the legal age in our state, & drove 2 full years with a licensed adult driver before he could legally apply for a limited driver's permit. In our state, you can only drive with an adult driver in the car, not a licensed teen driver. We are so glad we gave him literally years of driving experience before he was off on his own. I really can't understand parents making their kids wait until their 16 to get a learner's, practice for 6 months then let them go out on their own? They don't even get one full year of driving in different seasonal conditions.
We already drive old cars, a 1990 Geo Prism & a 2000 Honda Civic. In 2009 he was 16 & had been driving both our cars for years. Each grandmother gave him $1000 & we added another $1000 so for $3000 we were able to get him a 1998 Honda Accord (which his dad now drives to work). He drove that until just recently when he & his wife bought a new car. He gave it back to his dad, knowing his dad would want it.
Because all of our cars are old & used, though very well maintained & dependable, our insurance has always been reasonable. For our son we got a discount for having 3 cars plus a good grade discount.
We bought a (very) used car before our oldest got his license...because (we thought) I was a good deal. Unfortunately, the engine caught fire within 3 months of him driving it & it was totaled.
So, we purchased a more reliable ...aka MUCH more $$$ ... and he drove it, then his sister & he shared the car for awhile, until she totaled it on the ONLY icy day we had that winter!! Off to buy another (insurance gave us a great dal on that one). We bought another very reliable car which they shared for a bit. But...living 5 miles out in the country, with both kids in different after school activities, we decided on a 2nd 'kids' car. This time we went to a friend that had a body shop & got a wrecked newer car for our daughter. (she drove that car from her junior year in high school until 6 years AFTER she got out of college!!)
For our youngest, we bought an older (reliable model) from a co-worker of my husband's & he drove it from age 16 until he was almost through college.
So, even though, there for awhile, it seemed like all we were doing was buying used cars...we learned our lesson and realized we should hav spent a little more from the get-go for based car. Live & learn.
To keep insurance costs down, he can also be "excluded" from the policy on your other cars, which would require him not to drive them, but would ave on costs!
We were in the middle - I had a part time job from when I was 15 so bought my own car but my parents matched what I saved myself
I had a Honda Civic from 2005 - 13 and looooved it so much. Great, reliable little car.
We were fortunate that our eldest wasn't interested in driving until her second year of university (she lived in the dorms freshman year). My husband had a small inheritance which he used to purchase a brand new car for himself, and his car was handed down for her use (we still own it). Because she was already 20 and a good student, the insurance was not too expensive.
My daughter is only 4'11", so we installed pedal extensions to allow her to sit well back from the air bag. My youngest will be old enough for driver's ed this summer, and she is only 4'10" so she will learn on that car, too. And since my eldest works nights, the car will be available to the youngest during the day. Eldest is hoping to get into medical school beginning fall of 2017, and she will have earned enough at that point to buy her own car, passing the family on to her younger sister.
I'm sure every state is different but when I added 2 teenage boys to my car insurance (Allstate that we had for at least a decade) they wanted to raise my insurance rate a crazy amount. I called around and I was quoted $1250 a year less for the 2 boys by switching over to State Farm. Definitely call around. It surprises me that insurance companies would rather lose a customer than price match. So stupid.
I will also state shop around for insurance crazy but true. Our oldest is 20 & before he got his license we found a cheap car for our childrens starter car. Our 18 yo daughter is still driving it & our 15 yo hopes its still around for him next May when he gets his license. Here in VA you have to have your permit for 9 months no matter when you get it before you get your license which I think is pretty cool. Also for a year only 1 extra passenger unless siblings/parents. We pay all insurance until they graduate hs then they have to pay their own. Our daughter is currently trying to find a used car before she graduates in May gracious they are expensive, her savings is only so large, our oldest had the same problem but he found something thankfully. Definately have him in some kind of drivers training it helps a lot on insurance & no you doing it yourself does not count. Ours are in public school so got their training there which was great 🙂 also put any cars in your name it cuts down on insurance also even if he buys one, have him as the second owner.
also would like to say we are farmers so our kids "drive" before they even get their permits which helps bunches in their ability but unfortantly not all kids have that orpuntinty
well I read you all the time but never commented before, but I just want to tell you I am on my 4th honda civic! I had a 78, 88, 2000, and now a 2013. the last two were new. the 88 engine died at 250,000 miles! the 2000 I sold with a similar amount of miles before it broke down and got another civic! they are SO reliable and just a great car all around.
A friend of ours was going to trade in a 15 yr old subaru wagon and sold it to us for the trade in value, about a three thousand dollar discount. our son saved up and paid us off (he was too young to drive when the deal came along, it sat in our yard for a year), then got to register it and stuff. there are great deals out there if you are paitient, and/or can pick one up and let your kid pay you back. Good Luck!
Ooh, so glad you de-lurked! Yay!
That's so great to hear that your Hondas lasted a long time. We hope ours will too.
Because my sister and I are only 18 months apart, my Dad bought us a little Mazda sedan once we both had learner permits. It was technically new, but he got a great deal on it because it was the dealer's test drive model.
He paid for insurance and reasonable gas, but the trade-off was that we had to chauffeur anyone in the extended family who didn't have wheels and run errands without complaint. So at 16, when I got my license, I took over grocery shopping for the family (which my Mom said was totally worth the cost of insurance).
My dad taught all of us to drive on that little Mazda, as well as many of our friends - if you were a newly licensed driver, you had to do a 30 minute lesson with our dad before we were allowed to be a passenger in your car.
By the time my younger sister was learning to drive, I was old enough to be her licensed driver which was an eye opening experience and made both of us better drivers. She drove that litle Mazda for ten years after she got her license, and she'd probably still be driving it if some drunk guy hadn't totalled it while it was parked on the street.
Hi,
I'm from Nova Scotia, Canada. My son started driving my 2 year old Mazda 3 when he first got his licence. Only a couple of bumps and scratches over the past 2 years. Since he took driver training, my insurance didn't go up very much. Perhaps only $40 per month. I find it useful that he can drive so he can help me drive his sister places!
My daughter started waitressing when she was 14, saved her money, and bought a used '93 Honda Accord when she was 17 for $4000. That was 13 years ago. That little car is still being used by my sister-in-law. My 2004 Honda CRV just turned over 200,000 miles and is still going strong. 🙂
Wow, that's awesome!
Driving is a privilege, not a right! The privilege must be earned with responsibility. So it doesn't matter if you've bought the 2016 car off the lot for your child, or if your child bought the clunker down the street.
Hello Kristen,
please make sure to check if the Airbag has been checked and changed. There is the ongoing recall of the Airbag (Takata or something like it) and mostly used cars seem to fall through the Loops of beeing checked! It is otherwise rather dangerous if you get into an accident.
Katja
Yup, we did a Carfax report which gave us the history of all the recalls for the car, so we are good to go!
Our oldest inherited the car that he came home from the hospital in 🙂 Rachel inherited our old mini-van. And from that point, their dad (no longer my husband) bought each of them their own car. Oy. So Kaleb has a truck, Rachel drives a Nissan Altima and Kara has a Hyundai Elantra. Each was purchased used at less than 6k. I'm very thankful that my kids' dad is so generous, but I also worry that my kids do not quite understand what an enormous gift this was for them...
My parents - meanies! - required the following after I got my license:
Change a tire in front of Mom and/or Dad
Ditto with jumping the battery and checking the oil
Log 500 miles (total, post-license) driving with a parent in the car
After all that I was allowed to drive by myself. It didn't drop insurance rates, but in those pre cell phone days it reduced their anxiety.
My husband is an insurance agent with State Farm. In North Carolina, no matter who your insurance is with the price for an inexperienced driver is exactly the same for boys and girls and age doesn't matter. You pay the same rate for inexperienced driver if you get your license at 16 or at 56. Our daughter is 19 and still has her permit, not her license. She is homeschooled and doesn't really need her license right now. We take her to and from her part time job. When she gets another job this summer with more hours she plans on getting her license and paying for the increase in insurance. Ours will go up over $100 a month just to add her to our plan. It's crazy, but it is what it is.
Back when our son had a learner's permit, our insurance company had some discount programs for kids with a high grade point average and those who took a driver's ed class. He qualified for both of them and it helped take some of the sting out of the bill.
My parents were brave enough to buy my sister a new convertible Mustang when she turned 16! I ended up with the car as well, which was a fun yet inconvenient driver (not so useful for moving to and from college!). While I'm not sure if my parents would do it all over again, having a car like that taught me a lot about having a reliable mode of transportation is better than having a hot rod. You can be sure that our kids will also be getting an old, used Honda. 🙂
My parents did not buy a new car for either me or my brother when we got our licenses. We just used the family car(s). Eventually when I needed a car to commute to and from law school, my parents gave me one of the (very old) family cars and they upgraded one of their cars. My brother and I also often used my grandmother's car as she lived with our family for about 10 years and only used her car occasionally for short trips around town.
The car I currently drive was jointly purchased by me and my parents several years ago and I plan to drive it as long as possible. We had to get a new (used) car since the car they had given me to drive to school had been totalled when a tree fell on it in a windstorm.