We got each of the 4 kids a car when needed. The oldest in High school got an old green car, she named “the green bean”. First year in college, no car. The next one in HS got a car and drove his brother to school with him. When he left for college, no car, and next in line got a car and had to drive youngest brother to HS. First day of HS driver son gets in fight, youngest hears about it and thinks, How am I getting home today”!

Oldest son was told by DH, “If you live at home and go to college, I’ll buy you a car”! Big mistake! He goes to local Tech school and drops out AFTER time you can get some $ back. He drove car rest of year, worked full time at Target, Next fall daughter was accepted to medical school out of state. Took keys from son and said you get her old car and you WILL be going away to college in the fall and will NOT have a car! It worked for us.

After college my first job was several states away, so I needed a car of my own. Dad took me to a place that sold used Hertz rentals. I financed a year-old Toyota Corolla, kept it for about ten years, never had a problem with it. (Well, other than the fact it didn't have enough horse power to climb hills very well.) DH's story was similar, buying a used car when he started his career. (Oh the joy when we could afford our first new car, powerful enough to go up Afton Mountain without loosing speed!)

We gave our daughter my beloved Mazda station wagon when she moved off campus her last year of college, but she mostly rode the free bus to/from her classes. She kept that station wagon for years before choosing and buying her own first car. For us, it wasn't a matter of us "owing" her a car, it was a logical use of family resources. We had four cars and three drivers. Four cars for two drivers (kid off to school) made no sense, so give her one and keep three for the two of us.

No one has ever given me a car. Or DH either, coming from a family of 10 kids he didn't have his first new bicycle until after we were married ;0)

I saved $300 from a part time job, and with another $300 bank loan that my mother reluctantly cosigned, I bought a $600 used VW bug. I made 6 monthly payments of a bit more than $50. The dealer where I bought the car was a family friend, and he had taken the VW in trade from one of my classmates. HER parents had bought her a newer car ;0)

My parents helped me buy a Toyota Corolla after college so that I could drive to work. I loved that car. It was white with a navy blue interior and I just adored that car.

I should add that when my sons bought cars while in college we helped them with money and car insurance. But it was the same deal - top grades and summer jobs. Our youngest attended college in NYC and didn't have a car but borrowed her brother's or mine during the summer for work. When she graduated and got her first real job we paid for most of her new car. But we tried to keep it fair.

I purchased all of my cars myself. My first when I was 13, got a hardship license when I was 14. I used money from a life insurance policy from my dad. Same for my next two cars. I used the rest of the money for college and living expenses. I only financed a few cars in my early adult years. For both sons we purchased used vehicles for them.

I was the last of four kids, so by the time I got my license, they were happy to quit driving me around. I got my mom's old car. I can even remember what it was. It was white.

My parents didn't believe in giving their kids a car. If you wanted one, you had to save your money and buy it yourself plus pay for your own insurance. It took me till I was almost 26 before I had enough money. It was a 1972 Karmann Ghia that I bought on impluse in 1977 from a friend of a friend. I forget what I paid for it.

Early 90's I got my dads old Ranger truck. It was a manual and had over 200k miles on it. I drove it until I went away to university and then my sister got it. When I came back years later I could hardly find the gears and you could do a big circle with the stick shift but it still ran like a champ. My junior year of college I got a job and was going to walk to work. My dad was having none of that, bought me a used car, and drove it 10 hrs to me. I was surprised it was only a 2 seater and my dad says "oh, didn't notice that. Well good, you won't have a bunch of people in it." WRONG!

My parents gave me my first car (their old one) at the beginning of my last semester as an undergraduate. I think it was a 1967 Oldsmobile 98.

We always had older cars our parents had driven. i was 21 when I bought my first car. A friend's dad had a VW dealership so I bought a brand new bug. Sticker price was $1,999.00, and I think it came to about $2,300 with tax and license. Seemed like a fortune to me then.

I waited until I thought I could afford a new car having seen too many people become poor trying to keep a junker alive. First was a 1979 Toyota Corolla that I could afford. I took a bus to the nearest dealer which appended to be almost the end of the line, two more stops, selected the car among what they had. Had to wait a day for them to agree to the financing. Picked up the next day. Then never looked back. One of the odd things was the sales person when I picked it up mentioned the only credit card I had, JC Penneys, as being the reason I was approved. I had never thought about even having it since the only reason I had it was a winter coat I had paid for using coupons until they issued a card. I remember expecting to have a 10%+ interest and was surprised that it was less than 8%.

Beyond what I did I would ask what your child needs. They are apparently already going to school. If they lived in a rural area perhaps having an alternative other than parents driving might be needed. Although it may not be the same now but at one time the parents car insurance was increased simply because the teen ranger might take the car and do something teenage. Now is the time to nip the I am entitled simply because I exist in the bud. No real need such as to relieve you of driving them to a job or school. events there is no real reason other than their sense of entitlement that they need a car. Do not expect that car to be a clunker either.

My mom and dad bought me my first car in 1973, a 1968 Renault, stick shift. I was 16 years old. Quite often, it was difficult to get it into reverse gear, so I learned to always park in drive through spots. It got rear ended in an accident by a kid I knew who was driving his dad’s Chrysler. My car was a write-off. :(

I then got a 1966 Oldsmobile Delta 88. I loved that car. I still had it when I got married. We ended up selling it as husband came with his own vehicle and it didn’t make sense at that time to own two vehicles.

My daughter bought her own vehicle when she turned 16. She had saved her own money for it.

Oh my. What awful, inappropriate words. Any way to delete the preceding comment?

maifleur,

It's "love" clouding their judgement. Typically, the best child. I still love them deeply. You can't imagine how much I've said NO. They ran their own business one summer at sixteen at our local Farmer's Market (kept up stock, built a clientele, knew how to make change, showed up dependably, shared a tent with another business...), they had an internship at a highly rated University their senior year of high school... GREAT kid. I'll repeat it:

"And actually, it's kind of strange, because normally, they're appreciative (of) anything I give them, never expecting anything."

They applied for a minimum wage job today to pay for a car. Within walking distance.

I'll go back to reading these fun stories now!

Back to the topic- everyone has different parenting techniques and everyone has different financial means but for us, there is no greater joy as parents than to be generous to one's kids who work hard, set and achieve goals, grow to become useful citizens but may need financial help along the way. It's a privilege to be able to help them even if just in a small way to succeed, which they otherwise are doing on their own.

Nobody at school had a car and very few at university. I learned to drive but I didn’t get a car until my thirties when I needed one to get to work. Before that I walked, cycled Or used public transport. When I got a new job I sold the car as I could walk or cycle again. I haven’t driven for years now. My kids are in their thirties. One can’t drive and the other doesn’t want to, although he’s just got a car which he hates and doesn't know why he felt the need for it. We certainly didn’t buy them cars although we did pay for driving lessons for the one that wanted to learn. But we wouldn’t let him use the family car for his own safety.

Elemer you hit the important thing. There is a difference between kids who work hard and those who expect to be given. Nothing in the OP mentioned any working hard only the expectation to be given which is why I posted as I did.

I bought my own car at 20. A 1975 Ford Maverick. I think my parents gave me a couple of hundred dollars, but I paid the balance and 45 years later still remember that my car payment was $75.39.

We allowed the kids the use of our cars for getting to school and their jobs after they became licensed. But when they got their own cars they bought them. I believe we helped them with insurance for a couple of years by allowing them to stay on our policy. I know we did while DS was still in high school. By college DD was taking care of most of her financial obligations. She jumped right into adulting. DS took a little longer and lived with us longer but he covered his own expenses. He bought his first car earlier than DD. He was driving his own to high school.

Got my first car at age 28. Paid cash to friend who was moving to Bolivia. Toyota, probably the cheapest car they made at the time. Did not drive much, as work was just a mile away, so I continued walking. That provided time for a good morning meditation and evening wind-down.

Worked since age 16, but never saved anything toward a car or anything else because I put it in the household pot to help pay the bills, and, believe me, it was necessary. Walked to that job, about a mile and a quarter. None of the kids were given a car. We all worked out sparse transportation among us with the one family car. That did mean, however, that we were pathetically limited in our extracurricular, sports, work, and social life, living out in the middle of nowhere as we did. Shortly before she died, my mother told me how determined she thought I was when I rode a bike into the city to go to a work-study job at a non-profit my freshman year of college. I do not remember being particularly determined; that was just the only way I knew to get to work.

My parents bought me my first car - $600 for a 1968 Austin Cambridge for university. There wasn't a bus route close to us for getting to university so it was a safety issue. We gave the kids a car that we were replacing. It was older, well cared for and not worth trading in so our two sons got it and had to share. They drove the car for a number of years and one son was going to school out of town for 18 months and used it for coming home on weekends.

Our parents bought a shared car for all the kids with a license when my older brother was in, college. It was a general third car, and we all had to work out its use. Before that, we used our grandmother’s car for a few years.

My college graduation gift (BA, BBA on the same day, the university doesn’t allow that anymore) was a car. I was dating a guy who got a computer for graduation, same price as my car! Boy, have times changed.

All of us drive our cars for 10 years or more. Our current vehicle is 13 years old and going strong. (Knock on wood) My late dad bought his car in 2000 and only needs a new battery. Oh, and a timing belt. I think we keep our cars for so long because we just can’t face shelling out the money for a new one, since we didn’t have to do it for our first one!

I started working at 15 and saved enough for a down payment on a car by 16. My father signed the note and I paid it off in 24 months. My parents carried me on their insurance, but I paid the car payment, gas and maintenance. I always worked and because of that missed out on some high school and college experiences.

While I think it's important to teach a child fiscal responsibility, I also think it's important for them to take part in school and after-school activities to learn other life skills like being a part of a successful team, managing people's expectations, working around and through problems, networking, etc.

My parents "provided" me a car to drive when I was going to college. I was paying all my own expenses-- they wanted me to live at home and I couldn't afford to pay for the housing. So they provided a vehicle to drive. Specifically for back & forth to school and work. O.N.L.Y. I was not the problem child. I had good grades in HS and I had a job at 14 and worked from that point on. (It was my older sister that ruined things for me. LOL) 2nd year of college, I was able to afford the housing, and moved. They let me take the car, but made it perfectly clear, same rules applied.

At age 20, when I got my 1st "real" job, I bought a Toyota Corolla 5 speed. I took out a loan, Dad did co-sign, but within 6 months, I refinanced it in my own name. Had that car for about 4 or 5 years. Ran like a top!

We bought both of our kids their 1st cars. No more than 2K each. But they had obligations to us to honor for the privilege to drive. Grades, behavior, they had to contribute to the insurance, etc. Son lost his privilege for a brief stint, but quickly regained it when he realized how serious we were.

My father always said, “ You can get a car anytime you want one, as long as you pay for it”. Getting a car from my parents was not an option. I had jobs and a bank loan that enabled me to get a car right before my senior year of college. It was the same for DH. We both paid every cent of our college educations. We both always had jobs as soon as we could. We did not even know each other at the time.

I still like to work, and do so but with volunteer jobs now.

I wasn't allowed to drive and didn't get my driver's license until after I married, in 1966.

Jody bought me a 1966 Mustang fastback. I wish I still had it.

My first car was loaned to me by my stepdad who was working overseas and not using it at the time. I was studying in the city far rom home and public transport wasn't great. Eventually I bought the car from him, paying in installments.

When DD was old enough and moving away to the city to study, we bought DH's sister's 20 year old car, which she was replacing. We had a mechanic friend make sure it was reliable mechanically and otherwise it just had some cosmetic damage. Sadly, it didn't last long as an idiot woman with a van full of unrestrained children turned from a side street across the front of DD's car as she didn't wait to see if there was another vehicle being masked by a bus in the outside lane of the dual carriageway DD was travelling in. Witnesses said DD did everything she could have to avoid the accident and it was a miracle the children were OK. DD's car was written off by the insurers and we used the insurance money to purchase another.

When I was in college my brother-in-law bought a car from a friend who was in financial trouble. $75. He knew I was graduating and thought my parents were failing me. My mother did not want me in college. She thought it was a waste. Me being a girl and all. My Brother in law thought I deserved some support (I was a honor student ) so he bought this beater car. It was patched together by my dad. I was loaned a car that actually worked to learn to drive. My father drove this somewhat rebuilt piece of junk-an ancient Chevy station wagon-to replace the reliable car they had loaned me-to me at college and left me with this car that you could peel off bits with your fingers (salt air eats metal-Florida) I owe my BIL a permanent debt. I sold that car for more than he paid and bought a !968 Chevy Impala that had been altered as to its carburetor to go like greased spit. For $600 what did I care? And so on? I have bought Asian cars since. We drive a Subaru these days. I was not anxious to learn to drive and my BIL was more invested than he ever knew. Thank you Sam.

What fun2behere said x 100.

We were very much against any working during the school terms and wouldn't permit it, not even during their college years. That time needs to be spent on schoolwork and other available activities that form part of the educational experience. We used to joke that they each had all-expenses paid scholarships from the Family Scholarship Organization but that support would be pulled immediately if the hard work slipped. None slipped, I think it was because they were mature enough to realize they had a good deal that was not worth risking.

Not all kids are as responsible.

"My mother did not want me in college. She thought it was a waste. Me being a girl and all."

Yikes, that's terrible. I'll guess she's not in the Parents Hall of Fame.

My paternal grandmother died when I was 13, and I inherited her car, which was a 1953 Plymouth. I could not drive it until I was 14, however, which was the minimam age in Texas, providing that one took driver's education, which I did in summer school. I did not drive myself to school, but I used the car on week-ends and for running errands for my parents. I wasn't really excited about having a car because I did not like to drive. I did have to drive myself to high school, as the school was ten miles away, but I had a different car by then.

I did not have a car in college or even after college when I lived in San Francisco, as I did not need one, but I did get one when I returned to university at age 34 to get another degree. My parents offered to help me with expenses if I would go to UT Austin, and so I had to leave California for 4 years, but I moved to Los Angeles instead of San Francisco, and so a car was a necessity. I did not really want to go back to SF, and L.A. was a better place career-wise.

We paid for our daughter's first car. She is one of those students who needed every second to stay on top of her grades. She was awarded honours with distinction plus got the job that she wanted. We are very happy for her that she is in a career that she likes so every penny of her college and her car was worth it.

The car is a Toyota Corolla 2006. We bought it gently used in 2010. It has now been handed on to my daughter's mother-in-law who is a semi invalid. It is still working fine.

ETA to add my first car was a pickup truck and shared with DH. He bought the truck at the same time that we got together and I didn't own a car. Eventually we got two pick up trucks and now we have a van as well.

I turned 16 in Sept of my sophomore year of high school and wanted to get involved in after school activities, sports, etc. My dad worked swing shift and my mom didn't drive. The high school wasn't within walking distance, and I could get rides from friends only so many times without imposing. My dad bought me my first car - a blue Mercury Comet. It was either that, or I couldn't do after school activities. I'd been involved in activities up to that point, so to not let me continue because of a lack of transportation wasn't something even considered.

My older brother and I shared a lime green beetle for one year before he started college and then I drove a yellow beetle that my parents gave me for the rest of high school and the start of college.

I married my first car. We bought both of our son's their first car.

I bought my son's first car from my Aunt/Cousin. My Aunt was no longer safe on the road and had moved into a elder care facility that supplied transportation for shopping errands, doctor visits, and going to church. I bought it in 2015. It was a 2009 Lincoln MXZ with only 12,000 miles at the time. Only paid 12K! I think it still only has about 35,000 miles on it.

I attended a township HS where the taxpayers had failed to provide for the onslaught of Boomer Babies. In my sophomore year the school instituted double shifts, which lasted for two years until a second HS was constructed -- and then a third and even a fouth. (By the fourth, they'd overshot, and it closed within two years!)

My transportation to school was by bus. I'd have to be on the corner three blocks from home by 5:30 a.m. through the winter and would not be able to stay late for any extra-curricular activities. I asked for a small, cheap Isetta (a tiny BMW 'bug'). My father bought me a Ford Fairlane convertible. (Never paid his child support or alimony, but was big on a rare lavish gift.) My parents thought the Isetta was unsafe. (Why a convertible wasn't...don't ask.)

I hated that car for the false image it projected of me. When I started working at 20 I traded it for a blue Austin Healey 3000. I think I got money back. Loved that car!

Bought my 1976 robin's egg colored Ford Maverick at 17 with a small inheritance I had from my grandmother. $2,500. It was a beast!

My parents never consigned for anything. If we wanted something we worked for. I worked 3 years saving for my first car. It wad a 1984 Chevy Cavilar. Kept it 12 years and had 106,000 miles on it

I was 18, just graduated from high school in June 1971, my parents paid for driving lessons for me. In August, I got my first job as a secretary/clerk at an insurance agency in our small town. After I got my license, Dad had me meet his barber who happened to have a 1959 Ford Fairlane convertible for sale (with dual exhaust and a spot light!).

I went to the bank to borrow the $500 for the car, Dad had to sign for me. I made payments of $90 a month.

Our parents bought our oldest sister a used bug which was passed down to me, then younger sister. That car was still chugging along just fine when she sold it. My dh and I bought a simple, small car for our kids to share, which they did well. We were sad to say goodbye to it.

I was given my first car -- a very small truck -- mid-college. My folks were upgrading and I got it as a hand-me-down, however, when they had it in the shop for some general maintenance, somehow the cab caught on fire. The upside was that the car still ran fine and got me to grad school, 5 hours away. The downsides were the bench seat was burnt to a crisp (and so was the dash). My folks let me pocket the insurance money from that; I re-upholstered the seat, and the dashboard stayed just that -- kind of crispy. Cars have really changed a lot...hardly any kids learn how to drive a stick shift now....and they probably never have to push a car to jump start it...

We have not purchased cars for our teens; I think eventually we will help them because all they can afford are clunkers, and I'm pretty impressed with the safety and assistive features of newer cars. Having known people when I was that age have some pretty impressive (and fatal) accidents, while extremely rare, there's no amount of money I know families would pay after the fact, to have had any chance at sparing their child's life. Kind of a doom and gloom perspective perhaps, but when the time comes that they are trying to buy a car, we'll help make sure it new enough to have today's safety features. Kid #1 is at college 6 hours away, and while we're driving back and forth to take her now, that's going to get old fast.

I was in college. My mother had died when I was 12 and my father when I was 19. I had no money for a car. My younger sister and I were able to continue to our bachelors degrees with funding from the small estate my father left. I was a senior and facing student teaching, which I wanted to do at the new high school in my home town, but there was no public transportation from campus to the edge of town where this school was. A friend's father had a used car lot, and he sold me a car that would get me through student teaching, but I don't remember the amount, which was my accumulated pocket money. No more than $100, and probably less. However, he did not check the oil, which was full, but with kerosene rather than oil. It blew a rod right away, and he kindly replaced it with a real klunker that would still get me to the school. The front seat bolts were rusted away, and there were holes there. When I drove on the clover leaf entrance to the highway, the driver's door would fly open from the force of the curve, and I would have to hold onto the door handle. It was winter, and slush would splash up onto my ankles as I drove to my student teaching interview. I arrived ahead of time so that I could go into the washroom and scrub off the black, oily slush before meeting my master teacher to-be. It was a two tone rust and brown Plymouth. Brown was the paint color; rust was rust. It got me through a semester of student teaching.

I can add the story of someone else's first car. I got married and needed to sell my ramped up 1968 Chevy Impala-today a very desirable collectable. The fancy double barreled carburetor caused me grief, the story of getting it rebuilt in California involves a man crying an actual puddle of tears. I sold it for about what I paid for it in Illinois. A local man, and his son about to go to a seminary were very anxious to buy. I was thrilled to sell. The local goofbasket county guy who had to sign off refused to allow me to sell it in my Maiden name. He said while I might be able to do this in that bastion of liberalism, Kentucky, it would not do in Illinois. He wanted me to provide my marriage certificate to prove who I actually was. I caved because the boy who was to own this car was practically in tears. He was so sweet. I provided the document. He got his car.

I never got one.

Sue

Well, ya see, it was in this parking lot (one where a person left the keys in it so it could be moved around)...

I was 16 and in high school. I took a job after school working 3 hours at a filling station and closing it before going home. Home was 10 miles in a rural area. I was using the family car to get home and there were scheduling problems. A customer came by with an old Model A Ford on a trailer. I bought it for $100. It had a burned valve in one cylinder. A local mechanic and I fixed it at a cost of $5, the cost of a head gasket. We used a valve out of one his parts engines and I learned how the valves were adjusted on that engine - there were no adjustment. The valve length was ground to fit.

That car fixed our scheduling problems and lasted through 2 more years of High School. It was passed to my parents when I left home to work my way through college.