@cshell2 I agree with you. As much as I’d want to drive around in a luxury car like a bunch of other kids, I wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate it. I’d be able to appreciate it more if I worked for it and paid for it myself rather than have my parents give it to me. I’m thankful enough to have my own car especially for college.
We told our son that driving is a privilege, not a right, and that we would never buy him a car. He started saving for one in 3rd grade. He bought his first car last summer at the age of 21. He spent $3K on an old Mustang and has had a lot of engineering fun refurbishing it. Runs like a top now, and he’s pretty proud of it.
And for a different perspective, we didn’t get our sons cars. Not in the budget with the colleges they chose, but they knew that from the get-go. They both went to college in big cities with good transit, so it all worked out.
My 28 yo has no interest in driving and gets along well without a car in Silicon Valley. Other son is overseas and doesn’t need a car there. He used one of our cars when he lived at home after college. Wasn’t making enough to pay for a car, gas, etc. It was a source of tension, but we weren’t buying a car for him.
My college is in a big city as well but in a dangerous area where it is safer to travel by car rather than walk. This made me very glad to have a car for college.
Perhaps the parent is very wealthy, and the kid will basically inherit or be gifted very high wealth and/or income, so there is no need for the kid to need to learn to live within a typical young adult budget?
Most college students can have no realistic expectations of initial post-college income and wealth levels that would support the purchase and associated costs of a very expensive car, so promoting a luxury lifestyle may be harmful to a kid who may then have difficulty living within a much smaller budget than what seemed to be unlimited money that his/her parents spent on him/her before college.
@dentmom4 The reason why a parent would buy a luxury car for a teenager is so that they would be safe and comfortable. Plus I also believe that a person’s car is an extension of themselves and their personality. So if a person is a perfectionist, they would own something German. If a person is charismatic, they would own something Italian. Etc etc.
Also, I agree with @ucbalumnus on that. When I got to college and learned that my previous vehicle is nearing the end of its manufacturer paid warranty, I was in bit of a shock to see the service cost so much. Luckily I did a lot of research into my major and I know for a fact that average starting salary for my major is well into the upper 80k. Well, the good news is that credit card companies are ready on hand to help finance the lifestyle you want especially in college. I got lucky with CitiBank and Capital One. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have a Smart 4k TV or a Dyson! lol
My D’s first car was a used 9 year old Dodge with almost 200k miles (one of my old cars). She got it when she got her license at 16. She loved it, but it only lasted a year before it got too expensive to maintain. I then bought her a brand new entry level car that she loves.
I don’t even own a luxury car. I drive a 2013 Honda Civic. So No I wouldn’t buy one for my kids. My oldest daughter got a 2007 Nissan Sentra with about 80,000 miles on it when she started college in 2015. She is still currently driving it and it’s in good condition. My second is due to start college this fall at Case Western she is going to give it a year to see if she need a car. So we haven’t gotten her one yet. But when we do get one one it will be a use car in good condition. I grew up very low income in the projects in Brooklyn so to me having your parents buy you any type of car at any age is a luxury car. There are people out there who can’t even afford to go to college. There are people in college so poor they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Luxury or not, car or no car be grateful.
I don’t want my kids to be comfortable on my dime. I want them to want to get out of my house and start earning their own money. I sure don’t care if I’m satisfying their need for an “extension of their personality”. ROFL
As for the credit cards financing your lifestyle in college…good luck with that.
@cshell2 Hey don’t knock it till you try it and why don’t you want your kids comfortable? Shouldn’t it be your prerogative to ensure your kids have a good life if not a better one than you had? Oh and no interest financing can take you far especially when your out shopping for your dorm room.
@sensation723, Of course, it is important to be grateful for what you have. I’m grateful to have a very nice vehicle. I just so happen to care about what I drive you know.
@MrThatcher I’d want my parents to make me comfortable but there is such a thing as too comfortable. Doing that will make any kid want to stay with their parents because why would they want to go out in the real world if they are getting everything from their parents already?
@MrThatcher That’s just seems like bad advice to finance things on credit cards if you can’t afford it upfront. I solely use a credit card but I only spend what I can pay back instantly. So I’m building credit and earning cash back without going into debt. I can see the appeal of getting a luxury car as a kid, coming from a we’ll do to Area, most of my friends did drive luxury cars. I think starting off with something like that can lead to a sense of entitlement which my parents did not want me to have. I drove a Honda Civic and it was great on gas. The most important thing is not going in debt for things that you can’t afford. If you need to finance something for your dorm room that’s prob a good indication that you can’t afford it. My parents taught me the car and house should be the only things you finance. Everything else you buy should be stuff you buy outright.
Well, I’m paying back the cards a fixed amount every month while paying no interest. I pretty much see it as free money so why wouldn’t you finance it in my case? Also breaking up the amount and spreading it over a few months is better than emptying my entire savings in one day. I already calculated I’ll have everything paid off in a years time.
@MrThatcher - It is my job to raise them to be adults capable of taking care of themselves and not dependent on others. They will have it better than me. They get to go away to college and graduate debt free. I had to work my way through and pay for every nickel of it myself. I was also stupid with debt in my early 20’s and I am teaching them as best I can to avoid living beyond their means. I would not be doing them any favors buying them luxury cars. For one thing, I make 45K/year, so the idea is just ridiculous anyhow…our three cars combined are worth MAYBE 8K.
They are comfortable in that they don’t have to worry about a roof over their heads, or where their next meal is coming from or getting medical care if they need it. They have all of their needs and some wants. They are not comfortable to the level that they have no desire to get out there and earn their own pay and buy themselves all the things I have said “if you want it, then earn the money to buy it”.
@MrThatcher you are Citibank’s and Capital One’s dream new credit client. A college student with luxury taste in college on his way to getting a good starting salary already using credit to finance dorm accessories. Be careful. They bet on you continuing to finance everything even when there is no longer “no interest” or the chips are down
Of course, I won’t finance anything else outside the interest-free range. I took that into consideration when I budgeted the expenses needed to make my dorm room was up to par. Also, thanks @cshell2 for explaining what you meant because I was really stumped for a second by what you meant earlier lol.
S17 got my husband’s old Subaru Forester when he turned 17. He’s still using it now. D21 will get my 2012 Toyota when the time comes.
S17’s classmate got a brand new Benz for her 17th (when you get a licence in NJ). She sure took a beating when she failed her driver’s test 3x with a $50k car sitting in the driveway!
D21 has classmates in Range Rovers, BMW’s, etc… A lot of these kids are living in multi-million dollar homes with property taxes approaching my annual salary. I guess if you have that much, but to me, not my kid. They would start with a brand new Corolla or Civic, not a Range Rover. Just not the values that I want to instill in my kids. To each their own.
@MrThatcher I think that’s my point tho. If buying it outright empties all or a significant portion of savings and financing even if its interest free to me, sounds like it’s unaffordable. Something becomes affordable if you can pay outright without significant dents to your accounts. Cause spreading it over time is still the same amount. You’re better off saving.
I definitely plan to save though after I pay it off. Since I’m paying a fixed amount per month, I can save up the residual amount left after bills to pile into my checking account. So once it is paid off, I have savings left that can be spent on other things if needed.
Our S is attending a college where a car is of little use. Uber is his go-to if needed. If he needs one after graduation we’ll make that happen but even that may not be necessary. Many kids in the valley continue to use Uber and company provided transport.