Just bought used car for 17 Y.O. What rules have you set?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Our situation was a little different. We live a golf cart town so the kids start driving to school on golf carts once they are 15. The city allows them to have one unrelated 15 year old passenger or 3 relatives. Once they turn 16 there aren’t restrictions. </p>

<p>However we did not allow our son to take any passengers on the golf cart when he was 15 unless we knew about it first. Once he was 16 he was allowed two other kids. Our curfew was dark unless there was something mandatory after school. We have a third car that is basically his. However we did not allow him to drive it to school until he was 18. He was allowed to drive it to his friends houses during daylight hours only until he turned 18. Now that he is 18 he can drive it at night. We felt that driving at night was too dangerous regardless of what type of vehicle he was driving before he was 18.</p>

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<p>For iPhone families, there’s an app Find My Friends. Fondly known in Our house as Stalk My Kids . If they are out driving, they need to enable the Find My Friends app so I can see where they are. </p>

<p>My car. my rules!</p>

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Oh, snap! You tracked your kids? XD</p>

<p>I didn’t have a curfew. The only rules where:
1)Tell me where you’re going/doing.
It’s 12:45 AM? Tell me what your doing? We’re at McDonald’s beach side. Simple enough.
2)Tell me when you’re on your way home, when you get home, and when you arrive to where you are going.
3)No driving passengers for 6 months.
4)Pay for gas.
5)Don’t be late to school. (This became a problem senior year. Almost got car taken away).</p>

<p>My mom never tracked me. I’ve never gotten a ticket. I’ve never hit anyone or anything. Well…curbs don’t count. :p</p>

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<p>Never would I have been happier with the crappy battery life on my phone than if I had had a rule like this.</p>

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<p>LOL, romanigypsyeyes! </p>

<p>With that app, you might be able to know where your kids’ phone is, but that doesn’t guarantee the phone is always with the kid.</p>

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<p>Oh, good point, axw! That might actually be more dangerous… kids could leave their phones somewhere so you couldn’t track them and then they’d be phoneless if something really happened.</p>

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<p>The Find My Phone app is ok. I have it and have used it once. </p>

<p>BUT! </p>

<p>If I saw that my phone started going off because my mom was tracking me…that app wouldn’t be on my phone for much longer.</p>

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<p>I had probs with d1 forgetting to drop the garage door when she left. D2 passed her test last Friday. Monday I came home to the garage door up and the back door unlocked. Reminded her of the conversation I had with her sister when I threatened to take away the car keys. So far, so good.</p>

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<p>I guess my mom and I were kind of on the opposite spectrum of most people here because we had very little rules, but I’ll chime in anyway :slight_smile: </p>

<p>For one thing, I purchased my first car on my own with my savings. However, it was insured and titled in my mom’s name, so from the start, I was aware that she would go down with me if anything happened and that she was legally the owner. </p>

<p>So, since I “morally” owned the car, I naturally paid for all the gas, had to clean it up, and had to pay for fixes/tune-ups (which cost me a LOT since the car was kind of a lemon.) </p>

<p>I live in MI, and at the time of my 1st license (2010), 16 Y.O drivers couldn’t drive between the hours of 12am-5am. So, since that was what the law said, that was my curfew. The law didn’t have any limits on passengers, but my mom and I did mutually agree that I wouldn’t drive anyone else until I felt comfortable driving myself, which was about 2 months after getting my license. After that, I’d usually just drive one other person if I had to. </p>

<p>When I turned 17, I had a full-reign with my operator’s license, and my mom never set any boundaries. She just told me to “be smart.” I can count on my fingers the amount of times I’ve driven more than 2 passengers, and I can also count how many times I’ve driven in the wee hours of the morning. </p>

<p>I think a big part of it is that I know if I screw up and get my car damaged/wrecked, I’M the one who has to pay for it, and I’d also be letting my mom down after she put so much trust in me. </p>

<p>So, in a nutshell, I guess a lack of rules led to greater responsibility in my case. I’m on my second (upgraded) vehicle with no accidents or tickets in 3 years :)</p>

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<p>When DS first started driving on his own (we modified this as he ‘proved’ his level or responsibility…) I needed to know where he was. If he was going to friend X’s house and they decided to go over to friend Y’s house, for example, he needed to call us and let us know. We wouldn’t tell him he couldn’t go, just wanted to know where he and the car were. He knew if we were ‘out and about’ and saw the car someplace else, he would turn over the keys! Also told all my friends (with full disclosure to DS…) that if anybody saw him speeding/driving unsafely, I wanted to know about it. Only happened once (he was rushing to school through her neighborhood one morning!) and the car sat in the garage for a week or so! I fully believe it takes a village!</p>

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<p>D1 had a new car for her good behavior from ninth grade on - good grades and “not getting into trouble.” After she got her car, we expected her to behave the same. The most important thing was no drink and drive. We almost took her away after she got two tickets in a row few months after she got her license, one of them was for speeding. She had to hire a lawyer on her own to get points taken off.</p>

<p>D1 was required to do some driving around for her younger sister and run errands for us. D1 was very responsible with her car.</p>

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<p>Teens should learn some basic car maintenance skills like knowing how to use a tire pressure gauge and how to put air in a tire, good to be able to change a tire, know how to check oil level in engine, know about idiot lights on dash like “check engine” and temperature gauge so they don’t drive car and blow up engine. Keep a flashlight in glove box, know how to use jumper cables and keep a pair in trunk. </p>

<p>Always call cops when involved in an accident, no matter what…call parents immediately too. Parents shouldn’t text kids when parents know kid may driving car. Know where insurance card and registration are in glove box in case cop asks for them. Always wear seat belt in car!</p>

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<p>Road side service is a great thing. Neither H nor I know anything about cars. I don’t think we would even know how to change oil</p>

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<p>Need for road side service can sometimes be avoided if car operator can do some basic car fixes. Sometimes road service wait can be hours too and it’s nice to be able to fix small car faults on own on the spot. Road side service is good though, especially for young drivers far away from home or away at college.</p>

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<p>^ going to check and see if AAA has a teen child discount…D can already jump a car and check oil. I’d show her how to change a tire too if I’ ever done it myself ;)</p>

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<p>NJ provides free roadside services on its busiest highways. My tire blew once and they arrive before my car’s roadside service. They change my tire free of charge.</p>

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It’d be great every driver knew how to do this. </p>

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I have AAA. I haven’t used it yet, but it’s a comfort to know that if I needed help, I’ll be able to get it. </p>

<p>My calculus teacher taught everyone the basics of car maintenance. Oil check to changing tires.</p>

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<p>This post has tons of excellent advice. Thanks to all who have posted. </p>

<p>Slight hijack question. Which car would you think would be best for a new teen driver: a 13 year old Land Cruiser or a seven plus year old small BMW sedan? Neither is ideal but we own them and neither has a very high trade-in value, so I would be concerned about the type of more appropriate car I could purchase for the same money. As in, I would worry about the track record of the Accord or Corrolla that I could buy for the same money I would receive at trade-in for one of the cars we own.</p>

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<p>What do you think your child can handle? I learned how to drive on a BMW SAV and my mom could tell I wasn’t fully comfortable with the car. She got me a sedan. Is your child comfortable with the Land Cruiser? Will your child be driving passengers or be in need of the storage space? I know when I was back in season, it was hard stuffing everything in the car. I wished I had an SUV. If they won’t be needing the space, given them the BMW.</p>

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<p>Got my daughter a AAA membership (there is a discount for additional family members) the day she got her license.</p>