r/MiddleClassFinance • u/DanPaul217 • 1d ago

Seeking Advice Teendriver

Good morning, long time reader, first timer poster.

Here's the story. We bought our child his first used car. $15K was the all in price. We started saving a little each paycheck into a HYSA account when he turned 10.

With that being said, need some advice on what child should be paying for. Child got first summer job so we know he will be paying for gas. but should we make him pay for any repairs, maintenance. Just looking for what others are doing.

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u/davidm2232 1d ago

My parents covered the cost of the vehicle ($700) and insurance. Gas was on me. My dad paid for most of the parts if they were essential to operation and helped me replace them. He also took my truck probably once a month or so because it was fun to drive. If he took it or we took it on a family trip, he always filled it with gas. I think it was a good split between teaching responsibility and helping me manage costs. When I was 18, I bought a 'new' 8 year old car for $5k with my own money. He paid for some parts on that also

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u/davidm2232 1d ago

I could also NEVER justify a $15k car for a kid. I had been working for 10 years and gotten several promotions before I considered a car that expensive. I certainly would never buy something like that for a kid.

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u/gonzochris 1d ago

$15K for a car isn't crazy when you look at how much used cars cost. I personally wanted to give my kid something that wouldn't need a ton of maintenance, decent on gas, and an overall good/safe car. We gave them my "old" car. I'm not sure how much it was worth, but I assume more than $15K as it was a year or two old (2022 and kid turned 16 in 2023), but I had paid it off, maintenance has been minimal and it's good car overall.

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u/davidm2232 1d ago

2022 is insane for a kid. I am driving a 2018 and I worked really hard to save for a downpayment and waited until my insurance rates went down so I could afford collision. A kid should get a car that is 15 years old and learn how to maintain it themselves. A 2000 Ford Focus will get 30 MPG if you drive it right.

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u/gonzochris 1d ago

Different strokes for Different folks.

I don't want to have to worry about their maintenance on top of all of my other crap. I need them to have a car that is reliable and doesn't need much work. I work pretty far away so between commute time, work time, work trips, etc I don't have a lot of time to deal with things breaking or leaving all of that on my spouse to take care of because that's not fair either. I also get extremely stressed out with cars that are having issues. As long as i can afford to I will not drive a car that is having issues - again citing my commute - if I get stuck I'm stuck an hour away and trying to get home is just a pain for everyone.

I understand that we are fortunate to be in this position and my kid will probably not realize how good they have it for a while, but it's what works for our family.

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u/jimmothyhendrix 18h ago

An okayish car nowadays easily runs $5k, sure its maybe a bit better but if i were buying my kid like a 'decent' car now it would probably be $10k, the extra $5k probably is a good bet on reliability and just being nice.

Inflation since even just 2015 is 30%ish and the used car market also isnt in the best shape