My two teenagers are arguing about the car we have made available to them for their exclusive use. It got me to wondering, what percentage of teens in the US have such a thing, even if they purchased it themselves, or have to share with a sibling? What about worldwide, if we limit the population to only those whose economic status would make such a thing remotely possible (i.e., not including teens of subsistence farmers in less developed economies)? Any guesses?
I couldn’t even speculate beyond my own small middle class suburban world. We gave our kids cars when they were in high school, not new but not old junkers either. It seemed they were the objects of a moderate amount of envy over it. I’d guess maybe 20% had their own car or a car shared with a sibling, where we lived.
I know you’re using the term “spoiled” in jest but just for discussion anyway, I didn’t think of my kids as spoiled because they used what we gave them for the goal we all had for them, their success in life. Giving them things did not keep them from working hard and reaching pretty high goals as some people seem to think it does. I feel like the extra help we provided just made it possible for them to go further, faster.
Also, it was much easier on us for them to have their own sorta new-ish cars since then we didn’t have to drive them around (in fact, they ran a lot of errands for us instead) nor bother with the typical old junky car breakdowns.
I am not sure any amount of privilege will stop that sibling squabbling though so can’t help you there. 
Reported for wrong forum (in GQ).
Where I live any teen given a car is considered a little spoiled. (Unless they are in a rural area where a car would be essential. Even then it’s mostly a car they use, not given them.) If they bought it themselves it is viewed quite differently.
I don’t think a kid given a car is necessarily spoiled, but being given a car, would make a lot of people initially expect they might be a little spoiled.
Moderating
The OP is asking about the percentage of kids who have access to cars. That’s a legitimate GQ question, and should be the focus of responses, not opinions on whether kids are spoiled by having cars or personal experiences.
I’ll leave it here for now to see if some factual information will be contributed. If it just ends up being anecdotes and opinions I’ll move it to IMHO.
Thread title edited to indicate the actual subject.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I don’t have any idea, but we lived in a rural area, and gave our daughter a new one for her sixteenth. Most kids got one for their sixteenth, but it wasn’t always new. Although we offered a convertible, she had no desire for one. It was a four door Mazda Protege, and was so handy to get her to and from school during the day, to and from practices and games, and just to get around.
We did not live in a wealthy area at all, but it was just what was done and I would have done it whether most kids got one or not. She never had an accident, drove carefully, and was extremely grateful.
Twins might share a car rather than each get one, though, and if siblings were just a year apart or so, they often shared a car.
Understood. I read this:
and thought maybe a move would help.
Guess not!
If it helps, I am 56. Got my first car at 16…blew the engine at 16 ½ …got second car at 16 ¾. Paid for both myself. (1st cost $300, 2nd cost $500)
My ex-wife INSISTED we buy our oldest son a car at 16…he wrecked it at 16 10/12th. Car cost $4000. Son paid his mom back 100%. Drove his next car for 12 years.
My daughter received a new Impressa when she was 16. It had air bags, and AWD. (We lived in snow country.) Nothing more. Very basic.
The payments were made from her deceased mother’s SS benefits.
Although she had driver’s Ed, it didn’t include a standard transmission. We spent a month in a parking lot learning the stick shift. There were many tears, “I will never learn this”. But we did it. And it was a learning experience for both of us.
She had the car for over ten years.
Spoiled? How can you spoil a child who grew up without a mother?
No problem. As I said I may end up moving it if no factual information ends up being contributed.
Well - there may not be a lot of facts on the ownership side. But to get the ball rolling, here’s some info on teens and drivers licenses. I suspect it’s fairly safe to assume those without a license were not given a car - so it’s a start.
So in 2014, the percentage of teens with drivers licenses ranged from 24.5 to 69. Assuming a linear progression, the average for teens is that just under 47% that even have a drivers license. So I think from this, the number gifted a car is less than 47%.
When I was a teenager (yes, they had cars back then…) it was pretty rare for a teenager to have their own car. It was also pretty rare for a teenager not to get their license as soon as they turned 16.
In my own case, I happen to own half a dozen cars (and a couple of motorcycles… my wife has called me a car hoarder) so it was no biggie for me to give each kid their own car. This isn’t anything close to real data, but it seems that in my kid’s circles of friends that a lot of them had their own cars. No idea on the percentage, but it was definitely a lot higher than in my generation. I’ve also noticed that quite a few of them did not get licenses until well after the age of 16. Many waited until 18, some didn’t have a license even at 20, and no one seemed to think that this was odd in any way. So my experience matches the statistics that Kiber posted.
ETA: Some more statistics that are interesting but don’t actually answer the OP, this time from the Insurance Information Institute:
From here: Background On: Teen drivers | III
funny we were talking about things like this the other day … I remember when kids didn’t get their own tv or computer… unless it was an B&W old cast off so you didn’t bother mom and dad to play Atari or Nintendo … and you had to share with the siblings … Also I remember getting my weekly state of ca mandated call from my mom when I was a ward of the state was a b ig deal because it was the only time a kid needed to use the phone …
Now days the joke is you cant ground a kid to their room because the room has more toys than a playground …
Yearbook at HS where I work has those “superlatives”… kids wouldn’t know what that even means… those cutest, nicest,…est things. One area had nicest CARS! In this horrendously PC world, I don’t but would consider that bullying, harassing, intimidating!!
The percentage of teenagers who are licensed drivers has been decreasing. Presumably anyone covered by the OP’s question would havea license.
I grew up in a working class/middle class neighborhood (factory workers, cops, machinists) and most of my friends, including myself, had some old family car at their disposal, although not necessarily their own exclusive use (might have to share with a sibling). A decent percentage bought one themselves, too. I ended up with a 1985 baby blue Chevy Chevette. I was not the envy of anyone. 
It was not difficult to find someone willing to sell an old car for around $500 in the late 80s. Heck, I even bought a car back in 2004 for $500 that worked just fine and earned me enough money over the year to buy a proper car the next year.
My parents always had a car for the kids to use. I think my older siblings had to share, but I had my own, being the only kid at home at the time.
That said, it was a 15-year-old junker that my Dad picked up for $200 in 1986. I cried when I saw it in the driveway, because like any 16-year-old, I wanted a COOL car. This car was not at all cool. I did, however, get used to it and drove it for a year or two. I had to pay for my own insurance, gas, and oil changes.
My Dad had strong feelings about getting his kids cars, not the least of which was that he was not going to spend his or my Mom’s free time driving us around. Public transportation is pretty much non-existent here. I also think there was a bit of a lesson in responsibility and safety involved; having to pay for gas & insurance was not impossible for me, but it wasn’t super easy, and I learned how to budget money. I also had the ability to get myself home safely at night or if I found myself in situations that a 16-year-old girl oughta get herself out of.
I don’t think it’s spoiling a kid at all in that situation. Maybe if it was a more expensive/snazzy car, or if you live in a place with abundant public transportation I’d feel differently.
I grew up in a poorer rural part of Louisiana/East Texas during the 80’s and early 90’s. Most people had to drive or you would be housebound when school wasn’t in session. I started driving on my own when I was 14 and got my full driver’s license on my 15th birthday (that was the lowest available age for any state in 1989 - it has since been raised to 16).
I drove my mother’s really crappy cars for less than a year before it was obvious that I needed to get my own ride. My wealthy, crazy aunt gave me $3000 as a down payment on any new vehicle that I wanted with the condition that I never share it with anyone. I picked out the cheapest new vehicle that was acceptable to me - a blue Mazda B-2200 pickup truck stripped to the bone. The only thing it had was air conditioning but, other than that, it was manual everything and didn’t even have a radio until I put one in myself much later.
It cost $8680 dollars total. With the $3000 down payment, I had to make up the $5680 difference myself by working at the local grocery store at the grand rate of $3.35 an hour. The $110 a month payment was scary at first but I busted my ass and covered it every month very easily.
I loved that little truck. It lasted me through high school, college, grad school and even a few months into my first professional job. It still exists as a semi-retired farm truck in New Hampshire.
The only thing semi-unique about me for the area was that I got a new vehicle but I still had to work very hard for years to keep it. Even my white trash and redneck friends had their own vehicles at 16 - sometimes multiple cars and trucks because, if there is one thing that demographic is known for, it is an excess of pickup trucks, old hot rods, beat up sedans and everything else. They knew how to work on them themselves so that wasn’t a problem.
Most 15 - 17 year olds really needed their own vehicle in that area. If you didn’t have one, you couldn’t do necessary farm chores, take-on a part-time job or have any kind of social life and I am fairly certain that is still the case. Your parents weren’t going to drive you everywhere because they jobs of their own and stuff to do. The general rule was at least one vehicle per drivers license in the household.
Do the kids pay the gas and insurance? If not, I say yeah, spoiled. Probably even spoiled if car given before age 21 or college grad. Just my opinion and experience. No facts here.