My oldest kid is 18 1/2. We had mentioned the possibility of getting our kids cars if they stay out of trouble until they turn 21.
We currently have a 3 year old Toyota Matrix with 40,000 miles on it. Nice little car, and my daughter enjoys driving it. The other day my wife and I were driving, and I mentioned that perhaps we could give that car to our daughter when she turns 21.
I was surprised at the strength of my wife’s opposition to the idea.
She thinks that buying a used car means buying “someone else’s troubles.” And she thought at that point the Matrix will have too many miles on it and will be needing significant regular maintenance and repairs. We recently spend $700 on front brakes, a fluid leak, and a couple of other minor things. I thought it was a good thing that we knew the history of the car, how it was driven, and that we had always done the scheduled maintenance.
I guess I thought if we were spending in the area of $7-10G for a car, we would do best to get a used Toyota or Honda or such. My wife strongly suggested that we stretch a little more and try to get a new car.
What is the cheapest most dependable vehicle you would consider getting for your kid? Would you get a used Toyota or Honda, or whatever you can get new for $10-12G?
Okay…that car may be a total piece of shit in 2.5 years, so you can’t really plan on that being a good gift for good behavior. If she were getting it NOW, I’d say yeah, that totally rocks.
I’m a true believer in buying good used vehicles vs. new ones. We bought a little pickup truck with 19K miles on it for $8K, and I consider it one of the best purchases we’ve ever made. No major traumas, a good warranty for the first few years, etc.
My husband, on the other hand, likes a new vehicle and Every. Damn. Time., we’re pissed off because we always feel like it’s not worth the huge money we’re paying for it.
Just my take. You can get a very reliable, hip, cute, whatever ride for under $10K, and it’s not necessarily buying someone else’s troubles. If you don’t know how to look for problems, bring someone with you who does. Your dollar will go much further.
Well, I’m a firm believer in used cars. Let someone else pay the initial depreciation.
What I’m not a firm believer of though is buying presents for kids to reward them for doing what is expected of them in the first place. “Congratulations for not having a criminal record! Here’s a car!”
Id give her a budget for a car when she turns 21, or an amount that you are willing to contribute to a car at that time. Giving her the Matrix when its almost 6 years old would probably seem like you are just trying to offload it on her so you can buy yourself a new car. When I turned 18 my parents gave me a set amount they were willing to contribute to a car, and I had to cover the rest. It allowed me to buy a rather nice used car (2002 mazda protege5), yet was large enough that if I had wanted to wait I could have bought a base model toyota yaris or ford focus, exc.
When you buy a used car there is always the chance that you are “buying someone else’s troubles”. Theres no way around that, no matter what model you look at. BUT! Buying a new car has its problems too. You have to pay a premium for a new car, easily a few thousand over a comparable model with less than 4k miles and buyers remorse from the previous owner.
Also, when looking at a used car, I second the idea of someone who knows what they are looking for coming along. I brought my car nut buyfriend along, and through looking at the car and knowing what he was talking about, he was able to knock a good 4k off the price.
They’re small cars, but have Honda and Toyota engines. In my mind, that makes them “safe” from a reliability perspective. Plus, they’ll last forever, and hold value for that day they want something bigger.
I think Civics are a little more expensive, as are Corollas.
Not exactly sure where you are coming from with this comment. Would it have made any difference to you if I had simply said “for their 21st birthday” or “as a college graduation present”?
Or, if I had planned on getting my kid a car for their 16th, 18th, 21st, or 50th birthday, would it be unreasonable for me to reconsider if my kid majorly fucked up somehow?
Do you feel it is inappropriate to give gifts or have celebrations for certain life events or accomplishments? Ought the concepts of rewards and/or punishments play no part in a parent’s attempts to encourage “good” behavior in their kids? Or are parents not supposed to try to influence their kids’ behavior?
Like I said, I’m not sure where you are coming from, and why you felt the need to interject this into this thread.
I guess I was kinda thinking the same way about the Matrix.
My buddy has a couple of 20 year old Toyotas, and he says the Matrix should easily be good for 200G miles.
And I know my kid enjoys driving it, and has often said she would like a car just like it when she gets one.
I certainly wasn’t trying to unload garbage on my kid.
I’d be happy to drive both of my current cars (the other is a 5-year-old Toyota Sienna) into the ground.
Now the younger girl - I know just what she wants. A red Mustang convertible circa 2002 or so!
Sorry about that Dinsdale. I meant no disrespect. I should have just stuck to my comments about used cars being fine.
My own personal belief is that kids ought not to be rewarded with gifts for doing what is expected. But that’s a different topic for a different thread. My apologies.
This only makes sense if you suspect (or know) that the previous owner got rid of the car because it had something wrong with it.
There’s something to be said in favor of one’s first car being one that needs regular maintenance and repairs, from an educational standpoint. It helps you learn what you need to do for a car, and how. But this may depend on whether you’ll be around to help her with what she needs to learn. You could consider offering to pay for any repairs or replacements it’ll need, at least for a couple of years—sort of your own personal extended warranty.
Toyotas are fantastic cars that last a long time, especially with the regular maintenance that you mentioned. I have a 1999 Corolla with 70,000 miles that has never given me a problem and my grandmother has a 1995 Camry with 155,000 miles on it that still runs great. She’s recently put a couple hundred into it for wires, a distributor cap and plugs, but even with that many miles on it, the most she’s ever spent at one time was $900.
If you want to give her a car when she’s 21, I think that’s the perfect one. She doesn’t need a brand-new one at that age. I am 25, got my first car (used) at 20. It was 9 years old with low mileage and ran perfect until someone hit me and totaled it. I took good care of it and had regular maintenance done, which taught me a lot about how to take care of a car properly. It still got put through some wear and tear. It was my first car - I didn’t treat it as well as I should have.
Another vote for used car. I bought my first car my senior year in high school. It was, as we say in the vernacular, a “hooptie.” But it was my first car, I took care of it, maintained it, etc. When it died I had an appreciation for what responsible car ownership entailed.
That was seventeen years ago. I’ve owned three cars since, all used. My current car is a 1990 Acura Integra that I bought slightly used in 1993. It has 189,000 miles on it and it’s still going strong (though a lot less pretty, I admit - dents and rust have left their mark). I’ve yet to own a new car and I think it might be an appropriate gift to myself once I finish grad school. I think getting a new car would rob your son/daughter of the opportunity to take that step by him/herself if he/she chooses to do so. I knew too many kids in college that were handed a convertible Celica or a Jetta at 19 and had no appreciation for it. They spent their time bitching about how their parents wouldn’t spring for this fancy option, or how some other kid had a better car.
I think a quality used car is more than appropriate as a gift to a child. My parents were downright lavish, IMHO, with the car thing, and none of the kids got a new car. Pick your budget and find the best, most appropriate, car for the money. Getting a new econobox may be a worse idea than getting a used midsize.
Unless you must have the latest model, can get an excellent deal, or are an idiot then you should buy used.
There are pitfalls to buying used, and so idiots may do better buying new, but if you have enough resources to buy a new car then you have enough resources to buy a better used car. New cars only make sense when they are a new concept and or going to be very popular, or selling so badly that the manufacturer offers huge discounts.
So hybrids mostly have to be bought new, especially if you want something bigger than the Pryus.
Mini Coopers were good to buy new, as they were so popular that they kept or even increased their value. Good luck working out what current cars will be as popular.
Saab 92-x’s were good to buy new, they were originally overpriced by the manufacturer (seeing as they were really subaru WRXs) and so sold so poorly that the manufacturer dropped the price to considerably lower than the Subaru WRX which means their reduced new price is still equal tot their selling price even 2 years old.
Any other situation you can get a better car used than new for any amount of money. Just be clever, research the going prices, stick to your guns when negotiating, and use resources like carfax.
200 million miles Toyotas are good but not that good.
I’m not saying it will definitely be a beater, but a lot can happen to a vehicle in the Chicago area. Winter, construction, blah, blah, blah. I’m just saying you can’t bank on it being the same ride it is today.
I haven’t seen anyone mention the insurance coverage aspect of a new vs. used car yet. New will need full coverage, which is a lot more expensive than liability only needed on an older used car. May add up to quite a bit of savings for your daughter in the long run, which can be used to keep the used car in top notch mechanical condition OR the difference in insurance premiums can be saved toward the purchase of a new car when she’s a bit older and the premiums will be less expensive.
Toyotas are good but not that good.