Ideas on first car for kids

[Auditum]

Until first crash kids don't appreciate the value of the car and his/her life. For the first car I would offer small, but crazy Smart car, which is really safe.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

It depends. My DH and I didn't have cars until after college when we bought them. So here's the other issue, how do you know your child will need/want a car?

I only ask because DH's best friend is still carless at 35, never having owned a car. He uses zip car or rents from enterprise and the woman he's with is 36 and is moving to another city where she will be buying a car. But many women he's dated don't have cars. And many of my friends still living in the city are carless.

Certainly many people in college don't have cars. So it depends on where you live, what you do, perhaps a car isn't necessary? I have friends who didn't even get licenses until 30.

So I don't think I can make a fair assessment because it really depends on the circumstances at that moment in time. I think if I didn't have enough money to even afford them on the insurance that would make a difference too.

Or what is the purpose of the car? How much will it cost? Is it necessary? Some colleges don't even allow cars so maybe it's a moot point. And do you help at 22 year old? What if they move to manhattan or sf or dc or boston where a car can be a detriment in the city?

[asmom]

You all must have read stories about how uninterested in driving and car ownership today's teenagers are. What if your kid turns driving age and they are not motivated to sink money into a car because they don't care about driving?

They can and do hang out with their friends, play games, go shopping, meet new people, even "date" without leaving their wifi spot! So what if you want your kid to drive and have a car, do errends for themselves and the family, get themselves to & from school, take themselves to sports and community events?

It's funny you should write that. We just bought our daughter a car. It was for our convenience because her school is 3+ hours away and we just could not face that drive again this year as we had to make several trips.

Since we bought the car, I don't think she has been out of our neighborhood. She goes to work (<1 mile away) and comes home. I'm very surprised as I'd assumed she would be thrilled with her newfound freedom. Not only that, her friends don't have drivers' licenses let alone cars. Me and my friends couldn't wait to drive and buy a car but this group seems to care less. Go figure.