What Should Your Kid’s First Car Be?
Getting a first car is sort of a rite of passage for many kids. It’s a sign of the independence that starts to manifest as you get older, even though you are still living under someone else’s roof and following their rules.
As parents, though, getting a car for your child comes with its fair share of stresses. Aside from thinking about the literal child you’ve spent years raising being out on the road in a speeding metal death machine, picking an actual car can be a stressful and time consuming process.
Here are some tips and ideas of things you should look for in your child’s first car…
Look at the safety rating
The absolute first question that most parents ask when picking a car for their kid is how safe is it going to be to drive. Most teenagers don’t have their parents buying them a roadster or a speed demon for this exact reason.
When you’re looking at a vehicle, always do a little bit of online research to check what the safety rating for that model of vehicle is.
Typically, larger vehicles are shown to be safer to be inside, in the case of a wreck, but there are exceptions that might surprise you!
Don’t buy new
It’s easy for teenagers to get stars in their eyes when they look at fancy and expensive cars. However, you should teach them that a vehicle is rarely a smart long-term investment (although there are exceptions).
For this reason, you most definitely want to buy your kid an older vehicle. Buying a teenager a new car is practically like sucking the gasoline out of your tank, pouring it on your savings, and lighting it on fire.
Your kid can’t be trusted to rinse off their dish, every night! What makes you think they’re ready to drive a car that costs a worker’s annual salary?
Besides, there’s no shame in a beater car, and your teen is going to be thrilled to have anything to drive around.
Don’t get a gas guzzler
When a teenager first gets a car, they’re going to want to drive anywhere and everywhere they can with their friends. The fresh breath of freedom that a car allots to a teenager is like an insatiable bloodlust.
That’s all fine and well, but it also means you’re likely going to have your kid asking for gas money a whole bloody lot. Instead of dealing with that headache, pick a car that gets pretty good mileage.
Also, picking a car for fuel economy is a good lesson for your kids on choosing practicality over glamour, when it comes to vehicles.
Choose a long-life vehicle
If you’re going to buy an old car for your teen (which you should be doing), then you should also be doing some research on what types of vehicles tend to function well and have a long-driving life.
There are cars out there that start to fall to pieces after 100,000 miles. That’s probably not the car for your kid. Pick a vehicle that demonstrably has a long life span, and then teach your child about the importance of maintaining that their vehicle so that they are able to get the most miles out of it.
Don’t pick a car you’re afraid of wrecking
I hope this is obvious to you, but it’s pretty much a coin toss that your kid is going to wreck this car. Actually, it’s more like a dice roll that this car comes out without some serious damage (hence picking a car for its safety rating).
For this reason, for the love of all that is good and holy, don’t give your teenager a car that you’re nervous about getting damaged (at least more nervous than any other car). This goes back to getting your kid a beater car, because a nice car in the hands of a teenager is just asking for trouble.
Share this:
Category: Family Finances
