My parents both me all of my cars, none were new, and none were expensive.
This is the type of reasoning they have, which I think its fair and will try to do with my kids too.
Kids should do their part, and work hard. School, sports, be decent to people, work your way up. When you are 15-20 you are eternally broke, and, if you are going to school and working your ass off, it is unrealistic that you will be able to work on the side enough to buy/support a decent vehicle. By decent vehicle I mean one that does not break every other day, in good shape, reliable. Say 5-6 year old cavie for example.
My deal with parents was that I have to do my part as good as I can, and if I do, I will have an appropriate car from them to get me around... in my case it was one funny little box, then Escort, then my current Cavie. They worked fine, got me around and generally treated me well maintenance-wise. Do I think I "earned" the car ? I dont know, but I believe I did my best to earn the right to be financially helped, as much as they could afford to help me.
I think that parents should support children as much as they can, provided that kids are doing their part appropriatelly... as for 350Z's as first car for a kid... that is obvious crap, and has no basis in decent upbringing. I`ve had a guy in high school who drove a 911 when he was 18, yet I never envied him. Once a retard, always a retard.
Peace,
Vladster
CAC2004 FSS#1, 2003,2004 Atlantic FSP #1, 2004 Overall Atlantic #1
I don't envy the 17 year old driving the porsche around here either, though I'd like to give his parents a firm backhand. What you said is about how I would like to raise my kids (when I have some). As long as they do well in school, I'll make sure they have a decent vehicle, its only fair, because the hours they would have to work would interfere with their school work. I know, for a while I was working a full time job (10:30pm-7am) and going to school full time (16 credit hours ~roughly 22 hours of classes a week, plus tests).
But in all actuality, we do turn in to our parents, and I'll end up just like mine. I'll buy my kids a beater, and that's what they get, I'll help the fix it, but they have to buy parts. If they want a better car, get a job, if you can't get a job, tough. I also get no assistance from them at all for college, even though they can afford it. That's how I was raised, and that's most likely how my kids would end up being raised as well.
My parents actually think its funny when my car breaks down and I can't afford to fix it.
Quote:
Things that also piss me off is when, people tell me, oh look what mommy bought him. I paid for it, nobody else, it justs pisses me off.
My friend Tim almost got rid of his 2002 bmw 328i, because people tell him all the time, look...your parents buy you that. He works his @!#$ ass of to pay for his car.
word to that. I am 20 years old and i WORKED my ass off to get what i have...im still young to have what i have but i look even younger than i am so EVERYONE thinks that my parents have money and they bought me what i have and its really sucks. but at the end of the day I just have to say to myself...."who cares what everyone thinks....its how happy i am that really matters"
Supercharged 95 BMW 540i M-Sport
good for you
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Vlad wrote:.......it is unrealistic that you will be able to work on the side enough to buy/support a decent vehicle. .....
I was fine till I read that line. Last semester I worked two jobs and went to school full time. I had one full time job and a part time job.
I know whoppy @!#$ doo.
Unrealistic is not the word I would use, HARD-WORK, maybe or determined.
Anything can be accomplished if you put enough effort towards it.....
PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO
I don't get upset at a kid getting a car from a parent, in fact i got 3. The thing i think is really flaky is getting a brand new car. That's going above and beyond giving a kid transportation, it's just not necessary. $7,000 isn't anywhere NEAR pocket change & i doubt a brand new Cav is $7k anyway (don't forget taxes, tags, title....).
A Cav is probably the lesser of the evils since it is a cheap car, but yet it's still a new Cav. I also got a Cav from my parents, an '86 in '99 for $500. It was a car, it worked. My parents didn't have to go buy me something new to let me know they cared about my being able to get to school & work. $2000 saved is plenty for a descent car. Not a "cool" car, but one that will look alright & run well. In fact the most expensive car of the 3 my parents gave me was $2000 & i only got rid of it when i purchased my Sunfire. I didn't even use it as a trade-in, it wasn't my car.
I guess "working hard" gets kids different things. I was an almost straight A student, working a job to be able to pay my insurance before i could even get a permit & i got a hand-me-down '86 6000 (in '98) that my mom hated & had parked for a year. I loved that car, it was a nice boat & 4 doors that made it easy to pile the friends in.
Now that i've paid for my own car though, i can say the feeling is definately different. When i have thousands of dollars & tons of hard work to earn those dollars invested in it, i'm way more upset about things that go wrong & any harm done to it. I'm going through the same thing with the house i bought too, when it's your money It's just different... and when you finally pay for your own car, you'll realize it too.
Oh and something else i just thought about, it probably looks bad to mod a car that you didn't pay for. If you can pay to put mods on, then you can probably pay payments on a Cav too. It wasn't the first thing in my head, but it was something that i thought about as i typed this out. I honestly don't envy you at all, i'm not jealous either. I'm happy that my parents only got me basic transportation because that's all a kid needs. Kids just just don't appreciate things until it hits them where it hurts... in the wallet!
Hey... you asked! Apparently you're having a problem, or you wouldn't have asked. I didn't see anyone give you an explanation though
not a real problem, it doesnt bother me much
it just comes up every now and then, espically when i say i dont like something on someone elses car
their response is always "well at least my daddy didnt pay for my @!#$"
A valid comeback I'd say.
i bought my first car for 2500 can 79 firebird. my dad and i fixed it up blew a motor replaced it . my 10,000 i earned cash. its my name on the loan on the sf gt. its just people who dont respect what they were given and rude to people who have to make it on there own and drive a "junker".
maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow....... but some day
Quote:
I was fine till I read that line. Last semester I worked two jobs and went to school full time. I had one full time job and a part time job.
I don`t know what kind of school/job it is, so I can`t say it can`t be done, but to do engineering degree where you spend all day in class/lab and have a full time job, it can`t be done. Part time jobs yes, but full time... what work hours are those?
Something will suffer for sure. If you work say 30hrs a week in various job, go to school full time and have little time to study, you will inevitably have less potential to get good marks than if you did not have to do that to, for example, support your car. I`m sure there are people who can pull anything off, I`m talking average Joe here. In that sense, I think that providing your kid with a decent used vehicle is HUGE help to them. Of course, the ultimate importance is on providing them with tuition, but we`re talking cars here for now
CAC2004 FSS#1, 2003,2004 Atlantic FSP #1, 2004 Overall Atlantic #1
Full time = 40 hours a week
Part time = <20 hours a week
School = > 20 hours per week, and 15-20 more of study/homework time.
When did you sleep?
I did a double concentration on Comp Eng to get my masters in 4 years, and another year in College... I worked a PT job on the weekends... that's where my folks picked up the slack, they paid for half the car payments, and the insurance, and once in a while a repair bill, but I never would have made out doing either if I had that kind of load...
Transeat In Exemplum: Let this stand as the example.
My first car... '84 Saab 900 Turbo... given to me for my 17th bday. I had to pay the insurance... that was it. My mom and her bf I guess saw that I was working hard in school and at work. That thing was ugly as he11, but it ran and got me to where I needed to go.
The other 5 cars I've had... I've paid for myself. The car payments, insurance... the 95GT I have now is finally paid off... and I'm really liking this not-having-any-car-payments thing.
You do usually tend to appreciate what you have more if you have to pay for it yourself though... and yes there is the rare exception.
I went to school with this girl, who her parents bought her a brand new Eclipse GST for her 16th bday... totalled that... her parents bought her a new Trans-Am. I fail to see the logic in this... she didn't kill herself wrecking it the first time, so they bought her something with more power so she did it right the next time??? I dunno... she never respected either of those cars... and that kinda stuff gets to me. LIke was said before... ya know when those spoiled rich kids get these nice azz cars handed to them... and tease you because you have a crappy looking beater? Those are the kids I can't stand.
Of course... now being 24... I don't have to worry about that anymore.
Fallen: Kids like that in my school just had the bubble glass in the rear smashed a few times.
They learned to shut up about other people.
Transeat In Exemplum: Let this stand as the example.
@ Vlad: Its similar with a Science degree, all of your classes have labs, and at completely inconvenient times. Though I know the engineering degree is way more harsh, one our gen-eds are an engineering weed out class... Its near impossible.
But as for jobs, I used to work the night shift full time (10:30pm - 7am), get home, grab a shower, head for class till 2, go home, sleep for 6-ish hours, then do it again. It can be done, but I had to quit to take this semester because of the ammount of work one of my classes involves. My parents pay car insurance and gas money (since I can't get a part time job around here), but absolutely no tuition.
Wraith . wrote:A valid comeback I'd say.
i dont know if u were serious or not
but..
the whole point im trying to make is that this is not a valid point...
why do u think it is? im curious
Its not so much that your parents bought your care, its that they bought you an expensive car. As I already stated, my parents bought my car, but they basically bought a $500 piece of crap, and refused to help me fix it. When my brake pads needed replaced, I drove around for three weeks, my pads were almost scratching the rotors, because my parents wouldn't pay the $12 to buy new ones.
I just think that people who work their ass off, at a job, not at school, cause I got strait As mind you, deserve bragging rights. They worked extra hard and earned that car. I'm not saying your an ass like I'm accustomed to or anything, because you really don't seem like it, but to someone who has to pay for pretty much everything themselves, its means alot more. Even if you take care of your car and realize how lucky you are that your parents would buy you a decent car, you'll never know what it's like to work your ass off just to replace a pair of brake pads.
To those who bought their own car, every single dime they spend on it means the world to them. Granted, I didn't buy my car, but having to drive around with shoddy brakes for three weeks really teaches you a lesson in appreciation.
If not creative aiming..
Transeat In Exemplum: Let this stand as the example.
I dont see a problem with parents buying kids cars as long as they deserve it.
MY dad baught me an 82 Z28 when I was 16. Paid $1900. It needed work and together we worked on it and I learned SO MUCH about machanics.
WHen I graduated my dad got me an 85 S10 BLazzer. I was the first in my family to actualy graduate highschool so he was pretty happy. I think it was $4500. I paid about half I think. IN monthly notes.
My dad is a car nut. SO he baught me something I could be proud of and learn stuff on and hopefully become a car nut also which a Z28 was a damn good start at that.
ANd the BLazzer was just a gift for doing good.
One day when I have kids Im going to do that same thing. Unless they are demon kids who dont respect me. THen I'll stick them on the bus untill they turn 18 and then kick them out.
I am all that is man
I don't think a Camarro is right for a 16 year old, they haven't had enough driving experience to appreciate it. And when I turned 16 (with strait As) I got nothing... When I graduated (similar, I was the only one besides my parents), I got a 91 cav sedan with over 250K miles on it... My dad's a car nut too, even a certified mechanic, but he wont spend any money on me. Paying my insurance (which costs next to nothing) is all he'll do.
Wraith . wrote:I don't think a Camarro is right for a 16 year old, they haven't had enough driving experience to appreciate it. And when I turned 16 (with strait As) I got nothing... When I graduated (similar, I was the only one besides my parents), I got a 91 cav sedan with over 250K miles on it... My dad's a car nut too, even a certified mechanic, but he wont spend any money on me. Paying my insurance (which costs next to nothing) is all he'll do.
I disagree. I was 17 when I got my Camaro and I love this thing and respect it as if it were my own flesh and blood. I got my first car (Corsica) when I was 16 and I still treated that thing like it was the holy grail. Some kids, yes, are immature and will not respect their car no matter what it is, however, not all of them are like that.
exactly, parents have to be smart and realize if a kid is going to respect the car or not
i work two 10 hour days on the weekends and put probably 35-40 hours every week making phone calls, entering and processing data for our company. Im also a mechanical engineering student taking calculus 3 and 4 other engineering classes. sure im not an A student anymore but i get B's and C's and I will have a degree in two more years...its possible to be a full time student and work full time but it sucks balls and i get abuot 4 hours of sleep a night
Supercharged 95 BMW 540i M-Sport
well here's my deal, the car i have technically belongs to my stepdad, but i've put more work into it that i've seen poeple need to do but throw their cars away instead, it really depends on the kind of person you and your family are together, if your parents love you, you work you bloody ass off and generally are a respectable person then more power to you, but in my case,
sure i'm jealous,
but thats because my parents don't love me, i sure work my ass off, at the worst job in the world, and because of bad decisions in the past alot of people hate me,
so i'm not jealous of your car, i'm jealous of your place in the broad spectrum of being, but in my experience, a cav is not an expensive car, I don't got the money for it, which is obvious, but considering what they could have got you, it's not a big deal, and anyone who gives you @!#$ for it, is a dirt bag who needs to get out of high school drama mindset and consider how much better off you are considering you can spend your money on other things you need, like school, and a better career, a good place to live where your belongings won't be stolen and your house won't be broken into....
i try not to generalize, but hell this is what i have LIVED.... so if anyone wants to give me @!#$ for that... $@#% you, you don't know me... and anyone wants to give you @!#$, @#@# them, they don't know you...
"I live my life a quarter mile at a time..." "for those ten seconds or less I'm free"
