Kids, doing it their way.

[Silk]

My son bought a car...and I haven't seen it yet. If your father is a mechanic, and you don't have much interest in cars...surely...? He rung me up, and we looked at the sale online, he said he'd seen and driven it. I'm only an hour away.

Anyway, I'm happy, he's independent, and it looks like a nice car, a 2002 Sonata. Now he can get rid of the POS '94 Levin I put him in for a 1st car. He could flick it off to his brother, but he's on a student loan and can't afford to eat, let alone buy and run a car.

 

[Ducked]

My dad offered to buy me an old Subaru when I was in my early twenties, a trade-in at the Alfa dealership he used. I had a look at it and thought it was overpriced, so I said no.

Mistake. I'd have liked the car, and he'd have liked me to have it, so I should have just turned a blind eye to overfeeding the dealer.

 

[Kira]

I think I have the topper for this topic.

Whilst sis was seeking a replacement for her aging Jeep Cherokee (XJ) I spied a Jeep Liberty on someone's lawn sporting a FOR SALE sign.

Thoughtful Dad bought the car for sonny boy the week before. The kid said, "Yeah, it isn't my style" with his father standing right there.

I wanted to knock the kid down.

 

[RooflessVW]

My dad and I have switched roles at this point. He taught me oil changes, brakes, and how to use a timing gun. Also taught me how to look for paint work when buying used etc...

Now he brings me along to check things over and calls me when he is buying or in the service department to make sure he isn't getting ripped off.

I suppose this means we're both getting older. Better give him a bear hug today.

 

[E150GT]

I used to think my dad knew all. He'd help me on car stuff. Now I know he doesn't know squat about cars.

 

[supton]

Sounds good to me.

I suspect I'll be on the hook for my kids first rides, dunno about when they wear those out. Right now they have zero interest in cars. I'm not sure that is a bad thing... I wasted too much time lusting over vehicles in my youth, and looking back I'm glad that I managed to avoid spending money on "good" vehicles to impress no one (although I wasted too much on new cars later on).

Hopefully my kids will be appreciative of my efforts, and go on to make the most of it (putting their money elsewhere in better places).

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Kira
I think I have the topper for this topic.

Whilst sis was seeking a replacement for her aging Jeep Cherokee (XJ) I spied a Jeep Liberty on someone's lawn sporting a FOR SALE sign.

Thoughtful Dad bought the car for sonny boy the week before. The kid said, "Yeah, it isn't my style" with his father standing right there.

I wanted to knock the kid down.


This is the problem. No respect. If my dad had done something like that for me and I responded with that, he'd bring it back and give me a rusty one-wheeled bike to ride.

When I was 10 my dad would bring me to my grandma's neighborhood every Saturday. I would mow her lawn and some of the neighbors. He told me to save my money so I could buy my first car. I did and was able to buy my own car when I was 16. My sisters also worked and saved up for their first cars. Sure lots of kids at my high school had brand new BMWs, Lexus, Tahoes, but I had a car that was all mine and paid for by me, not my parents. One of my friends is the same age as me (26) and his mom still pays his truck payment. Not sure how that will teach kids anything. He has a job and could probably pay for it himself, instead he spends it at the bar.

 

[Linctex]

Hahaha! My First car was a 1970 Ford Maverick, 170 cubes (32 HP?), "3-on-the-tree" for $25.

I then went to Coast-to-Coast hardware and paid $49.95 + tax for a battery for it!

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Kira
I think I have the topper for this topic.

Whilst sis was seeking a replacement for her aging Jeep Cherokee (XJ) I spied a Jeep Liberty on someone's lawn sporting a FOR SALE sign.

Thoughtful Dad bought the car for sonny boy the week before. The kid said, "Yeah, it isn't my style" with his father standing right there.

I wanted to knock the kid down.


Ah, the sweet sense of entitlement!

But in an astonishing quantity in this young lad.

I'm certain that disappointment and failure will follow him for the rest of his life.

 

[Astro14]

My first car was a 1977 Oldsmobile 98 Regency. A gift from my grandmother, when I was in college.

A blessing (freedom) and a curse (too much freedom, and the concomitant financial responsibility). I was grateful. I took the best car of it that I could. I learned much of what I know now by turning wrenches on that car.

To this day, I am fond of Oldsmobiles, though you don't see them much anymore.

It amazes me how kids view cars today - as though they're entitled to get one when they turn 16, and as though said car should be new and stylish...after all at 16, they "deserve" it...

 

[IndyIan]

I thought my parents were great just letting me use their cars on the odd weekend...

 

[AZjeff]

Here we go, kids today suck, blah blah blah. Way back in the 70s a guy in my class was giving a 240Z to drive, another one a new Monte Carlo. I owned my first $300 car when I was 20. Nothing changes.

OP, he may have learned more about cars from you than you know.

 

[JeepWJ19]

When I was 16 5-6 years ago dad bought me my Jeep. Before we bought mine he let me drive his Jeep and basically it was mine for to use while he took his F150 to work instead. I made sure to keep it in the best condition.

We were looking for good snow vehicles and after looking how overpriced wranglers were selling for we shifted our focus to something more roomy.

We searched for well over two months and nothing really caught our eyes as a good vehicle in good condition for the right price. Even driving many miles over an hour away.

Our patience (mostly his) rewarded us as 5 minutes down the road we saw a grand Cherokee WJ (now mine) sitting in what to seem really good condition. Here a little grandma sold it to a private dealer as she couldn't get in it anymore. Pretty mint exterior and interior except for a pretty bad rust spot on the passenger rear fender.

With 89k on the odometer dad bought me it for $5k.

Its a big 4k lb vehicle with a slug 4.0 so dad was reassured I wouldn't be goonin' around and racing people but it would be darn reliable in the snow.

I have loved it and still love it every time I get in it and so thankful for dad's blessings. Slapped on a 2.5" lift and bigger tires and this thing is a pure tank in the snow. I have made this Jeep from looking like a minivan to more of an off-road vehicle "overland" Jeep. Can fit 5 people comfortably and tons of room in the trunk.

Before college I worked summer jobs and saved up for the bigger tires, lift, off-road winch, d-rings et Al. And especially saving up to fix that rust spot. That has been fixed 3 years ago and now I have a bad rust spot on the front passenger fender but since I graduate college this December a FT job will be beneficial in me getting that fixed.

I will say there are definitely ungrateful children out there but for the most part almost every kid is grateful for their first car no matter what it is.

 

[jcwit]

Dad & Mom never ever bought any of my cars for me. My first car was a 1950 Stud. Champ, way back in 1958 when I was 15. Within a few years I was driving my own NEW cars with no help from Dad or Mom.

I have not had a car payment since 1972, and then only for 1 month when I discovered how much the interest rate was gong to cost me for a New '72 Corvette.

Life is good, own your own vehicle, own your own home, keep your bills paid!

 

[Pop_Rivit]

The best thing that my father taught me was to be independent, to think for myself, and to stand on my own two feet. While he never understood my desire not to follow in his footsteps and become a farmer, he respected my decision to pursue a career in technology, and was pretty proud when I started my own company (even prouder when he learned how much I sold it for). I was also able to make the right decisions for myself at an early age, rather than depending upon mom and dad to hold my hand like so many 20 and 30 year old's seem to still need.

 

[redhat]

My father totaled his '97 K1500 in 2006 thanks to a drunk driver running a stop sign. About a month later, December 2006, he bought a used 1994 Buick LeSabre, 3.8 Series I, 167k on the clock. It was a nice car. Interior was nice, paint was the typical grey primer from peeling GM white paint (classic of the era), underside wasn't too bad. Car was a good find for $1,100.

He drove that for two years until he bought (which he still has) his 1995 4cyl, 2WD, 5-speed S10. He gave me that car in 2008 for my first car. I learned how to work on cars and maintain my vehicles from him with that car. Oil changes, brakes, wheel bearings, fuel pump, tie rods, ball joints, thermostat... you name it. We did it all and it was a decent car for a couple of years. After that car, I have bought all of my other vehicles myself.

So that car went on and hung around for a couple more years... Mom drove it when the Grand Prix PCM wouldn't communicate with the NYSI computers. That car went to the scrapyard in 2012. 6 years of faithful service, 231k on the original 3.8 and FWD 4-speed.

I truly enjoyed that car and was happy for any sort of wheels when I was that age. If I was in dire need of a car due to a financial crisis and my father offered me anything... I would be ecstatic and forever thankful.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: Silk
My son bought a car...and I haven't seen it yet. If your father is a mechanic, and you don't have much interest in cars...surely...? He rung me up, and we looked at the sale online, he said he'd seen and driven it. I'm only an hour away.

Anyway, I'm happy, he's independent, and it looks like a nice car, a 2002 Sonata. Now he can get rid of the POS '94 Levin I put him in for a 1st car. He could flick it off to his brother, but he's on a student loan and can't afford to eat, let alone buy and run a car.


I'm sure you'll get a call....when something breaks. Hopefully he knows enough to check the fluids.



Originally Posted By: Kira
I think I have the topper for this topic.

Whilst sis was seeking a replacement for her aging Jeep Cherokee (XJ) I spied a Jeep Liberty on someone's lawn sporting a FOR SALE sign.

Thoughtful Dad bought the car for sonny boy the week before. The kid said, "Yeah, it isn't my style" with his father standing right there.

I wanted to knock the kid down.


That would be the last time I offered to buy a vehicle for that kid....attitude kid, attitude.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Astro14

It amazes me how kids view cars today - as though they're entitled to get one when they turn 16, and as though said car should be new and stylish...after all at 16, they "deserve" it...


This is fed by parents who think their kids are "good kids" (aren't they all?) because they get straight As or some other metric unrelated to handling a car.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: Astro14

It amazes me how kids view cars today - as though they're entitled to get one when they turn 16, and as though said car should be new and stylish...after all at 16, they "deserve" it...


This is fed by parents who think their kids are "good kids" (aren't they all?) because they get straight As or some other metric unrelated to handling a car.


Ain't that the truth.

I was planning on gifting the BMW in my sig to my younger brother when he turned 16 as I am his technically his uncle and Godfather. He declined since he didn't care to learn how to drive stick.

My parents then purchased him a car when he turned 16 based on the "good grades". He failed his license multiple times, but that's another story. He thrashed the car and he and his friend left it abandoned on a street somewhere with a broken alloy wheel and oil drained from the engine. He's had other cars which he treated in the same manner. There's been so many I've lost count.

I had hoped that getting him involved with my crowd of people interested in nice cars, making money and being productive and living a happy life. Instead he was more interested in alcohol, drugs (doing and selling), skateboarding and coasting through life doing as little as possible.

He still lives in my parent's basement with no job or GF. I don't care to talk to him anymore. Just a series of disappointments, one after the other.

true story

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: Kira
I think I have the topper for this topic.

Whilst sis was seeking a replacement for her aging Jeep Cherokee (XJ) I spied a Jeep Liberty on someone's lawn sporting a FOR SALE sign.

Thoughtful Dad bought the car for sonny boy the week before. The kid said, "Yeah, it isn't my style" with his father standing right there.

I wanted to knock the kid down.


If my kid ever said that to me, I would sell everything I ever bought them on Craiglist. Car, cell phone, electronics. Not your style, huh? Well feel free to enjoy whatever it is that is "your style", but you will be purchasing that stuff on your own.