Did you have to work for your car or did you get a free one?

[hondaguy]

When you were 16-17, and got your license, did you have to work and pay for your first car, or did your parents just give one to you? Now, my family is very well off finiacially, but I am going to have to work my *** off to pay for a car. My dad has told me he wont pay for a single cent. I have to pay for gas, insurance, everything. On top of that, he says I need a 4.0 GPA (At the least), and to keep doing Football, Tennis, Basketball, and Weight Training in order to even get the rights to drive. Now, im frustrated at how un-helpful he is, but thats life. Now, im wondering how many of you guys had to work or just got a car. Im quite a bit jealous since all my immediate friends are guarenteed a safe car of their choice in the 20k range.... as long as they keep a 3.0+. I dont want to sound like a brat, but im sure jealous of their luck there! Please tell me this is just a Southern California trash thing?

[LisaW]

Some people are just fortunate, my father bought me my first truck.  At the time I was disappointed in it at the time, but after we did some body work and repainted it, the truck looked amazing.  My parents paid for my insurance, and I used my allowance for gas.

[Rosie]

you are frustrated now, but you will be eternally grateful in the future as you will have the ability to sustain yourself.  in 10 years you would not even understand if your dad were to give you everything you wanted on a silver platter up to that point and then cut you off and your habits would create a bankrupt 26 year old...



I know u don't understand, but truely be grateful that your dad cares enough to do what is right, so you can be successful as he is.

[mbl75051]

Let me tell you this right now. If you work really hard for what ever kind of car you can afford on your own...You will LOVE that car more than your friends even appreciate their frou frou toys. You will know that THAT car is YOURS! I didn't get my car until I was 19 and only because I busted my ass waiting tables for a YEAR and saving all my tips towards my busted piece of crap car. That car (even now) was the BEST car I've ever had. I miss it because it was mine. I earned it and I enjoyed every moment with it. Good Luck! Trust me....your Dad is right on this part. He just wants you to appreciate what you have in life. That's a pretty good lesson to have. Admire him for wanting to teach you this.

[iddyd2000]

I too lived in Southern California at that age.  My brother and I worked and pooled to buy a car we shared for 3 years until he moved out of state.  I drove it another 3 years or so after that.  Our mom paid our insurance, everything else was up to us!  You'll get through it and feel good about it in the end.

[loving_pink_butterfly]

my parents couldnt afford to buy me a car, so when i got my license at 18, i worked my butt off and bought me 1, even though it was a piece of junk.

[Ptiles]

im 19 right now and i got my car when i turned 17. my dad told me to save 5,000 for my first car and he told me he would co-sign it for insurance purposes.  we put the 5,000 as a down payment. im making all my insurance and gas payments and paying 200 a month on car payments for 3 years, so your not alone. at least im glad i dont have to pay rent yet

[Feels]

Never had a car bought for me.  Had to buy and support them myself.  Learned there is no such thing as a free car.  From day 1 all they do is eat money!!  Why do you think you need a 20K car anyway?  A good used car is cheaper to buy, insure  and safer from theft in So. Cal.  Having seen a lot of this question on here, it DOES seem to be a predominantly Cal problem.  Midwest kids don't even think of asking Dad for a car.  They know they have to earn it and keep it up themselves to learn about finances and responsibilities.

[MohawkEngineer]

The only thing my parents every helped me with for any thing license related, Insurance related, or car related was that a truck i bought about a year and a half ago, my father told me a guy was selling it for cheap. I bought the truck and I put $13000 of my own hard earned money into to to bring it up to show room condition and to make it a street sleeper. It sadly got wrote off by a careless semi driver who forced me off the highway, and I was left with nothing. Even when I was left with nothing, my parents did not help me with getting a replacement vehicle, (I didn't bother going threw insurance, as the vehicle had not been appraised at the time and was only insured under the basic insurance, and was only registered as a $1000 vehicle, and the jump in my insurance was not worth it). I bought another truck with the money I had saved up before hand, and I'm still driving it, although I am looking at another truck.



All my friends  had their parents pay for everything of their car and all I heard from them was "my parents wont give me gas money" or "I don't like the colour of the car" or "its not fast enough". My first car was a 1987 (bought 4 years ago) Plymouth Caravelle that I paid $900 for. It was rusted and it wasn't pretty or fast. But it did run good and was reliable. All my friend laughed at me for it and made fun of me. But now they are driving the same car and most of them are beat to hell since they didn't take care of them after mommy and daddy stopped paying for it, and they are stuck with a pile of crap thats not worth much, and they don't know the value of maintance or money since all of it was done for them without them thinking about it. I'm 21 years old. I drive old beaters that run good and are reliable, they may not be pretty but they work good, and I am proud to say I have saved up $30k and drive a reliable vehicle, while most of my friends had put so much of thier money into making the car look and sound good so they could be cool when they were in high school, now most of them are broke and driving the same car that when given to them was a brand new, or close to new car that was worth something, and now its beat to crap, and worth next to nothing, while most of my cars I buy, fix up drive and then sell for profit.



I'm not going to say my family is "rich" but we are well off, despite the fact that both my parents do not have high paying jobs. If they wanted to they could have bought me a car when I got my license but they didn't, they didn't even pay for the $15 testing fee so i could take the test for my learners license. Driving is not a right, it is a privileged and many people forget that. If you want to drive, then you should have to work for it. By working for it you will have more respect for the car, and yourself as you will have had to of made sacrifices to get it. At the time I was annoyed that my parents didn't buy me a car, but when I look back, eventhough it was only 4 years ago, I'm glad they didn't.



Theres a pub I go to and I was talking to a regular there. He hasn't woked a day in his life and he is loaded to the gills. When he was my age (he's about 40 now) his dad said that he would buy him a car, or half the down payment on a house, he was smart and went for the house, he fixed it up, sold it, and bought 2 houses, fixed them up, and sold them and went from there. He was offered the car but chose something that was more important. I know if I asked my parents for a car that they would have taken the money they had stored away for my education and given it to me so I could have bought what I wanted, but instead of buying a car my parents have helped me with my mechanics. I am a second year apprentice (with 3 years shop time), and I have a tool box full of snap-on tools. My dad bought me a basic set of tools and a starter size roll cabinet tool box, thats what he did for me. Today I have a job that is giving me a good education and an excellent stepping stone of a career. I still have most of the basic set of tools he bought for me, about $1000 worth, and I've expanded that to a $15000 tool box. My tool box is worth about 5 times what my truck is. He helped me where I needed it, and its helped me a lot more in the long run.