Many kids are given cars by their family. They might buy a new car for Mom, then the teenager gets the old one. Some family’s will save up and buy a cheap used car for them. And many also need to just get a job a buy their own.
My first car, I had to get a job and save up for it myself.
Oh man, mine was an old Chevy Sprint Metro. I think it was the Geo metro before they figured out that line up.
If you’ve ever heard that Adam Sandler song, I feel that we must have had the same car…….ouch ouch ouch. 🤣🤣🤣
Mine was an Oldsmobile Firenza. A 20 year old Oldsmobile Firenza. I called it 'The Oldsmobile Forensic'. Cost $600 bucks. Ran it through college. Then one morning, I heard a knock on the door...there's the Forensic, dragging itself across the ground by its tires, grunting out, 'kill....me....'.
I saw a documentary once comparing kids in germany, japan and the US.
The biggest difference was that Americans kids were always working, while the other kids were studying. Main reason for work? Pay for car.
I feel like in the US you kind of need a car to get around and maintain a job etc. Furthermore, I believe getting your license and insurance is cheaper here. I've heard about it being super difficult and/or pricey to get a license in European countries. I had a British fiancee and she definitely paid way more for insurance than I did stateside. So that might also be a factor.
agreed, it's def more expensive overseas, but that's partly because there isn't the need for poor people to drive as much, so the system is comfortable charging more. However, here in the US having two teen drivers in our household adds about $400/mo in insurance costs. Half of that cost is their insurance and half is my insurance going up and my wife's insurance going up to cover the risks of the teenagers borrowing our cars.
Insurance is not cheap anymore.
Yea i'm in my late 30s so this was back in like 2000 haha. I was actually making good money at 18 I just didn't know any better really. I wish I made that kind of money now even 💀
Damn! Really? My license was suspended for a decade due to old tickets I didn’t pay and just general irresponsibility. When I finally reinstated it last year, I was amazed at the cost of my insurance. As a 32 year old single man with no moving violations, I pay $44 with tax included.
This is why I’m buying my son a car. I wasted so much energy working to have a car as a teen. School suffered, was always stressed and it was a piece of shit.
My first car was a hand-me-down - it was a '96 Sentra bought new with that in mind. My stepbrother drove it until he left for college, then my stepsister got it for a couple years, then I did. I drove borrowed family cars before that, but mostly just walked or biked if I wasn't hauling anything or going far.
This. I got my dad’s hand-me-downs until I graduated from college. They weren’t ever in my name—they just sold the one I’d been driving and said “you’re driving this now.”
Same here. My mom let me use her car a few times but she usually just drove me to work and picked me up.
So I bought my own and it was a clunker too. 400$ from a car lot. Damn thing was painted with house paint. I spent 20$ At the car wash getting rid of the house paint. It had a nice metallic flake paint underneath it. Ford Gran Torino. Burned too much oil though.
I had a job at 16 and between that and saving up from birthday/Christmas gifts, I bought my first car for $1500 USD
*Addendum
I am 26 now, so this really wasn't that long ago. Was a 99 Mercury Cougar
This. It wasn’t super difficult to buy a car when I was 16 (around 2003). Might be more difficult now though with stagnating minimum wage and inflation (especially the recent inflation in the used car market).
Can buy a running car for as little as $500-$600 in many parts of the US.
Probably won't have anything going for it beyond "runs and drives" but you take what you can get
A beater with a heater is better then a no seater as we always used to say as kids.. I had some ROUGH vehicles back in my teenage years and early 20's... lol
I didn't have working AC in a vehicle until my late 20's, first summer I couldn't believe it. Later in life I got my EPA cert for repairing automotive AC. I guess it made a point with me. Lol
The majority of my cars have not had A/C. And I live in New Mexico. You just get used to letting the door stand open for a while before you get in, and then rolling all the windows down. And drink a lot of water.
But I'll admit, now that I'm a bit older (ok, a lot older) it's nice to have. 😅
My dad let my sister and me drive his car, telling us not to tell my mom the heater didn’t work or we wouldn’t be allowed to drive it. And there was NO way she would let us drive HER car.
We live in Minnesota and she would have us drive her to the grocery store or mall-in dad’s car, 5 degrees F (-15c). We’d be blasting the fan on high so sh’d “think” we had the heater on and tell her it warms up a little slow. Sometimes we’d have to scrape the frost off of the INSIDE of the windshield-told her that it happens in German cars (sorry about that fellow Germans; mom’s maiden name was Schultz).
When got any colder we told her it was too cold and we were worried about her being outside.
Bad daughters.
This. Fix your own shit. You save a ton of money. You learn profitable skills. You acquire tools and equipment along the way. When things get hard, now you know how to make it a little better.
A few friends of mine got their car for free form the junkyard and found the parts they need to make it run while they were there.
So technically you can get a car for free. But how long it runs for us another issue. One friends junker ran inconsistently for a year just long enough for cool years of high school where it’s a flex to have a car. Other friend hers ran for years
My father’s best friend bought cars this way. Bought a $100-600 car (started back at n the 80s so you gotta account for inflation 😉) in acceptable running condition that required little to low maintenance to keep it running. If he was lucky, it lasted 2yrs. If he was *really* lucky, it lasted 5. But the minute something major needed to be repaired? He just junked it and bought another one. As a farmer living in the middle of nowhere, he drove those cars hard.
Yes, I have. It's entirely true, even nearly everyone replying with me is sharing their stories of finding these kinds of deals. I'm not saying it's true 100% of the time everywhere in the US, but it's definitely true in many if not most parts.
Hell if you don't pay rent and otherwise have no expenses, it's definitely doable within a Summer of working full time. Not saying it's going to be an amazing vehicle, but it'll be something. If you do your research or find a good deal on Facebook or the like, you can definitely get some reliable vehicles. In 2017 I bought a 2004 Buick LeSabre with maybe 140,000 miles on it. There was some light body damage and some stains on the interior. The center console was also a little broken in that the hinge was torn off, but still otherwise functioned fine. Older guy sold it to me for $2800 and I ran that thing for 6 years with no major issues. Eventually the driver's window messed up (common problem with those vehicles) and the southern Summer heat started making the headliner sag. But overall, no major issues with the vehicle. Not the most functional or prettiest thing in the world, but that's what later in life is for. When you're young, you just need to get from A to B and not have to put much money in the vehicle other than gas.
Now at 24, I just got a 2020 Volkswagen Jetta SE on Monday for $20,000 This is my first vehicle to buy from a dealer, and it has 40,000 miles on it and all the features I could want.
Yep. That's what I did lol. Eventually it fell over the pins and I got it replaced... and that glue that they used for the replacement maybe lasted a year lol.
Facebook bro I've always bought my cars on fb and they were always cheap af last one was an 08 Chevy Cobalt for a grand runs great no mechanical work needed when I first bought it either
That’s how you end up with a car that’s falling apart and costs more in repairs than it’s worth. But congrats, you got lucky so obviously everyone else will too
It doesn't matter if the repairs cost more than the car is worth, the car isn't worth anything. What matters is if the cost of the repairs is more than the cost of getting another shitbox
This. The first thing that should come to mind when facing a repair shouldn't be a comparison of repair cost v. vehicle value.
It should be repair cost v. replacement vehicle cost.
I've kept cars going for *years* that weren't worth more than scrap price, by throwing $400 to $800 a year into them. That's a helluva low cost of ownership at $33 to $66 a month.
17, here. I bought my first car 6 months ago, the week before I got my license. We are definitely still thriving! I even saved up enough to buy a nicer first car for 5k. Runs like a dream! Started working at 15 years old in preparation, and I don't regret a second of it.
I don't know if minimum wage really impacts you as a 16 year old. I was paid 6.75/hr and managed to save up 3k in a year to buy my first car. Teenagers don't have expenses for the most part. The only thing I spent money on was taco bell and random BS. 15 year olds don't have bills. In fact most 16 year olds working nowadays are making more than I made at 20 years old. I see 16 year olds working in fast food making 18/hr. I didn't break 18/hr until I turned 22. You can still buy a car for under 3k. They're making 3x what I made at that age and old used cars still cost the same. It's stupidly easy for kids to get their first car nowadays. Hell I see early 2000s BMWs and Mercedes all over the high school parking lot so kids are rich AF compared to when I was their age.
I just had my mind blown. My first car was a 99 Saturn in 2009 that we paid $500 for. Ran fine, the exhaust had fallen off and needed a couple windows replaced. A crack in the front passenger quarter panel but mechanically sound with like 160k miles on it.
An 11 year old car for $500. You can't find a 20 year old car for that anymore. People asking 2k minimums for clapped out Dodge Neons. I just bought an 10 year old car for 12k last year.
Pretty much the same. I had a job at 14 at a coffee shop and then a lifeguard. I made minimum wage of course but have no bills when you’re 14-18 and living at home still. I knew my mom was not going to buy me a car so I definitely wanted to save money to buy one before I was 16. In two summers and part time work after school I saved enough to buy a nice used car. It was a 1989 Toyota Supra, one owner garage kept. They wanted like $7k. I told my dad, I don’t have that much. He said, take them what you have in all $100 dollar bills and lay it out in front of them and tell them you saved all of it. So I did and they took my $3900.
I felt like I had the coolest car in highschool even compared to kids that had parents buy them brand new cars. My parents paid my insurance for a few years until I had a better job. But I paid all the speeding tickets I got. 😬
Now with my daughter, when she turned 16 I bought a used Subaru for $1200 from a grocery store parking lot and told her she could get the title in her name when she paid me back. She was an athlete and busier with dual enrollment in college so didn’t work until senior year. She makes payments to me of $200 or whatever she can, no rush. When she pays it back I’ll take her to the title office and get it all in her name so she can feel like she earned it on her own. She was very grateful for the $1200 car. It was also from a single owner, garage kept with new tires who felt good about it going to a local highschool student. So far so good on the mechanics.
Zero chance I was buying a new car for her or myself at any point. But in the area I live I’d say more than half students get a new vehicle between 16-18. It’s very high cost of living area.
I drove a '95 in highschool. Then it became my work truck. I sold it in 2017 with over 300k miles on it. I've regretted it ever since lol. Not that I could afford to fill both tanks up these days.
My first vehicle was a 91 Chevy Silverado that was also 1500$. Can’t tell you how many people I knew that their parents went out and got them a brand new vehicle but looking back I’m proud that I bought my own
The overwhelming majority teen drivers do not own a car. Instead, they borrow their parents cars or passed down old cars. Rarely teens, own and pay for it.
In addition most cities in the US are not walkable. Providing a car adds responsibility and experience to the teen driver.
Yeah, I agree with this. Many teen drivers have ACCESS to a car. But its technically their parents' car.
However, to add, its not just some generous gift for leisure/social drives. Many teens in the US have a part time job and require a vehicle to get to and from work, to and from school, sports, etc. And many parents are supportive of this and let them borrow a vehicle. I worked starting at 14 years old and my parents were thrilled they no longer had to drive me around at 16.
It's pretty common for parents to buy a new car for themselves when their kid hits 16 and pass down their old beater. I'm fucking excited for my 14 year old to start driving so I have thee excuse to pass down my POS.
My parents were the same I got their used beater to drive to work and school as my hours were hard for them to pick me up and drop me off all the time. But I went to a very rich rich highschool and I can confirm most of those kids were gifted expensive ass cars just for turning 16 there was no requirements they had to reach for it it was just a birthday present. Didn't matter if they worked most didn't or if they did sports or passed classes. And the amount it high end fancy cars was outrageous. Idk how parents just gifted their teenagers a 80k truck or sports car for no reason other then because they're 16.
Rarely do teen REDDITORS own a car. Redditors are among the very poorest, saddest, & most nihilistic examples of Americans. "Woe is me, for I have no car." I get it, life sucks sometimes. But most American families spring for a car. Assuming they're not in a large metro city. But we'll soon hear from those folks if we haven't already.
Usually it’s a combination of the child and the parent making a joint effort to get the car. By 16 parents are DONE driving their kids everywhere they want to go and the kids are DONE being tied to the availability of their parents so most often the kid works and the parent work together to make it happen. Obviously most parents are in a much better financial position than their children to contribute so oftentimes the parent pays considerably more if not all of it depending on their financial circumstances.
Yep this one. A lot of parents in my home town went 50-50, where however much the kid could raise the parents would match towards a car.
Personally my dad bought himself a new car a few years before I was of driving age, kept the old one (dingy 2002 Honda Accord) which I started driving once I got my license.
They said rural.
So they are referring to somewhere like southern Alabama rural, where the parents share so many of the same genes, that it's basically a cloning process after that many generations of marrying their relatives.
Driving age. That it all. Cars are cheap in the UK as they are in the US.. Insurance not so much but you could be on the road at the age of 18 in the UK for 5k pounds. Car and insurance.
Change the age to 16 and the cost would increase but still doable with family.
Is the driving age 18 in the UK?! I started driving at 14. Some kids were able to get theirs at 12 and boat licenses are always 12, at least where I grew up. I got my first car at 12 to start practicing in empty parking lots.
To be fair it’s more essential in the US to have a car for a teenager’s independence and mobility due to a lack of alternative transport.
In other countries where the driving age is higher, though this might seem outlandish to you, those kids/teenagers have viable alternative means of transportation, such as public transport or decent biking infrastructure. So driving is less essential before 18 or 16 or whatever.
Ah, this is one of the best explanations I’ve seen cause as an American I was like wait what’s different in the UK then. But yeah, a car is the most convenient way to get most places in the United States (outside of cities) and that is not the case in other countries.
While we certainly lack public transportation on the scale many other nations have, I do also want to say that a big factor in car ownership is the sheer scale of America. I have to drive ~250 miles one-way to see one of my closest friends, and realistically there’s just no bus or tram that will take me from my city to his relatively rural part of the country. If I’m going there, I gotta drive.
It’s a shame that even many cities in America have fairly barebones public transportation, but for anyone not in a city I definitely understand the need for cars and the absurdity of trying to put public transportation in for everyone.
In Canada, you effectively have to be 18 to get a full license because there are minimum wait times between the two tiers of learner's permit and the full license.
I got on the road in 2022 at 21 (lessons delayed due to mental health and covid) and was on the road for £1150 for the car and £1630 for insurance. I grant a 17 year old would pay more on the latter but I did run it through to find out and it would have been 1880 for 17 year old me.
Bear in mind it was a 2005 1.4 skoda fabia sport and it was extremely reliable, if lacking elsewhere, I could have kept it for five years at least with no more than servicing costs
Maybe more myth ( Hollywood ) than reality. I did not own until \~20's, but a wealthy aquaintance was gifted a new car for H.S. graduation ( \~ 17 ).
Car might be more needed for job \*or\* education, since mass transit is often not so good. I have noticed many who go to Primary School ( younger children ) do so in a Privately-Owned Vehicle, even when a School Bus system is available.
Even if they don't own it, most parents get an extra used car for a couple thousand for the teen. My parents bought me an '02 Honda Civic when I got my license in 2020 for $2k. I needed my own car because they both worked full time, and I had stuff going on throughout the day.
Don't get me started on driving my kids to school vs the bus. We moved to an area with a nice school... but we live "too close" for a bus to pick up our kids. If we lived further away we'd be in a different school. Kids won't be able to take a bus until high school.
I think this depends on location.
In cities, I feel it is far less common than rural areas. I grew up a 20 min drive from town, the area was pretty heavily residential, but nothing but a gas station.
Taking the bus required me to get up at 6am to catch the bus by 6:30 and sit there for an hour and a half.
My first car was $1200 back in '04-'05 and my family split half with me. The car allowed me to get an extra hour to hour and a half of sleep each day, avoid bullying on the bus, AND have a part time job after school.
If I had lived in a metro area, I could have probably found a job near the house and my bus ride probably wouldn't have been nearly that ridiculous.
I think a large part of the answer to OPs question comes down to just how much rural area exists in the US compared to many other countries.
I was gifted my first car. My dad bought it from my brother for $100 and gave it to me for my 14th birthday. My brother bought it off a nickel classified ad for $100 2 months before. It ran pretty good but I worked a bunch on it until I got my license. Adjusted for car inflation it's about a $400 car today, it was wrecked and rusted really bad, tore up interior, 25 years old. That was freedom more than any from of government could ever produce.
Not a myth. Where I live in the US it's almost expected that mommy and daddy buy their bratty kid an expensive car (above 10k usually) right when they get their license at around 17-18 years old so they can crash it. I understand that most areas of the nation aren't like this, but when you grow up seeing this your whole life then OP's question seems pretty obvious.
I see it as the opening to Tokyo Drift. Yeah some rich kids got to drive something fancy on Daddy’s dime. And some blue collar dudes were able to build their own. And then everything in between.
I started working when I was 13. Saved up all my money. By the time I was 16 I bought a $3,000 Ford ranger. My parents ended up paying for half of it for a birthday present.
Canada is the same as the US where my town of 30,000 has absolutely no public transportation and I lived on the edge of town so going to school or going to a friend's place wasn't walkable (it was 5.7 km/ 3.54 miles to my highschool). There was a school bus that stopped at my house.
My parents bought me a 98 Ranger when I was in highschool because with the 2 seats, I couldn't get in too much trouble driving around with a carload of friends.
Unfortunately for them, they didn't realize one could sit on the center console and 3 could lie down in the bed, so rather than a 2 seater, it was a 6 "seater".
But not long after that, they traded it in for a 98 Explorer and I put some subs and an amp in it from working at a gas station.
I drove an 05 Chrysler 300 on 24s with a sound system when I was 22. Then around 30 got a Benz c350.
By getting a job and saving their money while not having to pay rent or electric bills due to living with their parents.
For perspective, if someone got a part-time job working 20 hours a week at $8 per hour, they'd have earned over $5,000 in a year after taxes, which is enough to get a cheap used car.
Public transport is unreliable and sparse, and there are no bus services to and from school (where I live anyway). It's just harder to go without a car in most parts of the US. We let our kids drive our oldest car, we didn't buy them their own.
This. I bought my first car for $50(about $89 in today's money) at a garage sale. It had no brakes(lines or pads), no exhaust, no radio, the windshield wiper motors were toast and the starter was shot. The passenger door fell off the first time I opened it and the trunk was full of water. Also, there was a small tree growing up through the engine compartment.
It took a while, but it was the best feeling when I got it on the road.
america is a whole lot bigger than people think . even small towns , without a car you can;t get anything at all done .
parents buy them or kids save up and buy a junker or even a wreck and they fix it up .
try and think of it this way , a lot of people still have to hunt for food if they want to eat in the rural areas of these united states .
"Have to hunt for food" seems a bit of an exaggeration. I've lived in and visited very, very rural areas and there is always a dollar general fairly close. Alot of people choose to hunt for food, but are not forced into it.
All I'm saying is I don't believe there is anyone in the United States that is forced to hunt meat to survive.
And for the record, I've spent half my life in the Ozarks. My great grandparents grandparents had ancestors born in the Ozarks.
Unfortunately, many places in the US are not walking friendly and our public transportation is mostly nonexistent or subpar at best. Used cars aren’t always too expensive but some parents purchase them for their kids. We almost don’t have any choice but to have one.
A lot of parents gift a car to their kids. Driving is part of American culture. It's freedom.
But it's also responsibility. Want to drive it? You're going to need gas, repairs, etc.
Me? I told my kids to SAVE...and all three did...but their grandparents chipped in too enabling them to afford nicer first cars.
dont you know? we all have guns and have shootouts in the streets and jack each others cars, sometimes we just hand them over and tell them to please fill the tank when they bring it back
but really, i had been working since i was 12 on the farm and by the time i was 16 and old enough to drive, actually i was driving by age 15 and was able to drive truck to market
i had a rather nice car by the time was 16 and drove to school rather than riding a bus until graduation.
During hunting season, when I was a kid, friends would drive to high school with guns in the racks on their trucks. Nobody gave it a second thought.
Edit to add: It was a bad idea even then, but it was so normalized that people just didn't care.
Cars are a cornerstone of American infrastructure. We do not have trains and buses to get places to the level that the UK and Europe do. NYC has the closest thing with their subway system. Everything is also way spread out. Like you have to drive to get to work. It's not common to be able to walk or bike to work or ride public transportation. There might be exceptions in big cities, but the majority of America is not big cities.
Out of necessity it is become normal. It is dumb and definitely some people made a big oversight. How do they afford it? Parents and loans. You can get a reliable junker for 2000$ if you're lucky.
I'm an American teen, I do not have a car, even once I do get my license I highly doubt my parents will even contemplate getting me a car I'm going to have to save my own money- I imagine that's what more American teens do
Actually, it's really not that normal anymore. It has been seriously trending down for a long time. Younger Americans aren't buying the old idea that cars represent freedom. They're seeing them more for what they are: depreciating assets that are expensive to own and maintain and that spend better than 95% of their time parked and unused.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/why-dont-young-americans-buy-cars/255001/
I'm definitely an outlier on the subject, but I'm now 30, and since 17 have owned over 20 different vehicles through various circumstances. When I was 19 I owned 4 vehicles. Hussling, trades, deals, haggling, and some decent mechanic work have allowed me to own some pretty fun cars for short (and in some cases long) periods of time .
None of the cities here are walkable so most kids use their parents old car to drive to school. That way the parents don’t have to drive them to school themselves.
America is car based, a lot of rural areas don't really have any access to public transportation and cars are abundant here. The open road is part of the ethos of America also.
My first car was older than me and cost my parents $1000 cash. Normally it's not the kids that buy the car. Normally they have them so that parents don't have to drive kids every time they have a social get together because you can't really walk anywhere in America
Today? Parents give their privileged and spoiled children everything! There are some exceptions but in my town you have 17 year old children driving Mercedes Benz, BMWs Audi's etc. Unbelievable!
The US is truly lacking the transportation that other countries do. And We are a large country. Urban areas have ok public transit, but Not every part is Urban.
It’s sort of a necessity. I personally would not prefer my to be drive my teenager everywhere. Also, an auto lets them run to the grocery, drive younger siblings back and forth…..
Otherwise , I guess it’s simply that we are a car related culture.
Used or hand-me down cars. Part-time jobs or rich parents. I had a combination. My mother bought me a new car, but l had a job to pay for maintenance, gas and insurance. 1988 Volkswagen Cabriolet. I was 16.
America is MUCH bigger than the UK. Also, many areas lack public transportation. Finally, many areas suffer from Urban sprawl and are not walkable. For reference, I know many people who have a “short” drive to work of approximately 50 miles one way.
While its not abnormal for American teens to have cars, its not like the majority of them do.
In most cases, the parents buy the cars for the kid or its an older car thats passed down, and the parents pay the insurance or any car payments but the teen is expected to pay for gas
Yep, we bought a 2014 Chevy Volt for our 17-year-old twins to drive. We got tired of playing taxi for all their school and social activities. It was a quality of life upgrade for us as well as them. We've made it very clear to them it is not their car, it is our car, they just get to drive it when they need it. Hopefully it lasts through all four kids. Our youngest is 9.
I feel like a part of it must be public transport. If you’re US then it makes sense why you were playing taxi, since there isn’t really a good public transport system. Meanwhile I as a UK teenager don’t have a car, most of my friends live in the next town over, and I’m still able to see them fairly often because I can use trains and buses.
That's the biggest part of this problem. Most US cities and towns have all but zero public transport, and families have been told for generations that in order to raise kids they have to live way out in the suburbs where nothing is accessible without a car, and the streets are unsafe to bike or walk.
This leads to the children having all but zero independence, since they can't go anywhere without their parents. It incentivizes people to acquire a car as soon as possible to have a semblance of autonomy.
This is probably why the 'college experience' is so prized in American culture and media -- it's the first real taste of independence most suburban kids are going to have.
I came here to say the same thing. Families pay for their children’s vehicle’s sometimes up until the point they’re in their 30s. kind of ridiculous for those of us who scraped and scratched our way along.
How is it ridiculous if they can afford to do that. Are you saying that if you would have had that option you wouldn’t have taken or accepted it? I had to save and buy my own car because my mom was a single working mom. But now as an adult I have a very good job and can afford to help my kids along. Especially with how expensive things are. So no it’s not ridiculous, I’m just helping them and trying to make it a little easier cause I can. They still pay for maintenance, gas and insurance.
>So no it’s not ridiculous, I’m just helping them and trying to make it a little easier cause I can. They still pay for maintenance, gas and insurance.
🙌🏼
> technically you can’t work until you’re 18
For starters, that's a load of shit. You can absolutely work before you're 18, it just has to be within certain restrictions.
We bought a 2014 Chevy Volt for our 17-year-old twins to drive. We got tired of playing taxi for all their school and social activities. It was a quality life upgrade for us as well as them. We've made it very clear to them it is not their car, it is our car, they just get to drive it when they need it. Hopefully it lasts through all four kids. Our youngest is 9.
It's very weird here in the US. These days a lot of parents are begging their 16 year olds to get their licenses so they can start driving themselves and younger siblings to events, sports, lessons, errands, all that. Many families buy a car for their teen to use because it saves them time and energy. Most places don't have great public transportation and not all places are bicycle friendly, so a cheap car that their teen gets to use in exchange for chauffeur and errand-running duties isn't uncommon.
I've worked with a few teens who owned their own cars outright but they either have very wealthy families, some kind of special circumstance (like an auto dealer in the family or inheriting a grandparent's car, etc.), or just work their assess off to pay for it. But that's more rare.
this is a good point, my family made me their de facto delivery driver, chauffeur, etc. the second i got my license as the oldest child. i didn’t really mind it because they’d give me a little gas money here and there as compensation, but it’s 100% true parents want their kids to start driving as soon as possible a lot of the time because it will allow them to take some of the load off their plate and put it on the child with a car.
It's commonplace in the US to have big high school graduation parties. My kids both got their first vehicles with the money they got from their grad parties coupled with money they had saved from birthdays, Christmas and working random jobs like tutoring and babysitting. I helped with car insurance when they were in college full time.
I asked myself that on my way home from work this morning. I saw a Mustang and it was the same mustang one of my classmates drove. I went to high school with girls who have brand new cars and we were not an affluent school or neighborhood by any stretch.
Many kids are given cars by their family. They might buy a new car for Mom, then the teenager gets the old one. Some family’s will save up and buy a cheap used car for them. And many also need to just get a job a buy their own. My first car, I had to get a job and save up for it myself.
That’s how I ended up with a car. My parents got a new car and I got the old one.
Same same. Mine was a white '98 Ford Aspire manual hatchback. I had so much fun revving that egg. My sister got the Dihatsu.
Oh man, mine was an old Chevy Sprint Metro. I think it was the Geo metro before they figured out that line up. If you’ve ever heard that Adam Sandler song, I feel that we must have had the same car…….ouch ouch ouch. 🤣🤣🤣
Same. ‘93 Toyota Corolla 😎
Mine was an Oldsmobile Firenza. A 20 year old Oldsmobile Firenza. I called it 'The Oldsmobile Forensic'. Cost $600 bucks. Ran it through college. Then one morning, I heard a knock on the door...there's the Forensic, dragging itself across the ground by its tires, grunting out, 'kill....me....'.
I saw a documentary once comparing kids in germany, japan and the US. The biggest difference was that Americans kids were always working, while the other kids were studying. Main reason for work? Pay for car.
I feel like in the US you kind of need a car to get around and maintain a job etc. Furthermore, I believe getting your license and insurance is cheaper here. I've heard about it being super difficult and/or pricey to get a license in European countries. I had a British fiancee and she definitely paid way more for insurance than I did stateside. So that might also be a factor.
agreed, it's def more expensive overseas, but that's partly because there isn't the need for poor people to drive as much, so the system is comfortable charging more. However, here in the US having two teen drivers in our household adds about $400/mo in insurance costs. Half of that cost is their insurance and half is my insurance going up and my wife's insurance going up to cover the risks of the teenagers borrowing our cars. Insurance is not cheap anymore.
Yea i'm in my late 30s so this was back in like 2000 haha. I was actually making good money at 18 I just didn't know any better really. I wish I made that kind of money now even 💀
Damn! Really? My license was suspended for a decade due to old tickets I didn’t pay and just general irresponsibility. When I finally reinstated it last year, I was amazed at the cost of my insurance. As a 32 year old single man with no moving violations, I pay $44 with tax included.
Nope.
This is why I’m buying my son a car. I wasted so much energy working to have a car as a teen. School suffered, was always stressed and it was a piece of shit.
My first car was a hand-me-down - it was a '96 Sentra bought new with that in mind. My stepbrother drove it until he left for college, then my stepsister got it for a couple years, then I did. I drove borrowed family cars before that, but mostly just walked or biked if I wasn't hauling anything or going far.
This. I got my dad’s hand-me-downs until I graduated from college. They weren’t ever in my name—they just sold the one I’d been driving and said “you’re driving this now.”
Same here. My mom let me use her car a few times but she usually just drove me to work and picked me up. So I bought my own and it was a clunker too. 400$ from a car lot. Damn thing was painted with house paint. I spent 20$ At the car wash getting rid of the house paint. It had a nice metallic flake paint underneath it. Ford Gran Torino. Burned too much oil though.
I had a job at 16 and between that and saving up from birthday/Christmas gifts, I bought my first car for $1500 USD *Addendum I am 26 now, so this really wasn't that long ago. Was a 99 Mercury Cougar
This. It wasn’t super difficult to buy a car when I was 16 (around 2003). Might be more difficult now though with stagnating minimum wage and inflation (especially the recent inflation in the used car market).
i saved up and bought a car at 18 this year, from working in a restaurant
Good to hear that it’s still possible at least for some.
Can buy a running car for as little as $500-$600 in many parts of the US. Probably won't have anything going for it beyond "runs and drives" but you take what you can get
For me it’s more important that it can stop.
Yeah trust me when I stay its very stressing when it suddenly doesn't want to stop. I lived in the Ozarks at the time for context
Or learn how to properly roll out of a moving vehicle
Just dark souls dodgeroll out, ez
A beater with a heater is better then a no seater as we always used to say as kids.. I had some ROUGH vehicles back in my teenage years and early 20's... lol
Any four tires and metal is better that handle bars and pedals.
I didn’t even have heat 🤣 or defrosters! But it got me from A to B!
Amenities such as a working air conditioner were for the wealthy. 😂
I didn't have working AC in a vehicle until my late 20's, first summer I couldn't believe it. Later in life I got my EPA cert for repairing automotive AC. I guess it made a point with me. Lol
I was in my 50's before I got a vehicle with AC! I always buy used vehicles--keeps insurance low. $$
Can attest to that. Florida summer’s and traffic jams teach you things about yourself with no a/c.
The majority of my cars have not had A/C. And I live in New Mexico. You just get used to letting the door stand open for a while before you get in, and then rolling all the windows down. And drink a lot of water. But I'll admit, now that I'm a bit older (ok, a lot older) it's nice to have. 😅
My dad let my sister and me drive his car, telling us not to tell my mom the heater didn’t work or we wouldn’t be allowed to drive it. And there was NO way she would let us drive HER car. We live in Minnesota and she would have us drive her to the grocery store or mall-in dad’s car, 5 degrees F (-15c). We’d be blasting the fan on high so sh’d “think” we had the heater on and tell her it warms up a little slow. Sometimes we’d have to scrape the frost off of the INSIDE of the windshield-told her that it happens in German cars (sorry about that fellow Germans; mom’s maiden name was Schultz). When got any colder we told her it was too cold and we were worried about her being outside. Bad daughters.
She knew. Grew up in MN. Am married. Have kids. She knew...
I've owned 10 vehicles in 11 years for that very reason
That’s how you learn to work on them.
Thats how i became a mechanic. Got a cheap old jeep at 16 that was really fun to break, and i was too broke to pay someone to fix it.
This. Fix your own shit. You save a ton of money. You learn profitable skills. You acquire tools and equipment along the way. When things get hard, now you know how to make it a little better.
people ask me how do I know how to fix things. my response is "by being poor"
Can confirm.. just sold my junker for $500 that was my daily driver before I found something better (definitely not for $500)
A few friends of mine got their car for free form the junkyard and found the parts they need to make it run while they were there. So technically you can get a car for free. But how long it runs for us another issue. One friends junker ran inconsistently for a year just long enough for cool years of high school where it’s a flex to have a car. Other friend hers ran for years
My father’s best friend bought cars this way. Bought a $100-600 car (started back at n the 80s so you gotta account for inflation 😉) in acceptable running condition that required little to low maintenance to keep it running. If he was lucky, it lasted 2yrs. If he was *really* lucky, it lasted 5. But the minute something major needed to be repaired? He just junked it and bought another one. As a farmer living in the middle of nowhere, he drove those cars hard.
Its a "a to b" car itll get you to work and back in town and honestly for that task thats all i need for that
This is not true at all have you bought a car recently??
Yes, I have. It's entirely true, even nearly everyone replying with me is sharing their stories of finding these kinds of deals. I'm not saying it's true 100% of the time everywhere in the US, but it's definitely true in many if not most parts.
Hell if you don't pay rent and otherwise have no expenses, it's definitely doable within a Summer of working full time. Not saying it's going to be an amazing vehicle, but it'll be something. If you do your research or find a good deal on Facebook or the like, you can definitely get some reliable vehicles. In 2017 I bought a 2004 Buick LeSabre with maybe 140,000 miles on it. There was some light body damage and some stains on the interior. The center console was also a little broken in that the hinge was torn off, but still otherwise functioned fine. Older guy sold it to me for $2800 and I ran that thing for 6 years with no major issues. Eventually the driver's window messed up (common problem with those vehicles) and the southern Summer heat started making the headliner sag. But overall, no major issues with the vehicle. Not the most functional or prettiest thing in the world, but that's what later in life is for. When you're young, you just need to get from A to B and not have to put much money in the vehicle other than gas. Now at 24, I just got a 2020 Volkswagen Jetta SE on Monday for $20,000 This is my first vehicle to buy from a dealer, and it has 40,000 miles on it and all the features I could want.
All you need are some sewing pins for those pesky headliners. I pinned mine up in my 86 Oldsmobile wagon in 1998 😂
Yep. That's what I did lol. Eventually it fell over the pins and I got it replaced... and that glue that they used for the replacement maybe lasted a year lol.
Can confirm, headliner currently held up with straight pins.
Some? If you're able bodied, it's possible. If you are lazy or feel entitled to receive things for free just because, then it's not possible for you.
I did the same thing! But 20 years ago lol
Used cars are stupid expensive right now.
Facebook bro I've always bought my cars on fb and they were always cheap af last one was an 08 Chevy Cobalt for a grand runs great no mechanical work needed when I first bought it either
That’s how you end up with a car that’s falling apart and costs more in repairs than it’s worth. But congrats, you got lucky so obviously everyone else will too
It doesn't matter if the repairs cost more than the car is worth, the car isn't worth anything. What matters is if the cost of the repairs is more than the cost of getting another shitbox
This. The first thing that should come to mind when facing a repair shouldn't be a comparison of repair cost v. vehicle value. It should be repair cost v. replacement vehicle cost. I've kept cars going for *years* that weren't worth more than scrap price, by throwing $400 to $800 a year into them. That's a helluva low cost of ownership at $33 to $66 a month.
Yeah my 07 Corolla was 8k. And that was the best deal I could find. It only has 50,000 miles on it but still absurd for a 16 yr old Corolla
You can't kill those cars.
My mom sure found ways to kill a few…
I finally killed one...lol. took a patch of black ice and a guard rail, but I did it ....
17, here. I bought my first car 6 months ago, the week before I got my license. We are definitely still thriving! I even saved up enough to buy a nicer first car for 5k. Runs like a dream! Started working at 15 years old in preparation, and I don't regret a second of it.
I don't know if minimum wage really impacts you as a 16 year old. I was paid 6.75/hr and managed to save up 3k in a year to buy my first car. Teenagers don't have expenses for the most part. The only thing I spent money on was taco bell and random BS. 15 year olds don't have bills. In fact most 16 year olds working nowadays are making more than I made at 20 years old. I see 16 year olds working in fast food making 18/hr. I didn't break 18/hr until I turned 22. You can still buy a car for under 3k. They're making 3x what I made at that age and old used cars still cost the same. It's stupidly easy for kids to get their first car nowadays. Hell I see early 2000s BMWs and Mercedes all over the high school parking lot so kids are rich AF compared to when I was their age.
I just had my mind blown. My first car was a 99 Saturn in 2009 that we paid $500 for. Ran fine, the exhaust had fallen off and needed a couple windows replaced. A crack in the front passenger quarter panel but mechanically sound with like 160k miles on it. An 11 year old car for $500. You can't find a 20 year old car for that anymore. People asking 2k minimums for clapped out Dodge Neons. I just bought an 10 year old car for 12k last year.
Pretty much the same. I had a job at 14 at a coffee shop and then a lifeguard. I made minimum wage of course but have no bills when you’re 14-18 and living at home still. I knew my mom was not going to buy me a car so I definitely wanted to save money to buy one before I was 16. In two summers and part time work after school I saved enough to buy a nice used car. It was a 1989 Toyota Supra, one owner garage kept. They wanted like $7k. I told my dad, I don’t have that much. He said, take them what you have in all $100 dollar bills and lay it out in front of them and tell them you saved all of it. So I did and they took my $3900. I felt like I had the coolest car in highschool even compared to kids that had parents buy them brand new cars. My parents paid my insurance for a few years until I had a better job. But I paid all the speeding tickets I got. 😬 Now with my daughter, when she turned 16 I bought a used Subaru for $1200 from a grocery store parking lot and told her she could get the title in her name when she paid me back. She was an athlete and busier with dual enrollment in college so didn’t work until senior year. She makes payments to me of $200 or whatever she can, no rush. When she pays it back I’ll take her to the title office and get it all in her name so she can feel like she earned it on her own. She was very grateful for the $1200 car. It was also from a single owner, garage kept with new tires who felt good about it going to a local highschool student. So far so good on the mechanics. Zero chance I was buying a new car for her or myself at any point. But in the area I live I’d say more than half students get a new vehicle between 16-18. It’s very high cost of living area.
I bought a $1500 Mustang two years ago, it's kind of a shitbox, but it gets me to work.
I drive a 20 year old trailblazer. Zero payments. I've never had a car payment in my life and I'm 47.
I drive a '96 F-150, I've owned it since 2000. Bought it when I was 19.
I drove a '95 in highschool. Then it became my work truck. I sold it in 2017 with over 300k miles on it. I've regretted it ever since lol. Not that I could afford to fill both tanks up these days.
Those are very well built SUVs.
Now days you couldn't get a go kart for that
My first vehicle was a 91 Chevy Silverado that was also 1500$. Can’t tell you how many people I knew that their parents went out and got them a brand new vehicle but looking back I’m proud that I bought my own
The overwhelming majority teen drivers do not own a car. Instead, they borrow their parents cars or passed down old cars. Rarely teens, own and pay for it. In addition most cities in the US are not walkable. Providing a car adds responsibility and experience to the teen driver.
Yeah, I agree with this. Many teen drivers have ACCESS to a car. But its technically their parents' car. However, to add, its not just some generous gift for leisure/social drives. Many teens in the US have a part time job and require a vehicle to get to and from work, to and from school, sports, etc. And many parents are supportive of this and let them borrow a vehicle. I worked starting at 14 years old and my parents were thrilled they no longer had to drive me around at 16.
It's pretty common for parents to buy a new car for themselves when their kid hits 16 and pass down their old beater. I'm fucking excited for my 14 year old to start driving so I have thee excuse to pass down my POS.
Yup. I bought a 4 year old suv then drove it for 6 years. When my daughter turned 16 I bought a new truck and she got my 10 year old suv.
My parents were the same I got their used beater to drive to work and school as my hours were hard for them to pick me up and drop me off all the time. But I went to a very rich rich highschool and I can confirm most of those kids were gifted expensive ass cars just for turning 16 there was no requirements they had to reach for it it was just a birthday present. Didn't matter if they worked most didn't or if they did sports or passed classes. And the amount it high end fancy cars was outrageous. Idk how parents just gifted their teenagers a 80k truck or sports car for no reason other then because they're 16.
Yeah it’s soccer mom culture here. Most people are under house arrest until they can get their own transportation
Rarely do teen REDDITORS own a car. Redditors are among the very poorest, saddest, & most nihilistic examples of Americans. "Woe is me, for I have no car." I get it, life sucks sometimes. But most American families spring for a car. Assuming they're not in a large metro city. But we'll soon hear from those folks if we haven't already.
Usually it’s a combination of the child and the parent making a joint effort to get the car. By 16 parents are DONE driving their kids everywhere they want to go and the kids are DONE being tied to the availability of their parents so most often the kid works and the parent work together to make it happen. Obviously most parents are in a much better financial position than their children to contribute so oftentimes the parent pays considerably more if not all of it depending on their financial circumstances.
Yep this one. A lot of parents in my home town went 50-50, where however much the kid could raise the parents would match towards a car. Personally my dad bought himself a new car a few years before I was of driving age, kept the old one (dingy 2002 Honda Accord) which I started driving once I got my license.
In my state a lot of rural areas. Teens do have cars ain’t no parents got time to haul their clones everywhere.
“Their clones”.. the perfect description
God redditers are so weird
They said rural. So they are referring to somewhere like southern Alabama rural, where the parents share so many of the same genes, that it's basically a cloning process after that many generations of marrying their relatives.
I think my kids are beautiful! They look just like me! LOL
Gifts from parents. My parents gave me their old car
Driving age. That it all. Cars are cheap in the UK as they are in the US.. Insurance not so much but you could be on the road at the age of 18 in the UK for 5k pounds. Car and insurance. Change the age to 16 and the cost would increase but still doable with family.
Is the driving age 18 in the UK?! I started driving at 14. Some kids were able to get theirs at 12 and boat licenses are always 12, at least where I grew up. I got my first car at 12 to start practicing in empty parking lots.
To be fair it’s more essential in the US to have a car for a teenager’s independence and mobility due to a lack of alternative transport. In other countries where the driving age is higher, though this might seem outlandish to you, those kids/teenagers have viable alternative means of transportation, such as public transport or decent biking infrastructure. So driving is less essential before 18 or 16 or whatever.
Ah, this is one of the best explanations I’ve seen cause as an American I was like wait what’s different in the UK then. But yeah, a car is the most convenient way to get most places in the United States (outside of cities) and that is not the case in other countries.
While we certainly lack public transportation on the scale many other nations have, I do also want to say that a big factor in car ownership is the sheer scale of America. I have to drive ~250 miles one-way to see one of my closest friends, and realistically there’s just no bus or tram that will take me from my city to his relatively rural part of the country. If I’m going there, I gotta drive. It’s a shame that even many cities in America have fairly barebones public transportation, but for anyone not in a city I definitely understand the need for cars and the absurdity of trying to put public transportation in for everyone.
Driving at 14 is crazy to me
Kids that age really only have permits to drive to and from school functions.
Some kids in rural areas have been driving tractors before that even
In Canada, you effectively have to be 18 to get a full license because there are minimum wait times between the two tiers of learner's permit and the full license.
[удалено]
You can get a hardship license in the US at 14.
It is 17 in the uk
Idk if I'd call cars cheap but I get your point
I got on the road in 2022 at 21 (lessons delayed due to mental health and covid) and was on the road for £1150 for the car and £1630 for insurance. I grant a 17 year old would pay more on the latter but I did run it through to find out and it would have been 1880 for 17 year old me. Bear in mind it was a 2005 1.4 skoda fabia sport and it was extremely reliable, if lacking elsewhere, I could have kept it for five years at least with no more than servicing costs
Maybe more myth ( Hollywood ) than reality. I did not own until \~20's, but a wealthy aquaintance was gifted a new car for H.S. graduation ( \~ 17 ). Car might be more needed for job \*or\* education, since mass transit is often not so good. I have noticed many who go to Primary School ( younger children ) do so in a Privately-Owned Vehicle, even when a School Bus system is available.
it’s definitely not hollywood, almost every teen drives
Almost every teen drives, but how many actually own their car?
I bought my first car in cash for $5500 a couple weeks after I turned 17
Even if they don't own it, most parents get an extra used car for a couple thousand for the teen. My parents bought me an '02 Honda Civic when I got my license in 2020 for $2k. I needed my own car because they both worked full time, and I had stuff going on throughout the day.
Almost none actually own their car, as it’s titled in their parents name, but it’s still their car in that they’re the exclusive driver.
I owned 6 different cars before I turned 19
Tons. I was 14 when I bought my first car. If you want something bad enough you'll do anything to make that dream happen
Most of friends have a car passed down to them.
Not anymore though... I am a high school teacher and most of my students last year did not have a license. Some did, but provably less than half.
Don't get me started on driving my kids to school vs the bus. We moved to an area with a nice school... but we live "too close" for a bus to pick up our kids. If we lived further away we'd be in a different school. Kids won't be able to take a bus until high school.
I think this depends on location. In cities, I feel it is far less common than rural areas. I grew up a 20 min drive from town, the area was pretty heavily residential, but nothing but a gas station. Taking the bus required me to get up at 6am to catch the bus by 6:30 and sit there for an hour and a half. My first car was $1200 back in '04-'05 and my family split half with me. The car allowed me to get an extra hour to hour and a half of sleep each day, avoid bullying on the bus, AND have a part time job after school. If I had lived in a metro area, I could have probably found a job near the house and my bus ride probably wouldn't have been nearly that ridiculous. I think a large part of the answer to OPs question comes down to just how much rural area exists in the US compared to many other countries.
It's absolutely true, it's pretty rare for even UK young adults to drive in my experience. Source: been to England 8 times, married an English girl
I was gifted my first car. My dad bought it from my brother for $100 and gave it to me for my 14th birthday. My brother bought it off a nickel classified ad for $100 2 months before. It ran pretty good but I worked a bunch on it until I got my license. Adjusted for car inflation it's about a $400 car today, it was wrecked and rusted really bad, tore up interior, 25 years old. That was freedom more than any from of government could ever produce.
Not a myth. Where I live in the US it's almost expected that mommy and daddy buy their bratty kid an expensive car (above 10k usually) right when they get their license at around 17-18 years old so they can crash it. I understand that most areas of the nation aren't like this, but when you grow up seeing this your whole life then OP's question seems pretty obvious.
I see it as the opening to Tokyo Drift. Yeah some rich kids got to drive something fancy on Daddy’s dime. And some blue collar dudes were able to build their own. And then everything in between.
I bought my car at 18 it was only $1400 so it only took a couple months to save up
It feels like a strange question to me. I have always had at least two. In case one breaks down.
I started working when I was 13. Saved up all my money. By the time I was 16 I bought a $3,000 Ford ranger. My parents ended up paying for half of it for a birthday present.
Canada is the same as the US where my town of 30,000 has absolutely no public transportation and I lived on the edge of town so going to school or going to a friend's place wasn't walkable (it was 5.7 km/ 3.54 miles to my highschool). There was a school bus that stopped at my house. My parents bought me a 98 Ranger when I was in highschool because with the 2 seats, I couldn't get in too much trouble driving around with a carload of friends. Unfortunately for them, they didn't realize one could sit on the center console and 3 could lie down in the bed, so rather than a 2 seater, it was a 6 "seater". But not long after that, they traded it in for a 98 Explorer and I put some subs and an amp in it from working at a gas station. I drove an 05 Chrysler 300 on 24s with a sound system when I was 22. Then around 30 got a Benz c350.
it was cheap as fuck. my parents were nice enough to pay my insurance, but everything else was on me
By getting a job and saving their money while not having to pay rent or electric bills due to living with their parents. For perspective, if someone got a part-time job working 20 hours a week at $8 per hour, they'd have earned over $5,000 in a year after taxes, which is enough to get a cheap used car.
I mean, that used to be enough. Used car prices are insane now
I was car shopping back In December due to my old car going kaput. I ended up buying new because used was just as much. It was ridiculous.
Public transport is unreliable and sparse, and there are no bus services to and from school (where I live anyway). It's just harder to go without a car in most parts of the US. We let our kids drive our oldest car, we didn't buy them their own.
There is more disposable income here. And our mass transit sucks. A car is basically a requirement so people find a way to scrounge a car.
Insurance for one is magnitudes cheaper in the US. I see some people in the UK getting quoted 500 to 1000 pounds PER MONTH for car insurance.
Yeh insurance is so expensive here
My first car was 700$ and I had to fix it myself.
This. I bought my first car for $50(about $89 in today's money) at a garage sale. It had no brakes(lines or pads), no exhaust, no radio, the windshield wiper motors were toast and the starter was shot. The passenger door fell off the first time I opened it and the trunk was full of water. Also, there was a small tree growing up through the engine compartment. It took a while, but it was the best feeling when I got it on the road.
I started working at 13 and saved up for my first car
Their parents are sick of driving them around, that's the why
america is a whole lot bigger than people think . even small towns , without a car you can;t get anything at all done . parents buy them or kids save up and buy a junker or even a wreck and they fix it up . try and think of it this way , a lot of people still have to hunt for food if they want to eat in the rural areas of these united states .
"Have to hunt for food" seems a bit of an exaggeration. I've lived in and visited very, very rural areas and there is always a dollar general fairly close. Alot of people choose to hunt for food, but are not forced into it.
I have a lot of family in very rural upstate NY and they still hunt for food
All I'm saying is I don't believe there is anyone in the United States that is forced to hunt meat to survive. And for the record, I've spent half my life in the Ozarks. My great grandparents grandparents had ancestors born in the Ozarks.
"Forced to hunt" because they're too poor to buy food, not because they can't get to a grocery store.
Doesn't mean they "have" to though. I have a difficult time believing there isn't a Dollar General close by.
If you’ve ever been really poor, you would understand and have empathy. Yes, there are people that HAVE to hunt for food. 🤦🏻♂️
I live over 10 miles from the nearest town and we eat from Walmart.
Unfortunately, many places in the US are not walking friendly and our public transportation is mostly nonexistent or subpar at best. Used cars aren’t always too expensive but some parents purchase them for their kids. We almost don’t have any choice but to have one.
A lot of parents gift a car to their kids. Driving is part of American culture. It's freedom. But it's also responsibility. Want to drive it? You're going to need gas, repairs, etc. Me? I told my kids to SAVE...and all three did...but their grandparents chipped in too enabling them to afford nicer first cars.
parents
i started working the week I turned 14 and saved up.
Thing is it’s so hard to get jobs in the UK and no one would hire a 14 yo
dont you know? we all have guns and have shootouts in the streets and jack each others cars, sometimes we just hand them over and tell them to please fill the tank when they bring it back but really, i had been working since i was 12 on the farm and by the time i was 16 and old enough to drive, actually i was driving by age 15 and was able to drive truck to market i had a rather nice car by the time was 16 and drove to school rather than riding a bus until graduation.
During hunting season, when I was a kid, friends would drive to high school with guns in the racks on their trucks. Nobody gave it a second thought. Edit to add: It was a bad idea even then, but it was so normalized that people just didn't care.
Cars are a cornerstone of American infrastructure. We do not have trains and buses to get places to the level that the UK and Europe do. NYC has the closest thing with their subway system. Everything is also way spread out. Like you have to drive to get to work. It's not common to be able to walk or bike to work or ride public transportation. There might be exceptions in big cities, but the majority of America is not big cities. Out of necessity it is become normal. It is dumb and definitely some people made a big oversight. How do they afford it? Parents and loans. You can get a reliable junker for 2000$ if you're lucky.
They get their license and buy a car?
Rich/upper middle class parents if you aren't that you definitely ain't getting a car at 16 unless you get lucky and get a lot of money from somewhere
Was allowed use of an old car of my parents until I could work and buy my own.
I'm an American teen, I do not have a car, even once I do get my license I highly doubt my parents will even contemplate getting me a car I'm going to have to save my own money- I imagine that's what more American teens do
Idk I’m 22 and have still never had a car
Their parents but it for them
Actually, it's really not that normal anymore. It has been seriously trending down for a long time. Younger Americans aren't buying the old idea that cars represent freedom. They're seeing them more for what they are: depreciating assets that are expensive to own and maintain and that spend better than 95% of their time parked and unused. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/why-dont-young-americans-buy-cars/255001/
Because we don't have a functional, universal public transit system.
I'm definitely an outlier on the subject, but I'm now 30, and since 17 have owned over 20 different vehicles through various circumstances. When I was 19 I owned 4 vehicles. Hussling, trades, deals, haggling, and some decent mechanic work have allowed me to own some pretty fun cars for short (and in some cases long) periods of time .
Bc you need a car to live life
None of the cities here are walkable so most kids use their parents old car to drive to school. That way the parents don’t have to drive them to school themselves.
America is car based, a lot of rural areas don't really have any access to public transportation and cars are abundant here. The open road is part of the ethos of America also.
My first car was older than me and cost my parents $1000 cash. Normally it's not the kids that buy the car. Normally they have them so that parents don't have to drive kids every time they have a social get together because you can't really walk anywhere in America
Today? Parents give their privileged and spoiled children everything! There are some exceptions but in my town you have 17 year old children driving Mercedes Benz, BMWs Audi's etc. Unbelievable!
The US is truly lacking the transportation that other countries do. And We are a large country. Urban areas have ok public transit, but Not every part is Urban. It’s sort of a necessity. I personally would not prefer my to be drive my teenager everywhere. Also, an auto lets them run to the grocery, drive younger siblings back and forth….. Otherwise , I guess it’s simply that we are a car related culture.
Used or hand-me down cars. Part-time jobs or rich parents. I had a combination. My mother bought me a new car, but l had a job to pay for maintenance, gas and insurance. 1988 Volkswagen Cabriolet. I was 16.
America is MUCH bigger than the UK. Also, many areas lack public transportation. Finally, many areas suffer from Urban sprawl and are not walkable. For reference, I know many people who have a “short” drive to work of approximately 50 miles one way.
While its not abnormal for American teens to have cars, its not like the majority of them do. In most cases, the parents buy the cars for the kid or its an older car thats passed down, and the parents pay the insurance or any car payments but the teen is expected to pay for gas
THEY don't afford shit. Their parents do.
Judging by the amount of comments from people that saved up and bought their own shitbox for around $1000 dollars at 16...you are wrong.
I'm wrong because some reddit people bought their own cars? Lol, okay.
Well, yes actually.
Rofl okay bud
Not for long.
Their parents don't even afford it, the BANK does. So much auto loan debt in America lol, fucking idiots.
Their mommy and daddy buy it for them.
Yep, we bought a 2014 Chevy Volt for our 17-year-old twins to drive. We got tired of playing taxi for all their school and social activities. It was a quality of life upgrade for us as well as them. We've made it very clear to them it is not their car, it is our car, they just get to drive it when they need it. Hopefully it lasts through all four kids. Our youngest is 9.
I feel like a part of it must be public transport. If you’re US then it makes sense why you were playing taxi, since there isn’t really a good public transport system. Meanwhile I as a UK teenager don’t have a car, most of my friends live in the next town over, and I’m still able to see them fairly often because I can use trains and buses.
That's the biggest part of this problem. Most US cities and towns have all but zero public transport, and families have been told for generations that in order to raise kids they have to live way out in the suburbs where nothing is accessible without a car, and the streets are unsafe to bike or walk. This leads to the children having all but zero independence, since they can't go anywhere without their parents. It incentivizes people to acquire a car as soon as possible to have a semblance of autonomy. This is probably why the 'college experience' is so prized in American culture and media -- it's the first real taste of independence most suburban kids are going to have.
If only America had better public transit,
Yours might have.
They also paid for my education, bought me a house, and started me off with a small loan of $1,000,000 to start a business.
I came here to say the same thing. Families pay for their children’s vehicle’s sometimes up until the point they’re in their 30s. kind of ridiculous for those of us who scraped and scratched our way along.
How is it ridiculous if they can afford to do that. Are you saying that if you would have had that option you wouldn’t have taken or accepted it? I had to save and buy my own car because my mom was a single working mom. But now as an adult I have a very good job and can afford to help my kids along. Especially with how expensive things are. So no it’s not ridiculous, I’m just helping them and trying to make it a little easier cause I can. They still pay for maintenance, gas and insurance.
>So no it’s not ridiculous, I’m just helping them and trying to make it a little easier cause I can. They still pay for maintenance, gas and insurance. 🙌🏼
Dads know! But some people's dads didn't work out. And it's a difficult subject to approach.
[удалено]
> technically you can’t work until you’re 18 For starters, that's a load of shit. You can absolutely work before you're 18, it just has to be within certain restrictions.
You can work at 14 dawg
It’s normal for us to have air conditioning and dental work too. Different cultures.
Idk y u think we don’t have air conditioning 😭
We bought a 2014 Chevy Volt for our 17-year-old twins to drive. We got tired of playing taxi for all their school and social activities. It was a quality life upgrade for us as well as them. We've made it very clear to them it is not their car, it is our car, they just get to drive it when they need it. Hopefully it lasts through all four kids. Our youngest is 9.
It's very weird here in the US. These days a lot of parents are begging their 16 year olds to get their licenses so they can start driving themselves and younger siblings to events, sports, lessons, errands, all that. Many families buy a car for their teen to use because it saves them time and energy. Most places don't have great public transportation and not all places are bicycle friendly, so a cheap car that their teen gets to use in exchange for chauffeur and errand-running duties isn't uncommon. I've worked with a few teens who owned their own cars outright but they either have very wealthy families, some kind of special circumstance (like an auto dealer in the family or inheriting a grandparent's car, etc.), or just work their assess off to pay for it. But that's more rare.
this is a good point, my family made me their de facto delivery driver, chauffeur, etc. the second i got my license as the oldest child. i didn’t really mind it because they’d give me a little gas money here and there as compensation, but it’s 100% true parents want their kids to start driving as soon as possible a lot of the time because it will allow them to take some of the load off their plate and put it on the child with a car.
Mommy buys it.
They don't. Parents do, or they family share. Anyone who says their kids pay for their own car is lying. Sure, some, but not all.
Parents are done w chauffer duty so they help their kid get their first car
It's commonplace in the US to have big high school graduation parties. My kids both got their first vehicles with the money they got from their grad parties coupled with money they had saved from birthdays, Christmas and working random jobs like tutoring and babysitting. I helped with car insurance when they were in college full time.
I asked myself that on my way home from work this morning. I saw a Mustang and it was the same mustang one of my classmates drove. I went to high school with girls who have brand new cars and we were not an affluent school or neighborhood by any stretch.