Boys first vehicle…..

[Reburn]

I didnt read all the comments.
Research and buy what is cheapest to insure that has good reliability scores.

A FORD F150 COSTS A SHITTON TO INSURE HERE DUE TO THE THEFT NUMBERS.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

Used priced are insane. My wife got a brand new gx550. I sold her 2018 4 runner with 94k on it for 38k in one day. I paid 40k for it brand new in 2018.

I have an 06 Cummins that one of the kiddos will get when they are ready. All 3 kids will get a truck since I live on a farm an 4wd is a must. The days of buying old 12 valves for a few grand are gone. Clean 2nd and 3rd gen’s sell for 20-40k. Tacomas are the same way. Lucky I get plenty of time but will be interesting to see what the market does in 10-20 years on autos.

 

[mt terry d]

My son is 15 so I am looking for a truck for him. I found a great deal on a 4 year old F150 xl with stx package with 81k miles. My wife thinks it’s too nice. She thinks he should have a less than $10k beater. That’s what she had as a first vehicle. And it was always broken down and her dad was having to work on it. I am not mechanically inclined so I or my son would be paying someone, and then we would be back to driving him to all his stuff. I would rather spend a little more and get something reliable that can get him though college and then it’s on him to replace it when he wants to. Lots of kids at his school are given brand fancy new trucks and cars so to me an 4 yo XL is not spoiling him. I’m curious what your thoughts are. If it matters I will be paying cash.

Let him buy whatever he wants and can afford including insurance.

 

[Winnie]

I have twin boys. I gave them the option of each buying their own with my help (I own 51%), or going together and getting something nicer but they have to share. We got a 7 year old F150 with 128K on it. They use the snot out of that truck hunting and fishing (no abuse, just good hard use). No way would a car work for what they do. Occasionally I hear about the need for a 2nd car (a beater), but when I bring up the cost of insurance, that talk dies quickly. I think we have the best of all worlds. They have something reliable, it serves their needs well, I don't have to get up at 5 am to pull them out if they get stuck setting decoys out of a car, and I only have to pay insurance on 1 vehicle. If they werent so big into the outdoors, a car or SUV makes sense.

On another note, I noticed someone mentioned the likelihood of accidents and new drivers. That is why I would NEVER buy a small car for a new driver. I will gladly pay for a bigger, safer vehicle.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

My wife thinks it’s too nice

She's right

She thinks he should have a less than $10k beater

she's right

I am not mechanically inclined

that doesn't mean your son has to be

Lots of kids at his school are given brand fancy new trucks and cars so to me an 4 yo XL is not spoiling him.

and lots of those kids are probably spoiled entitled brats that have been given everything in life and don't know the meaning hard work.

If it matters I will be paying cash.

not to me it doesn't, in my opinion a kid should have to work and save and purchase their own vehicle that way it instils a little pride and ownership in them, and they end up taking care of it alot better.

All just my opinion of course.

 

[Sp00ns]

I definitely wouldn't buy him a nice vehicle. As others have said, he's going to beat it to pieces. You could give him some money and let him find his own vehicle. If he want's something more expensive than what you've contributed then he has to come up with the difference. I 100% believe if he has to pay at least some of the cost with his hard-earned cash then he'll take better care of it.

Finding something that's cheap to operate, insure, and repair is a smart choice. Don't overlook an SUV. You can throw a lot of feed and other stuff in the back of a Honda CRV or Subaru Forester and I think it would shock most of you guys where one of those little AWD SUVs can go. They even make lift kits and all-terrain tires that fit them now.

 

[Jimmy]

Might be just me, but kids with new/er vehicles bought for them by their parents tended to be jerks and entitled.

 

[bigeyedfish]

Finding something that's cheap to operate, insure, and repair is a smart choice. Don't overlook an SUV. You can throw a lot of feed and other stuff in the back of a Honda CRV or Subaru Forester and I think it would shock most of you guys where one of those little AWD SUVs can go. They even make lift kits and all-terrain tires that fit them now.

You're talking about feed by the bag. OP is using feed by the pallet. Not even the towing capacity of a CRV or Forester is useful as a feed truck.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

I definitely wouldn't buy him a nice vehicle. As others have said, he's going to beat it to pieces. You could give him some money and let him find his own vehicle. If he want's something more expensive than what you've contributed then he has to come up with the difference. I 100% believe if he has to pay at least some of the cost with his hard-earned cash then he'll take better care of it.

Finding something that's cheap to operate, insure, and repair is a smart choice. Don't overlook an SUV. You can throw a lot of feed and other stuff in the back of a Honda CRV or Subaru Forester and I think it would shock most of you guys where one of those little AWD SUVs can go. They even make lift kits and all-terrain tires that fit them now.

You would blow out the rear of that in a heartbeat with a pallet. When I set a pallet of feed in the bed of my Cummins I need the air bags cause it will squat, truck has a 2600lb payload.

Most guys have no idea what a round bail weighs or a pallet of feed, also most guys don’t need a 3/4 truck that’s used to pull 10-30k. My trucks get worked daily and I couldn’t imagine trying to use a half ton for real work.

 

[omicron1792]

Let him buy whatever he wants and can afford including insurance.

My kids play sports and do well in school. That is their “job” right now imo.

 

[SWOHTR]

Great thread with good inputs. I am aligned with the "kid needs skin in the game" camps and wouldn't buy him a nice vehicle. A friend around here was all proud to have bought his daughter a Tacoma (of the highly desirable body style from 15ish years ago) and then extremely frustrated when she totaled it.

My present plan is to sell my son our 2019 Jetta when he comes of driving age in 9 years. It's a basemodel and is well taken care of but not so rare or valuable that I'll be disappointed when something happens.

 

[mt terry d]

My kids play sports and do well in school. That is their “job” right now imo.

My kids did also.
They bought their own vehicles.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Your wife sounds very smart, but then again, she did marry you so one must take that into consideration.

That is way too nice of a first vehicle IMO. Lots of reasons along what others have posted like skin the game, installing a work ethic to accomplish better things (like a nicer car/truck), but here's another reason:

Unless your new driver is some kind of freak of nature teenaager, he's going to wreck the truck and well, that would really suck to do that on many levels but tops on the list is wrecking a really nice, and expensive, truck.

I'm looking for a car for my 16 year old and my budget is $4k-$7k. I can get a reliable car (inexpensive to maintain, easy to work on, etc.) for that price even if it's not pretty or exactly what he wants, but it'll get him from point A to Point B and back and personally I think that's all a teen should get unless a parent wants to start the "I'm entitled" mindset that seems common these days.

Good luck,

Eddie

 

[yfarm]

Corolla,Civic or Subie would my choices if I had a do over. My actual list were hand me down tahoe,4 runner, 2 used Jeeps and god forbid a Subaru Sti.Fortunately he didn’t kill himself in the Sti, just a couple of skids damaging wheels and tires. I was and am a car guy thus the errors in judgment in cars for 3 male teenagers. Cars were tied to performance objectives in school academics. Worked out well for all three in terms of their future lives.
Here in rural Texas seems the most desired vehicle in an old diesel superduty, can’t imagine a more expensive vehicle to repair or worse handling, only benefit may be you are above most other vehicles in an accident.
One son has several acquaintances that are senior or retired DPS, they talk about survivability in vehicle crashes, one being speed under 70 mph and second being the mass of the vehicle the individual is in. Driving on I35 between Waco and San Antonio brings those things into focus.

 

[Krolly]

My oldest bought his own truck last year when he was 16. A 2011 F150 4x4 with 175k. Paid 7500. Hes been saving for some time. I coached him to get the best truck he could for around that price range. I talked him out of the 12k -15k or more trucks. After paying for gas for a year he’s happy with what he has. It’s been a good truck. I’m happy with the lessons he’s learned.

 

[Team4LongGun]

While I agree with most that making him buy his own is great for so many life lesson/responsibility reasons, and prob 95% of kids should do that, there is an exception for me. A high level athlete. I had one that I made a deal with-if he was going to get good grades and train year round to work towards a scholarship, I would help him get a car. There is merit to hard work that doesn't pay cash immediately. He ended up with several offers and realized what I think is THE most important lesson-hard work and dedication leads to success.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

My son is 15 so I am looking for a truck for him. I found a great deal on a 4 year old F150 xl with stx package with 81k miles. My wife thinks it’s too nice. She thinks he should have a less than $10k beater. That’s what she had as a first vehicle. And it was always broken down and her dad was having to work on it. I am not mechanically inclined so I or my son would be paying someone, and then we would be back to driving him to all his stuff. I would rather spend a little more and get something reliable that can get him though college and then it’s on him to replace it when he wants to. Lots of kids at his school are given brand fancy new trucks and cars so to me an 4 yo XL is not spoiling him. I’m curious what your thoughts are. If it matters I will be paying cash.

Do whatever fits the bill best for you and yours. I see alot of folks talking about cheaper stuff for insurance and the fact they'll beat it up etc, etc...all valid points but one man nice newer truck is another man's cheap beater...its all relative.
I totally understand the idea of not wanting a high mileage rig that's always needing work that you can't or don't want to do. Keep in mind, 80k miles is still plenty for issues to show up that are now out of warranty. I've rebuilt rear axles and other various repairs on f150s with under 100k on them many times...Its a used truck, it's still a gamble, just a fair bit less of one given that mileage.
If paying cash for that truck and the insurance for your new driver doesn't dent your wallet at all, go for it.
I'd still teach the lesson of financial responsibilities by making the kid chip in or make payments to you to reoay the "loan" and help with insurance...even if you just put it right back in their college/first home fund account...they don't need to know that.
Once again, your kid, do what you think teaches best and fits you situation best.

And for the record... a "less than $10k beater" is a telling statement of how ridiculous our world has gotten...When I was 16 it was a under $1000 beater, and I drove, wrecked and abused a few before growing out if my dumb ass phase.
I dont care how well you think you know your kid...they are perfectly capable of making poor/bad decisions behind the wheel and statistically will likely trash the first vehicle...or one of their friends will.
I've got 3 years till I'm in that boat...best of luck

 

[Kkeene]

My first was a 283V8 2 speed Powerglide no A/C 67 Chevy short bed in 1978 with a $600 loan from my dad.

I paid for it in two weeks by shoveling chicken $hit and delivering for $20 per load dumped or $25 spread on a garden. I hired my older brother ($5 per load) to help shovel and drive as I just turned 14. He dented the passenger door the first day.

My dad said i paint for it so I could drive it without a license till I got pulled over by the cops.

 

[jimh406]

There are different opinions, of course.

I don't regret buying my children safe and reliable vehicles. I started with a beater myself, but I could afford to buy them solid economy cars. Those cars took them through college.

One of my daughter's car got totaled when she was hit on the interstate. Totally the other persons fault, but she spun several times and was hit on all sides. The other hit a deer. Neither suffered significant injuries, but both were pretty scared after. The airbags deployed.

The cars don't have to be expensive, but safe and reliable are very important if you can afford them. I never had to worry about their cars breaking down.

 

[Ross]

There is a reason young drivers insurance rates are so expensive. Close to 50% will have an accident in the first year. I watch my neighbors buy the kids cars, some multiple cars and watch them come into our area with various dents, rollovers, etc. Skin in the game teaches responsibility and real life facts on the cost and value of things.