So if your teen has a car, did you buy it before they turned 16?

[smilequeen]

My oldest turns 16 in November. It's time to really seriously learn to drive. We intend to get a car for him, a small-mid SUV that will fit his hockey gear well. I have a huge SUV (Escalade ESV) and DH has a large SUV (Mercedes GL). He had intended to pass that car down to DS (it's a 2012) but I finally convinced him that it's too big.

But does he learn to drive in these big cars or would you get the car he'll actually be driving to finish learning in? DH wants a smaller car for himself too as we no longer need 2 3 row cars, so our heads are sort of spinning...

[SnuggleBuggles]

We have a RAV4 and a Civic. Ds1 practiced equally in both. His grandparents have been letting him “borrow” their 2nd car since the fall (a crappy little Ford Fiesta). I think it would be valuable to have him practice on the type of car he will be driving. We never planned for him to have a car. We wouldn’t have given him one. It’s a pain to have this 3rd car now! If you really need it, rock on. Otherwise, I’d hold off. It’s already annoying keeping track of 2 cars, if you ask me.
Couldn’t his stuff fit in a sedan? Sedan trunks are often bigger than small SUV storage.

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[georgiegirl]

We have an old car for DD. It was DH’s prior car that we just kept. It’s a 2007 Subaru Tribeca. So medium sized. DD has only driven on that car (she got her permit only 2.5 mo ago). If it starts having issues, we’ll buy her something like a CRV. It’s snowy here so we want her to have 4 wheel drive.

[daniele_ut]

I would teach him on the larger vehicles. IMO it’s much easier to drive a smaller car than a large SUV.

DS turns 16 in October and we are looking for a truck that DH will drive and DS will probably drive DH’s Subaru Outback, which is a 5 speed manual. In this case, because we need him to learn to drive stick it makes sense to teach him on that car.

[niccig]

No. DS won’t need a car until senior year. He can get school bus until then. Senior year he’ll have part days and not be able to take the bus. He’ll get my car, it’s a crv so not too big. It can fit a tone in the back. Mine is 2008 so old enough for it to be slow and pokey, and a few scratches, perfect for new driver. It’s a good sized, maybe look at it for your son. A neighbor just told me their car insurance went from $1800 to $5400 when bought their senior a 2007 Honda. Yikes!!!


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[mom2binsd]

From friends who have kids older than me, if you can afford a car now, buy the one they will be driving and have him practice and learn on that, which makes the most sense.

A lot of the kids around here who play hockey drive something like a Jeep Cherokee/Compass etc, or similar.

Also, at least in IL, you can add you son as an extra driver on the cheapest vehicle you own, do not make him the primary on any of your vehicles. If your agent doesn't work with you to make it as cheap as possible, get a new agent.

[mom2binsd]

Nope, hockey sticks don't fit in a sedan trunk or back seat. They would have to stick in the front seat of a sedan.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Nope, hockey sticks don't fit in a sedan trunk or back seat. They would have to stick in the front seat of a sedan.

They fit in our Civic. 🤷*♀️


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[JBaxter]

We didn’t buy a new car but DH did about 6 months prior and DS 3 drove his old Acura

[SnuggleBuggles]

From friends who have kids older than me, if you can afford a car now, buy the one they will be driving and have him practice and learn on that, which makes the most sense.

A lot of the kids around here who play hockey drive something like a Jeep Cherokee/Compass etc, or similar.

Also, at least in IL, you can add you son as an extra driver on the cheapest vehicle you own, do not make him the primary on any of your vehicles. If your agent doesn't work with you to make it as cheap as possible, get a new agent.

Unfortunately in my state it doesn’t work that way. If you own 3 cars and have 3 drivers, one has to be the primary of only 1 car.
The agent said if we ever planned to buy him a car to run our list by them to get rates as there isn’t a simple formula (older cars aren’t always cheaper/ vice versa).


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