If this happened to a young person who co-signed, I would be a lot more sympathetic. In my younger, less financially knowledgeable days, I co-signed an auto loan for a friend and ended up getting my credit severely damaged as a consequence. I simply didn't understand what it meant when I co-signed, because no one ever taught me anything about loans and the bank that gave the loan wasn't interested in educating me about it because it would cost them business. The parents in this situation, however, are old enough and experienced enough to know exactly what they were getting themselves into.