When they're ready to drive

[charles_roberts]

Who is planning ahead for this day? I certainly am.. Considering there are 3 mini-me's running around I think it's a wise move on my part.

I'm curious to know how many Mustachians have helped get their kids on the road..

• Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?
• Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?
• Who paid for insurance, tax?
• Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?

This article from Carfax opened my eyes to the subject: http://blog.carfax.com/teens-first-car/.
I'm all for helping my kids when they're old enough to drive, however I feel like we should be meeting in the middle somewhere. All I'm saying is they ain't getting nothing unless they've got jobs.

[MDM]

Who is planning ahead for this day? I certainly am.. Considering there are 3 mini-me's running around I think it's a wise move on my part.

I'm curious to know how many Mustachians have helped get their kids on the road..

This is 80% a rear-view mirror perspective:

• Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?

Tutored them ourselves, except for state-mandated courses.

• Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?

What car?  Didn't add any cars - two in the family was plenty.  We did "inherit" a 3rd car a few years ago when grandma got too old to drive, and that has been used by several of the kids for out-of-town summer jobs.

• Who paid for insurance, tax?

We picked up the extra insurance.  No extra car = no tax.

• Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?

Not when they were working.  When a good portion of their driving was to run errands for us, it wasn't worth bothering.

So far none of the 3 college graduates has needed a full time car, due to a combination of living in large cities (public transit) and cycling.

[randymarsh]

I bought my car and that was basically it. Dad paid for insurance and gasoline. I was actually an authorized user on one of his credit cards specifically for this purpose. I paid for maintenance I could afford (oil changes, brake pads).

After high school I was on the hook for gas. Insurance was covered through college and still is (I just graduated). I assume I'll take that over when I move out.

Probably overly generous and I would never say parents should be expected to pay for all this. But it was nice and I (still) appreciate it.

[ketchup]

I learned how to drive on my dad's car.  I borrowed my parents' cars when I needed a car.  They paid for my insurance until I moved out and got my own car.  I'll probably do something similar with the eventual mini-ketchups.

[bogart]

We navigated this with my stepkids, and my parents navigated it with me of course, and we have one more we'll be navigating it with down the road.

Our state mandates school-provided drivers' ed, and everyone had that and then a learner's permit, with a parent (required) in the car with them for -- I think 6 months?  So that was the "education" part.  Our state now has stricter rules than it did when I and the stepkids were learning (e.g. nighttime curfews), which I think is a good thing.  I had to pass the test in a stick-shift and the steps also learned to drive stick though I'm not sure they had to take the test in one (personally I think this is a good requirement.  It's just something everyone should learn and learn early.). 

Both I and my stepkids were engaged in sporting and other activities that made it much easier for the parents if we could drive ourselves, and all had access to family cars provided at parent's expense.  My parents' rule was that they provided the car and paid basic insurance, maintenance, and gas, but I was responsible for damage I caused and for any increases to insurance.  I think that made sense (note that my being able to drive reduced, not increased, their costs, if you think of their time driving me around as valuable, which I do).  I'd have done the same policy for my stepkids but it wasn't my choice (we covered some fender-bender expenses I think they'd have benefited from being responsible for).

I bought my own car in college with about a 20% chip-in from my mom (the car cost $2500).  My stepkids got given (old) cars when they were in college (another decision I didn't agree with).  I'll evaluate this for my son when he starts driving, but will probably be willing to pay at least a fraction of the cost of a relatively safer car -- that decision is far enough away that I'll have to see what the different safety features are at that point, in order to make that decision. 

[bikebum]

I don't have kids yet, but my parents paid for my car expenses as long as I got good grades. That was sort of my "job." The downside was it didn't teach me how expensive things were or what the value of my work was, but I figured it out later.

[Rezdent]

Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?
combo.   We paid for lessons but did the required practice ourselves
Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best
we got her an 85 Ford off Craigslist.   Bonus points:  she has to frequently work on it :).  Great experience.
Who paid for insurance, taxwe pay for this until she hits 19.  She bought registration and inspection herself
Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?
nope.  She buys gas from her part time job

[quilter]

One of the best pieces of advice we ever got was from an insurance agent. He told us to only have old cars when our kids were of driving age. We did not add cars. It really helped with insurance rates. We shared. They did a lot of errands for us, and also were expected to keep their grades up, obey all traffic laws and pitch in around the house.  They also learned to do basic car maintenance and worked on the cars when stuff happened.

[Dee18]

I taught my daughter, who is now 17, to drive.  She does not have a car, although I could afford to buy her one and it would be convenient.  When she drives, she uses my car.  Because she does not have a car, she carpools to school the 7 miles each way (I pay the driver gas money).  This is good financially and environmentally.  She rides her bike to the pool/ rec center.  She walks to her job when she works nearby.  We work out sharing the car for when she works farther away and for social activities.  Although every one of her friends has a car, I was determined to teach her my values on this issue: cars are for transportation, not status, and should be used only when needed.  I was also influenced by a local school psychologist whose research shows that kids are much more likely to be killed in cars that are "theirs." They drive more carefully when driving a parent's car.

[agent_clone]

• Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?
• Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?
• Who paid for insurance, tax?
• Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?

For a non-American point of view. For what my parents did.

1. My parents paid for about 13 lessons which ticked off competencies while on my learners permit.  This was a method to become a provisional driver (i.e. Learners Permit you need a fully licenced driver in the passenger seat, Provisional Licence you can drive in the car by yourself but have more restrictions than a fully licenced driver).  My parents also paid for the course I needed to do to get my Learners Permit, my sister did it through school.
2. I bought my own car at the age of 28.  My parents were of the opinion that if I wanted a car then I would need to purchase and run the car myself.  I felt no need to spend money on a car until I did.  Sharing cars wise, my parents of course got first priority.
3. I guess my parents paid extra insurance to allow my sister and I to drive the cars,
4. My parents paid for Petrol (Gas), same for my sister.  However I was not off my learners permit prior to me going away to university so there was not too much driving that I did.  For my sister I think they would have paid for the Petrol for the trips she took.

I agree with the philosophy of, if they want a car they need to pay for it themselves particularly if there is a good public transport system where you are.

[prosaic]

My oldest turns 16 soon, so we're facing this.

Driver's Ed is $800 (it was $80 when I took it 20+ years ago!). We will pay that. He'll pay all fees associated with the license, and pay his car insurance and gas. We won't get him his own car. He can borrow ours, but when in conflict, our needs will come first.

[Bookworm]

We've only had one, so far, who has become a driver before moving out of the house.  We paid for his training, which is required in our state before a permit test can even be taken.  We actually never even thought about not paying for it, just because when DH and I were kids, driver training was part of the public school curriculum.  That's gone by the wayside because of budget cuts, but I guess we still had the mindset that it was supposed to be included in the high school curriculum.  And since he was homeschooled, that meant we were "the school," and we provided it.

He paid for his car himself, with money he'd been saving since he was about ten.  He paid for 75% of his insurance the first year, and then started paying for all of it.  He's always paid for all his gas and all his repairs until this last one (engine AND transmission replacement).  We pitched in for that because it was just such a huge expense.

[mrsggrowsveg]

My son is not old enough to drive yet, but I will probably do the same as my parents did for me.  My dad bought me a car.  If I wanted to drive, I had to get a job to pay for gas and insurance.  They paid for a very inexpensive drivers ed at my high school.  Once I got my first car, I started a job and paid for my car expenses.

[Sunnymo]

Questions:
Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?
Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?
Who paid for insurance, tax?
Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?

Another non US perspective here (Australian)...

I was at uni when I learned to drive. Lessons were a mix of parents and ones that I paid for. No such thing as school based drivers ed in my day.

I borrowed a car from the parents when available. Otherwise it was public transport. Their cars, their needs came first. When I bought my first car after graduating I paid for it myself with help from the bank. It was a three year loan paid in 15 months for only half the cost of the car.

When driving the parental cars I was added to their insurance policy. They had already learned this lesson the hard way when my sister had a three car accident and was not listed on their policy. When I bought a car I paid for everything.

I had to match whatever petrol/gas my mother put in the car, no matter how much or little I used it. This wasn't too onerous as my mother was a housewife. I took great delight one time in saying that I could not carry through on the deal as I managed to fill the tank before hitting the spending match.

[Kaminoge]

Another non-US perspective.

My parents said if I wanted to learn to drive I had to buy a car. BUT they helped me find the car and then my father spent hours and hours fixing it up (I paid $350) so it was road worthy. This only worked out because I had a mechanically minded father. I wouldn't have been able to afford a more reasonably priced car at 16.

I then paid for insurance (the legal minimum, lets face it, when your car costs $350 you aren't worried about anything except hitting other people) and for the petrol. My parents did pretty well out of the deal since I always wanted to drive when we were going anywhere as a family (like to church) and so I was paying for the petrol. Of course that also meant they had to put up with my driving... maybe it wasn't as good a deal as I think!

They did all of the teaching but then I took a couple of lessons right before I took my test. I honestly can't remember who paid for the lessons but there weren't a lot of them.

I passed the test first time so it must have all worked out ok.

After that I paid for everything to do with that car (and with all subsequent vehicles) but dad continued to do loads and loads of work on all my vehicles and I got a fair bit of help from my brother as well.

[soccerluvof4]

My son is about 6 months away from getting his license. He will get to use our oldest car and yes we paid for his course BUT. He must have a summer job and He must have a minimum of a 3.6 or better. Anytime it dips below that he will not drive no matter how convenient it might be to us with 4 kids. We can check his grades daily through the HS grade program.

[CommonCents]

From my own experience

•Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?

State mandated 6 hour class.  If there was a fee, my parents paid.  After that, I would drive with them in the car (actually my parents required me to drive and log 300 miles before taking my drivers test).  In the states, you do this on a learners permit at different ages.

•Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?

What car?

My parents did not buy cars for us.  We could ask permission to drive the older of their two cars (under rare circumstances we could drive the other, but I don't really remember that happening much - or wanting to).  My dad was gone with the Coast Guard often when I was 16, captaining a ship that was stationed two hours away, so I got the car more frequently than my sister had it.  I would drive myself to school (no buses, except for integration).  My senior year, it was quite helpful as I took classes at UCSD, which was about 40 minutes away, so my mom didn't have to drive me when I had access to the car.

In exchange, we were expected to drive siblings with zero complaints upon asking, and to drive to the store to pick up anything my parents (mom) wanted.  She didn't ask often.  We never complained.

•Who paid for insurance, tax?

Parents did.  They told us we got a good drivers discount and a good student discount.  If either failed to be true, we would pay the difference.

•Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?

My parents were fairly frugal but they did pay for our gas because:
1. They never wanted us to run out of gas simply because we were the last to drive the car and we didn't want to pay to fill it up.  The car was not permitted to go below a 1/4 tank.  I still get anxious about that number!
2. We often drove to places they'd have driven us otherwise (freeing up their time) - school, school activities, etc.  We didn't often drive other places or to friends houses (which weren't too far away and thus gas not so much).

Note: My younger brother wanted his own car, so he bought a cheap used one for $1-2k and fixed up (took a shop class and the class would work on his car).  He says she paid for one tank of gas a month, which they calculated to be about what she would have paid if she were driving him.  He thinks he paid for the increase in insurance from getting the car over being just an authorized driver.

[Nords]

Who is planning ahead for this day? I certainly am.. Considering there are 3 mini-me's running around I think it's a wise move on my part.

I'm curious to know how many Mustachians have helped get their kids on the road..

• Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?
• Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?
• Who paid for insurance, tax?
• Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?

This article from Carfax opened my eyes to the subject: http://blog.carfax.com/teens-first-car/.
I'm all for helping my kids when they're old enough to drive, however I feel like we should be meeting in the middle somewhere. All I'm saying is they ain't getting nothing unless they've got jobs.

Thank goodness those days are over!

We paid for lessons (required by the state if they wanted to drive younger than 18 years of age) and we had to tutor them on the 50 hours of driving experience (10 of which had to be at night). 

Here are combined answers to the rest of your questions:

1.  If you have more drivers than cars in your house, USAA (and perhaps other insurance companies) may classify your teen as an "occasional driver".  USAA did this for us, even after I explained the way things were in our house.  Our daughter did not cost us a penny of additional insurance.  One reason may be that we do not carry collision or comprehensive-- only the state-mandated minimums plus a huge liability policy.

2.  A used Prius is a great teen driver teaching tool.  There's a minimum of controls:  no clutch and only a paddle shifter.  The brakes are extremely forgiving and the car has impressive stability/traction control.  The electric motor gives it a huge surge of acceleration if she misjudges a merge or an intersection.  It's very tolerant of a leadfoot driver-- I get 58 MPG with my driving skills, but she still achieved 48 MPG as a new teen driver.  After learning on a Prius, our teen hated learning how to drive our Altima with a manual transmission. 

3.  When our kid was eight years old, we started the "Kid 401(k)" modeled after David Owen's "First National Bank of Dad".  We raised her allowance and told her that another portion of her allowance was going into her Kid 401(k) with a parental match.  Bottom line:  when she was 16 years old she'd have $5000 to use toward a car (and insurance and gas).  In addition to evoking her intense interest in 401(k)s and part-time jobs, this gave her a sense of security that eliminated all greedy gimmes for Hummers and Escalades.  She knew that she'd be able to buy a car with her own money and take care of it with her own income. 

She learned to drive on our used '94 Taurus station wagon that would fit a full-size futon in the back, but apparently she didn't appreciate that "opportunity".  In 2008 when she approached age 16, she threw a curveball.  She suggested that she pool her $5000 with our parental investment to buy the used Prius.  She'd drive it until she went to college, and then we'd cash her out (minus damage and excess wear/tear).  We felt that we had to honor that creativity, so we ditched the Taurus and bought the Prius.  She took great care of her new investment and only lost $250 for a parking-lot ding.  She took that $4750 to college, and two years later bought a used '99 Honda CR-V with 170K miles.  She's still driving it, and she's taking it to Spain with her for duty aboard her Navy ship.  We're still driving the Prius.  We liked the Prius so much that we now own two of them.

4.  When she got her license, she took over running all the household errands:  grocery shopping, gas, DIY oil changes, even runs to the home improvement store.  If my spouse or I needed something done, our daughter did the driving (and undoubtedly combined it with her own liberty checklist) while we reimbursed the cost.  If she found coupons or other cost-cutting specials, she got to keep the savings.  Of course our evil scheme worked flawlessly:  she learned how to be a frugal grocery shopper, gas buyer, oil changer, and home-improvement shopper.  I didn't set foot in a grocery store for nearly two years!

She took the privilege pretty seriously.  When she was 18 years old and home on college break, she came home one night furious about a "friend".  He'd started drinking at college, so when she was driving the group around on Oahu he brought a hip flask of Jack Daniels into "her" car.  When she found out what he was doing in the back seat she almost kicked him to the curb and drove home without him.  She scared him enough that he emptied the flask on the side of the road and stopped drinking around her. 

A side effect of the Kid 401(k) and the errands is that she's very frugal with her budget.  She lives with roommates and does almost all of her own cooking (including brown-bagging lunches).  She bicycles as much as she can or throws her bike into the CR-V.  She graduated from college with zero debt, a five-figure Roth IRA, and a steady job.  This year she'll not only max out her Roth IRA contribution again, but she'll also nearly max out her Roth TSP contribution.

[Exprezchef]

My son is now 19 and did not get his license until he turned 18. As far a lessons, it was a combination of drivers training (we paid for it) and my wife and I teaching him. We gave him our long since paid for Honda Accord and before I handed him the keys I had a full inspection done on the car. It passed with no issues. He understood that even though it was not in his name, he was responsible for the insurance, gas and maint. for the vehicle.  I put him on my insurance policy (USAA) and he pays us his portion every month without fail. Here we are a year later and the car needed new tires, a brake service, a transmission service and the registration is due in August.  All total it adds up to @ $800.00. He was made aware that the items would be coming up 6 months ago and he needed to save money from his part time job to pay for the repairs and registration. Sadly, he did not save enough (only $200.00). I was torn between parking the car until he raised the funds or myself paying for the work and have him pay me back in installments.  The problem is that we live in a rural community and there is no public transportation. We are many miles from his work and the roads are not designed for safe bicycle riding either. By parking the car, my wife and I are then on the hook for getting him to and from his work. We ended paying for the repairs with a written plan for him to pay us back $200.00 a month until the loan is paid off.   

[randymarsh]

4.  When she got her license, she took over running all the household errands:  grocery shopping, gas, DIY oil changes, even runs to the home improvement store.  If my spouse or I needed something done, our daughter did the driving (and undoubtedly combined it with her own liberty checklist) while we reimbursed the cost.  If she found coupons or other cost-cutting specials, she got to keep the savings.  Of course our evil scheme worked flawlessly:  she learned how to be a frugal grocery shopper, gas buyer, oil changer, and home-improvement shopper.  I didn't set foot in a grocery store for nearly two years!

This was a good idea. New drivers need experience.

I had some friends in HS I felt weren't great drivers because their parents hardly let them.

[SunshineGirl]

My daughter will be getting her permit in less than a week, so all this is very much on my mind. We plan to pay for her insurance (if it increases due to poor grades or an accident, she will have to pay the difference), and in exchange for using the car, she will be doing most errands, including driving her brother places. I absolutely cannot WAIT for her to have her license, as I have been driving the same rectangular route for over a decade and am SICK OF IT. :) We'll probably pay for most gas, too.

I will be holding off on getting a third car. We will have four drivers in the house with two cars for a short period of time (couple years), but I think it will be a good challenge. Most things around here I can bike to, but don't in the heat of summer (110 degrees yesterday) or for the sake of convenience. My husband is ready for a new(er) car and has suggested that his minivan with 170K miles goes to the kids. I don't particularly want them having a minivan because of all the kids they could fit in it, but we'll see. It would be a good lesson in appreciating having ANY car and keep them humble, not a bad thing.

[CommonCents]

She took the privilege pretty seriously.  When she was 18 years old and home on college break, she came home one night furious about a "friend".  He'd started drinking at college, so when she was driving the group around on Oahu he brought a hip flask of Jack Daniels into "her" car.  When she found out what he was doing in the back seat she almost kicked him to the curb and drove home without him.  She scared him enough that he emptied the flask on the side of the road and stopped drinking around her. 

This reminds me of something I forgot to mention above in my story.  My parents required me to drive a certain amount before I could drive any friends (exceptions were made upon request for only one passenger, never more, until the miles were logged).  When I was given the keys, my mom told me that if I ever needed to, if I didn't want to drive friends, etc., I could *always* blame her, and claim she wouldn't permit it.

I tried not to laugh.  Of course that would never happen - they were my friends!

Some time later, I found myself startled to actually be using this excuse once.  My friends were quite rowdy that afternoon and I just didn't really think that driving them was a good idea (in terms of distraction, etc.).  When asked, I demurred, and said, so sorry, my mom won't let me drive you guys!  Came home and told my mom I never thought I'd use it, but I had!  They may never use it, but I still suggest offering it, because they may not just want to say no to friends, and it may not occur to them on their own to "blame" you.

[Bookworm]

I should add that, although DS paid for his own gas, I did pay for the gas he used getting to and from his dad's house on the weekends.  It wouldn't have been fair for him to have to pay extra because he had divorced parents.  It's been a while.  I'd forgotten about that.

[cbgg]

I don't have kids, but it was less than 10 years ago that I was the kid so maybe my perspective helps?

Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?

My parents did pay for some driving lessons and I like to think it was a good investment.  As a kid I probably wouldn't have thought they were worth investing in, but I'm positive they made me a safer, better driver.  My parents also spent a lot of time teaching me how to drive, but professionals teach you better habits.

Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?
When my sister and I were pretty young (10-12 ish?) my dad made a deal.  When we purchased our first car, he would match us dollar for dollar.  The idea was to motivate us to save up our money and be responsible, but also to ensure that we were going to drive safe cars.  (These days you could argue that today there aren't too many cars on the road that are unsafe, unless you do a lot of interstate driving.)

The financial motivation REALLY worked.  My sister and I both started working part time jobs at age 15 and saved diligently to buy cars when we graduated from high school.  With my dad's help I bought a brand new Honda civic using cash and had the car for 10 years.  It was still running perfectly and looked great 10 years and 130 kms later when a stupid hit-and-run driver smashed into me and totaled it.  Sad face.

If you have the financial means, I think this is an approach worth considering.  If you do choose to help with a car purchase in any fashion I HIGHLY suggest that you make your contribution contingent on their savings efforts in some way.  For many kids this is an extremely motivating goal and it let's them see they can do so much more than they thought they were capable of.  When I bought that car I was 18 and was able to put $10,000 cash up front plus had reserve for insurance and still had money in the bank.  That was AMAZING to me and a big lesson.  I knew from a young age that it was in my power to save for the things I wanted without debt.  This also creates an incentive to defer car payment as I knew that if I kept saving I could buy a better car.

Regarding type of car - I think it's critical to think long term.  For me that means low operating costs (aka, good on gas, low maintenance) and long term reliability.  My Honda Civic was great, my current Yaris hatch back is even better.  I think a subcompact is a great option for pretty much anyone who doesn't have kids.

Who paid for insurance, tax?

With my own car, I was responsible for all operating expenses (insurance, maintenance, gas, etc). 

Prior to having my own car, when I would drive my mom's car I had no expenses.  I was never expected to fill the tank, get the oil changed, etc.  I don't think that's a good model.  At the least kids should make a contribution for their usage to their usage.  They should have the experience of paying for the gas they use and for paying for maintenance a reasonable portion of the time.

Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?

See above.

[MayDay]

My parents got an old beater when my great grandmother died. First I drove it, then my brother then sister. It was a verrrrry old suburu wagon that lived to a ripe old age.

My parents paid insurance (very low as the car was so old) and us kids paid gas. It was worth it to my parents to havea third car so they didn't have to schlep us around. In retrospect they should have made us bike!

We will likely let the kids have PT use of one of our cars when the time comes. Lime, take dad to work in the morning, then take the car for the rest of the day. They will buy their own gas, and we will probably split drivers ed costs.

[RootofGood]

We haven't figured out all the details, but:
-we'll pay for some or all insurance.  Maybe I can get on Nord's plan at USAA and have my kids be "occasional drivers".  Hopefully they'll offer more than the $10 discount they gave me when I told them I retired and all my trips are "leisure".  :)
-cars - we have 2 14 year old cars in excellent mechanical condition that might be our kids first car(s).  Otherwise it would be something similar (accord/civic/camry/corolla).  I'm not opposed to buying a newer old car for a few extra safety features if it's time to replace anyway.
-gas - not sure about that.  The economist in me says they will be smart about driving if they pay their own share but I don't know how to administer the cost easily if it's a shared car.  Since we live in the city, many trips are just a few miles so gas isn't that expensive usually (ie I spend $25/month for my occasional driving).
-lessons - driver's ed is free or cheap through high school so we'll probably do whatever is required.  Otherwise we'll practice in parking lots or empty roads. 

I'll be treating a car as a leisure tool unless the kids use it for productive efforts (school, job, college classes in the afternoons like I did, etc).  Productive efforts get more funding from mom and dad, leisure is mostly self-funded.  And at some point, if they have a job, I expect them to pick up or split expenses like gas, new tires, etc if they are the primary drivers.

That's my theory anyway with the oldest kid being 9 :)  Scary to think she's 5 years from enrolling in driver's ed! 

[Jennifer in Ottawa]

This has been on my mind for months as my eldest turns 16 in September.

DH and I have decided that DS will:

- take a professionally taught Drivers Course and perhaps also a Defensive Driving Course
- pay for half the cost of his courses
- pay for half the cost of his insurance
- pay for his own gas unless he is sent out to do errands for us.

He will not be gifted a car, nor will we contribute to its purchase.  Neither of us had this opportunity.  Heck, I was 27 before I owned my first car.

I am torn over which vehicle he will be allowed to drive.  The choices are (and yes, they are currently very very unmustachian) a Ford Ranger and a newish (still being paid for) Traverse LTZ.  The Ranger being a pickup has a rollover possibility if handled frivolously, but the Traverse is still newish and on the expensive side.  Knowing myself, motherly panic at the thought of a potential rollover will prevail against the potential loss of mere money.   Still, maybe I can convince DH to part with his baby-truck and get something  more sensible.

Anyway, driving is a privelege, not a right.  DS knows that, and we've never allowed the kids to develop a sense of entitlement in any other area, so it's not exactly surprise to him.

[SK Joyous]

Great thread/questions!  We are post-DD and pre-DS driving, and here is what we did/are doing:   

Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?
- so lucky that here the classroom, training, and driving hours are done through the school and are super cheap (and we don't have to nervously grip the dashboard for the first many hours of driving :)

Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?
- we purchased a used car with cash that we saved up for that purpose, with the idea being that this car would last many years and get them through post-secondary education and so on; it was a couple years old Ford Focus (lots of depreciation from new but still some warranty in case it was an inherent lemon). 

Who paid for insurance, tax?
- our DD paid for her monthly insurance costs with her part time job

Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?
- and she paid for her own gas also (unless she was doing driving specifically for us, in which case we would reimburse)

[Cwadda]

Who is planning ahead for this day? I certainly am.. Considering there are 3 mini-me's running around I think it's a wise move on my part.

I'm curious to know how many Mustachians have helped get their kids on the road..

• Did you/they pay for their lessons? Did you tutor them yourself?
• Who paid for the car? What kind of car is best?
• Who paid for insurance, tax?
• Are their Mustachians who pay for their kid's GAS?

This article from Carfax opened my eyes to the subject: http://blog.carfax.com/teens-first-car/.
I'm all for helping my kids when they're old enough to drive, however I feel like we should be meeting in the middle somewhere. All I'm saying is they ain't getting nothing unless they've got jobs.

I didn't get lessons. Only the 8 hour course required for my state. Once I had a permit, other drivers taught.

When we were in high school my parents bought my sister and me the first car to share. We were responsible for paying half of insurance, half of repairs, and most of gas.

In my second year of college I bought half of my first car and my parents gave me a loan at 0% for the other half. I pay for all of gas, half of repairs, and half of insurance. Once I'm out of college though, I'm on my own.

[Cigar2011]

I will pass on what my dad did to me as it really did help me, though it didn't see it that way then.

They will pay for all lessons, ins, purchase of car, regi fees, lic fees etc. 

I will allow them to practice with my car and will offer guidance when asked for it.  Is this ins. Good, should I take extra lesson, what type of car should I be looking at.

My first car was a '78 olds. You couldn't drive it more than 20 mins before it started overheating. What a junk box. BUT I paid for it with my own money.( a friend of the family was going to give it to me but my dad insisted I pay for it. Nothing is free. We agreed on $100 bucks.

A quick funny story.  The very first time I went to pull that car from the driveway I shifted it into reverse and boom I dropped the driveshaft. The universal joint went. Dad got me one, the only thing he ever gave me for that car, and I had to put it in. I learned a lot from that car wouldn't change the experience for a million dollars.

[chicagomeg]

My parents told me when I was 7 and they bought a used 1991 Geo Prism it was going to be my car when I turned 16. "Don't spill anything back there, you're going to have to drive this thing someday!". They were true to their word and right after I got my permit, they bought their first new car ever, a 2005 Toyota Corolla. They generously paid for driver's ed and my insurance. I was in marching band, and didn't have time to work during the fall because of it, so I didn't get a job until January of my senior year. In the interim, my mom upped my allowance to something like $10 or $20/week and I had to pay for school lunch & gas out of that, in addition to anything I wanted to do with my friends. (Although they were pretty generous about that & also paid for expensive things like Prom tickets).

Once I had a job, my parents had me take over insurance & stopped giving me an allowance (but I think they kept paying for school lunch). They always paid for all the repairs, etc. Compared to others here, it seems my parents were rather generous, but I don't seem too entitled for it, so I think it was ok given that they could afford it. :)

Oh! My parents made it PAINFULLY clear I would be responsible for any damage that was my own fault, but I never had an accident until I was 21 and hit the house after a major ice storm. That one was truly not my fault though, despite what my insurance record says (grr!)

[TrMama]

4.  When she got her license, she took over running all the household errands:  grocery shopping, gas, DIY oil changes, even runs to the home improvement store.  If my spouse or I needed something done, our daughter did the driving (and undoubtedly combined it with her own liberty checklist) while we reimbursed the cost.  If she found coupons or other cost-cutting specials, she got to keep the savings.  Of course our evil scheme worked flawlessly:  she learned how to be a frugal grocery shopper, gas buyer, oil changer, and home-improvement shopper.  I didn't set foot in a grocery store for nearly two years!

This was a good idea. New drivers need experience.

I had some friends in HS I felt weren't great drivers because their parents hardly let them.

Excellent idea! My 8yo is very eager to take over the family grocery shopping and cooking. I'm all for this idea and will happily give her cash to buy groceries with. If she can manage to buy them for less than I budget, she's welcome to keep the difference.