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I’m a 30 year-old who owns a home on the Sammamish Plateau near Skyline High School and Eastlake High School. As I head into work around 7AM, I often get caught in the high school rush-hour along 228th. As I wait at the street light on SE8th and 228th, I get the honor off watching 16 and 17 year olds kids drive brand new 2007+ cars to school. This just amazes me. I realize there are a number of affluent people living on the plateau, mostly newly mint millionaires from all the dot-com successes from the late 90’s but , come-on, brand new cars for your kids who barely have maybe an hour of driving experience?
I drive a 1999 Audi A6 and I’m happy to have it. It’s shiny, handles well in the snow and starts everytime I turn the ignition. Sure, I could go out and buy a new car and pay cash, but why would I when there is nothing wrong with the car I have now. I certainly wouldn’t do the same for my kid. Granted my kid only 1.5 years old but when he turns 16, I certainly won’t be buying a new car for him. I fear the day when he turns 16 and expects his brand new shiny car. Well I can tell you right now, he’s not going to get one. If I do buy him a car, it will be a used car at least 10 years old. If he is really lucky, he might get my old car and I’ll go buy him another.
I can’t believe I’m the only one who thinks this way? Am I just old fashioned and just need to get off my cheap backside and expect to buy my new kid a new car when he’s of driving age?
M. R.
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Reply to: Bumper Sticker: "My kid drives a nicer car than your Dad"
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Sarah E
04-08-2008 9:45 PM
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I completely agree with you. I don't live on the plateau but I went to high school in Southern California and my parents had to search long and hard (no Schoolfinder back in the late 80s)...to find a school with strong academics, a good music program for me and a good dance program for my sister - and where all the students weren't driving to school in a brand new Mercedes or BMW. My sister and I shared a '79 Bonneville and it was perfect. I have two boys, 3yo and 5yo, and they are getting a safe, used car (to share) when they are 16. I don't think it matters whether you can afford to buy your child a new car or not, there is no reason a 16yo needs a new car to drive.
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Reply to: Bumper Sticker: "My kid drives a nicer car than your Dad"
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Shmuly T
04-10-2008 12:10 AM
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Thanks Michael. I just learned that you are thirty. And that you can pay cash for a new car. Basically, I'll be real niceto you now; because you're OLD & RICH!
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I live in Northern VA, considered a suburb of Washington DC. The kids around here practically demand brand new high end cars (BMW, Mini Coopers, Navigators) when they turn 16. Not only is it a complete waste of $$ to give a new driver a car like this, but it simply fosters the ridiculous sense of entitlement in this area.
My neighbor teaches high school, and the teachers' lot is filed with older sedans, while the student lot overflows with brand new, loaded cars. The kids seem to think that they are somehow better than the teachers who are preparing them for the real world! We pay taxes so that the big yellow bus will show up every day. With the current environmental situation, schools should just ban students driving to school.
Read "Kids are Worth It" by Barbara Coloroso for great responses to kids who feel entitled! My kids are only 8 and 10, but I'm already getting the "When can I have a cell phone??" question. This book is a great reality check & will help you to stand firm, even when other parents are caving!
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There is no way that any new driver should be getting a new car! Stats show that most kids will get into at least a feder bender in the first 2 years of driving. Also, I know this should really old school, but if a teen has to buy (or at least contribute to ) their car, they will take much better care of it because it is truly thiers, not just something else that mommy and daddy gave them.
jordan
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“Keep you words soft and sweet, you never know which ones you’ll have to eat”. Those are the words my grandmother has said to me since I was old enough to remember. Sure it is easy to say today that you would NEVER buy your kid a new car, but as you said, he is only 1.5 and you have many years before he is old enough to get behind the wheel, and just as he will be a much different person than he is today, so will you be. I am not saying I disagree with you. I had to buy my own car and I took great care of it, because I knew if it was gone, that was it, it was gone….and I would have to use my chevro-legs to get around. My parents taught me the price of hard work and I have had a job since the day I turned 16. There are 6 kids in my family so we got nothing handed to us. However, now that all but 2 kids are raised and my parents are a bit older and have gotten used to this new age of convenience I notice my dad doesn’t change his own oil anymore and sure enough my little sister turned 16 this year and BAM got a new car. Something that was unheard of 10 years ago when I was 16. People change and unfortunately our society has become selfish and spoiled, but don’t cast too harsh a judgment on these parents who are getting their kids the best. Yes, they may be setting the wrong example and teaching all the wrong lessons to their kids, but as most parents they are doing the best they can. They want their kids to have the best, have all the things they didn’t have when they were kids. Right, wrong or indifferent….it is the truth. We might not agree and say “Oh I would never do that” but you know what they say. NEVER say never.
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I agree lindsy. I think that it comes down to the fact that parents love their children so much, that they want to give them everything that they can. But it doens't make it right. I think that in the long run, it is better for a child to buy a car, then get one handed to them.
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