Automotive bubble....has it burst?

skyhighZJ said:
But it misses the point of my question in my mind. Why aren’t they facilitating the purchase of their own vehicle? The too busy thing doesn’t hold water to me. I participated in sports all through the school year, held a part time job. In the summer I worked full time. Held a 3.98/4.00 up until graduation.
My thought is are you doing this as self serving (don’t have to cart them around) or, are you facilitating the generation of self reliant kids who don’t have to provide for themselves?

p.s. I don’t personally know your situation but just making an observation.
Click to expand...

There's video somewhere of my eldest (5yo now) saying she wanted her first car to be a BMW. Poor taste aside, all my kids will probably end up with something new(ish), reliable and a metric f*ck ton fancier than I what I bought and paid for myself. I sure as shit don't want my girls hitch hiking (like I had to) because what they could afford broke down. Not to mention, I didn't work this damn hard for my kids to have to struggle like I did, I want them to have better/easier time than I did. I also want my kid(s) to be the one in control, so they're not riding around in some friends shit box. Lastly, and most importantly, I hope by the time they're driving I've instilled enough character building and virtue that I'm not relying who buys their car as a life lesson.
 
RatLabGuy said:
these are great questions to ask yourself when your kid is in need of a car.

I definitely know a shitpile of kids who were granted cars who are fantastic, self-reliant contributors to society. There are lots of ways to teach important lessons. This may or may not be the right one for somebody else's kid.
Click to expand...
Absolutely and, I fully agree that it’s a case by case basis but I’d also compare it to college tuition. Not every kid is meant to get it handed to them and somehow I feel a parents judgement may be a bit jaded in that situation.

Not sure of the metric but there, to me, should be some sort of investment by the child before the parent signs off (both car or college or business venture or …. XYZ).

Of course I say all this being a wee bit argumentative cause I’ve had a few early afternoon cold snacks after picking up my walking papers from the Army after 21 years lol.
 
skyhighZJ said:
Absolutely and, I fully agree that it’s a case by case basis but I’d also compare it to college tuition. Not every kid is meant to get it handed to them and somehow I feel a parents judgement may be a bit jaded in that situation.

Not sure of the metric but there, to me, should be some sort of investment by the child before the parent signs off (both car or college or business venture or …. XYZ).

Of course I say all this being a wee bit argumentative cause I’ve had a few early afternoon cold snacks after picking up my walking papers from the Army after 21 years lol.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your service!
 
skyhighZJ said:
But it misses the point of my question in my mind. Why aren’t they facilitating the purchase of their own vehicle? The too busy thing doesn’t hold water to me. I participated in sports all through the school year, held a part time job. In the summer I worked full time. Held a 3.98/4.00 up until graduation.
My thought is are you doing this as self serving (don’t have to cart them around) or, are you facilitating the generation of self reliant kids who don’t have to provide for themselves?

p.s. I don’t personally know your situation but just making an observation.
Click to expand...
I just don't understand your point. Well, i do, but i think you are overboard. I don't make them buy their dinner and cloths either. Personally, i don't give two shits what someone thinks about how i treat my kids. I was provided a car when i got a license. It may have been dragged out of the field and fixed so it would drive, but i had one. Didn't work a lick during the school year, but did have summer jobs. Pretty sure i contribute to society even though my parents gave me a car.
 
I gave my daughter a brand new Tacoma when she turned 16,(leased) then two years later I gave her a brand new 4Runner (bought) because that’s what she wanted.

She was also all region in a sport, 3rd in her class and got just over 65k in scholarship money while also running her non profit charity and collecting over 1,000 blankets and jackets for homeless mothers and children.

Why? Because I could and I wanted to. I couldn’t imagine if I scrimped a few pennies and she had a wreck and I was left wondering if a newer vehicle would have protected her.

She got lots of shit from some. She gave zero fucks.
 
Last edited:
justjeepin86 said:
I just don't understand your point. Well, i do, but i think you are overboard. I don't make them clip the front yard with scissors or wright their homework reporters on a typewriter either. Personally, i don't give two shits what someone thinks about how i treat my kids. I was provided a car when i got a license. It may have been dragged out of the field and fixed so it would drive, but i had one. Didn't work a lick during the school year, but did have summer jobs. Pretty sure i contribute to society even though my parents gave me a car.
Click to expand...
justjeepin86 said:
I just don't understand your point. Well, i do, but i think you are overboard. I don't make them buy their dinner and cloths either. Personally, i don't give two shits what someone thinks about how i treat my kids. I was provided a car when i got a license. It may have been dragged out of the field and fixed so it would drive, but i had one. Didn't work a lick during the school year, but did have summer jobs. Pretty sure i contribute to society even though my parents gave me a car.
Click to expand...
Really? Dinner and clothes?? Nice reactions to a simple POV. point taken though of your view on another’s opinion of kids tying their own shoes. Of course my kids don’t tie their own shoes. I paid Dr. Brown to borrow the Delorean and go get me some self tying laces from the future.


What a shit show….
 
I'll throw in my two pennies. I was told I had a budget of $500 that was "free" money for a vehicle, and a $20 bill towards the first tank of gas. Anything above and beyond that I could either earn working extra on the farm or go get a job. I took the 500 and bought a junker then worked the farm enough to get it going. Then I went and got a job at the local BBQ joint. It wasn't just that my folks wanted me to work for it (that was part of it, and at the time all I saw), but it was all they could afford to do. It taught me a lot about hard work and how to scratch out a way for myself. Side note, my folks never paid for anything extra, mostly because they couldn't. I had to buy my own phone, pay for my own TV hookup, any extra curriculars, ect.

Our plan is to do much the same for our kids. Give them enough to buy a old clunker (whatever that is at the time) and a tank of gas. They're on their own after that.
 
skyhighZJ said:
But it misses the point of my question in my mind. Why aren’t they facilitating the purchase of their own vehicle? The too busy thing doesn’t hold water to me. I participated in sports all through the school year, held a part time job. In the summer I worked full time. Held a 3.98/4.00 up until graduation.
My thought is are you doing this as self serving (don’t have to cart them around) or, are you facilitating the generation of self reliant kids who don’t have to provide for themselves?

p.s. I don’t personally know your situation but just making an observation.
Click to expand...

Or maybe he's got a good kid who will appreciate the luck he/she has and keep working hard because he/she isn't a shit person ?

Edit : how is this our problem anyway ?

Edit 2 : That's coming from someone who got his first car paid by his parents. So take it with a grain of salt, after all, I am part of the terrible millennial wave that is destroying the country,
 
Bebop said:
Or maybe he's got a good kid who will appreciate the luck he/she has and keep working hard because he/she isn't a shit person ?

Edit : how is this our problem anyway ?

Edit 2 : That's coming from someone who got his first car paid by his parents. So take it with a grain of salt, after all, I am part of the terrible millennial wave that is destroying the country,
Click to expand...
And also...

1657888212266.png
 
I'm with @JSJJ388 on this. I got $1000 and the rest was up to me. I bought a trans am with a blown motor and a used 455 to slide in it's spot. It took a lot of work but I had something that I had accomplished when it was over. I got a job after the project to pay for maintenance, insurance, gas, and lots of tires. What I see today is parents want to "help" their kids by buying them a "reliable, safe, etc." car because their child is so overwhelmed by time limitations due to fill in the blank. Since junior is still too busy to be responsible for what they have, the parents then pay for all the upkeep, gas, etc. while junior continues to play. Now this didn't just happen when it was time to buy a car but it's been SOP so, the seed of entitlement was planted and now watered by the freedom that four wheels provides. Free college is then added as fertilizer because that's what most of college is. By the time the indoctrination period is over and the new butterfly spreads it's wings, it can fly a short distance and join the others nursing on the blood of the common working man without so much as a wisp of care. They can burn cities, blame the 1% for everything, hate the free market and our free Republic, and ridicule anything Holy. Then when the our economy and the world's economy crashes and the teat shrivels and dries they'll gladly accept the free offerings from their new savior. His name is anti hmmm somebody, I forget.
Sorry this is so dark. I've been reading a lot of Mark Goodwin lately. I know this doesn't happen every time but it's just a part of our failing society.
 
Some parents buy a kids first car some don't
Some parents pay for a kids college some don't

Whatever the reason is it doesn't matter, how you raise a kid doesn't have a manual, and there are no wrong choices or decisions you need to feel bad about if that is the path you choose to raise your child.

Just because you make any of those decisions doesn't mean the kid will be entitled, if they have an entitled feeling it is not those 2 life events that are the full cause.
 
DSM Turbos said:
if they have an entitled feeling it is not those 2 life events that are the full cause.
Click to expand...
Some kids are just dicks right out of the gate despite the parents, parenting, or nurturing. You simply can't overcome nature.
 
thebrotherinlaw said:
I'm with @JSJJ388 on this. I got $1000 and the rest was up to me. I bought a trans am with a blown motor and a used 455 to slide in it's spot. It took a lot of work but I had something that I had accomplished when it was over. I got a job after the project to pay for maintenance, insurance, gas, and lots of tires. What I see today is parents want to "help" their kids by buying them a "reliable, safe, etc." car because their child is so overwhelmed by time limitations due to fill in the blank. Since junior is still too busy to be responsible for what they have, the parents then pay for all the upkeep, gas, etc. while junior continues to play. Now this didn't just happen when it was time to buy a car but it's been SOP so, the seed of entitlement was planted and now watered by the freedom that four wheels provides. Free college is then added as fertilizer because that's what most of college is. By the time the indoctrination period is over and the new butterfly spreads it's wings, it can fly a short distance and join the others nursing on the blood of the common working man without so much as a wisp of care. They can burn cities, blame the 1% for everything, hate the free market and our free Republic, and ridicule anything Holy. Then when the our economy and the world's economy crashes and the teat shrivels and dries they'll gladly accept the free offerings from their new savior. His name is anti hmmm somebody, I forget.
Sorry this is so dark. I've been reading a lot of Mark Goodwin lately. I know this doesn't happen every time but it's just a part of our failing society.
Click to expand...

Couple counter points...
- $1,000 in 1990s dollars is several thousand in todays dollars.
- If you dont have teens today you honestly dont understand. The world has changed and while kids have many benefits that we didnt have, they also have many many more challenges and obligations. We can bemoan and argue that it shouldnt be that way, and we can raise an anti-social outcast or we can be pliable and accept the shift. Raise not only dynamic creatures but creatures that are connected and relatable to their peers. They can't be the leaders of their generation if they dont understand those they seek to wield influence over.

Frankly I watched my 2 kids excel through school, and I don't think I could have done what they did. The demands on their time. The competitive nature of preferred college applications. Hell even sports and rec have changed to be much bigger time sinks than a generation ago. I would not be a productive member of society had I grown up today.

Each parent get to do it their way. They get to craft that canvas for 18 years. Molding it, shaping it, nurturing it as they go.
Then they release their work to the world and step back and see its reception.
 
Last edited:
@Ron having 23 year old twin boys I'd agree with you 100%. I see changes since they were teens and I don't have teens. Kids don't come with an owners manual. We use what we learned and what we were taught and basically get thrown out in the world with them. We do good things and bad things. In the end we do the best we can. Well most of us do.
 
I hope it bursts quickly. I’d like to buy a decent car that I can dd for a little while then give to my daughter. She turns 17 this month, but still hasn’t even taken drivers ed, so I got time. But the longer I have it, the more I’ll trust it with my greatest treasure when she needs it.
 
VortecJeep said:
I’ll trust it with my greatest treasure when she needs it.
Click to expand...

This is the biggest difference (I see) between when I was a teenager and now.

Back when I was a kid, we saved for whatever shitbox we could afford. I had my eyes set for a CJ-5 so I started work at 13-1/2 when I could legally get a workers permit and started washing dishes at a rest home that I could ride the school bus too.

All my friends had shitboxes. NO ONE had a new car except the popular rich kids that lived on Hopkins Rd.

But for MY kids? I wanted them in something safe. Which meant likely newer than anything I was driving at the time. Because between my 16 and their 16 another 3 billion people populated the earth. Several million of those were fucktards from Ohio on their way to myrtle beach :rolleyes: and for my girls, I wasn't about to put them in anything that MAY or may not start or get them home EVERY time, so I didn't take any chances with safety.
Several of the parents my age sprung for new cars....and at the time I didn't see the logic. But as Ron pointed out to me, the peace of mind far outweighed the cost. But like Ron ALSO said...if you don't have teens (that you actually parent and are responsible for 24/7) these day, you truly do NOT understand the struggle.
 
VortecJeep said:
I hope it bursts quickly. I’d like to buy a decent car that I can dd for a little while then give to my daughter. She turns 17 this month, but still hasn’t even taken drivers ed, so I got time. But the longer I have it, the more I’ll trust it with my greatest treasure when she needs it.
Click to expand...

Didn't you read, if you do that she will be an entitled worthless kid forever! :cool:
 
Back
Top