Originally Posted by
MoAlpha
I remember those days. Mom's old Accord with the V6, moonroof, and leather, wasn't that sexy, but once it had daughter's full-length MC Escher-style butterfly decals on it and her tunes plugged in, it turned out to be a pretty nice ride.
This Spring we gave her the down payment on a Hyundai Kona, with AWD and a turbo and let her leverage the rest herself as an exercise in adulting.
I bought each of the kids a new car when they turned 16, and told them it was theirs until they could afford a replacement so take care of it. Daughter got a Nissan Rogue and son got the Mazda 3. They both took very good care of them.
Early in college, our son was rear ended by a Ford F150, and it totaled his car. I ended up buying him another new one because the negotiated price for new was only about $1k more than a 3 year old used with 40k miles on it.
When my daughter graduated with her masters, she wanted a new car. I gave her the title to the Rogue and some cash for additional down payment so she could get the RDX she wanted.
Son graduates in December, but he'll have a car that's worth as much today as it was when we bought it in 2018. He can either keep it or trade it for something else that he can afford.