Just read this like a week after purchasing my first car, a 1995 Miata M Edition. Being 17 and working a fast food job 4-16 hours a week, you can imagine that I don’t have much monay, but I did have (barely) enough to pay the cost of the car in cash. My dad is paying the insurance, and also drives it himself as he has let my sister, who is at college, take his 2002 Camry until we buy another car (we also have a van). While cheap and reliable, these cars aren’t particularly safe I imagine due to the size, though mine does have ABS, quite rare for this year and part of the reason I chose this one. The previous owner told us that the owner before him rebuilt the motor 28,000 miles ago. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take it to our mechanic as the car was an hour and a half drive away, but we decided that for the price we could risk it, and so far it seems to have been a good choice. Having been set up for Autocross (a legal form of racing by mostly street legal cars on a tight track), my car lacks the driver side airbag, which I plan to compensate for by replacing the belt with 5-point harnesses (yes, it also has a roll bar). I should let any readers know that I had been previously considering a Porsche 928 from 1980-86, which can be had for under 5000. Unfortunately, the parts for these cars are incredibly expensive (I would have been performing labor myself), so me and my dad eventually shifted our focus to C4 Corvettes (me and my dad reasoned that the Corvette was probably more “practical” than the Porsche 928. Seriously.) as they are fairly reliable. After talking to a mechanic I know, he recommended that I avoid the C4 as tuning the motor by myself (like I said, performing ym own labor) would be, quote, “A nightmare. A nightmare.” The other cars I was looking at, the Miata and the MR2, met with his approval, though he did warn me that working on an MR2 would be awkward due to the mid-engine configuration. So while looking at MR2s and Miatas for sale (and Corvettes, some things are woth it), I came across the Miata that I ended up purchasing, and am currently in the process of fixing up (non-mechanical issues). Just thought I’d share my experience, despite not purchasing (or even considering) any particarly practical or safe vehicles. As far as responsibility is concerned though, I think that my family does have a pretty reasonable agreement. I payed for my car in it’s entirety, though my parents will help with maintenance, and would have been willing to pay for a more expensive vehicle with the understanding that I pay them back for it. And if I get a speeding ticket, I’m gonna have to pay that along with any insurance hikes. Concerning new vehicles, in my opinion kids shouldn’t be getting brand new cars if they can’t pay at least half of it, and I mean real money not “working it off” for their parents. If they inherit an expensive car from their parents, then so be it. But few things cause me to feel more prejudice against a person than seeing them getting an expensive new vehicle that I know they didn’t earn. Once again, with cash not grades, and I say this as a student with an above 4 GPA. Just sharing my thought as someone on the receiving end of this advice.
By the way, I have a spotless driving record. And you can bet that if I total my car, there’s no way my parents wil be buying me ANY car, I’m gonna have to pay for another one if I want it, after paying off the insurance companies.

Marvelous article. Should be posted in dealer showrooms across the country. (But somehow I doubt it will be.)

10. Buy an old car when your kid is about 14 and restore or refurbish it together. They’ll know the car, understand its limits and more importantly, care a great deal about keeping it in one piece.

And how about, just don’t buy your kid a car and don’t insure it. That’s what summer jobs are for. Or just don’t give a kid expensive things, period.