Hawkeye,
I have to agree with you 100%. To me, the thought that my parents would have spent a huge amount on a brand new car woul dhave been unacceptable to me, especially as they were/are not well off. My first car was a £600 Astra that I paid for myself. I am not for a minute suggesting that if you can afford it, you should not buy your off-spring a safe, reliable car. But I know what I would rather a young, inexperienced driver pranged. And it ain't a Yaris.... ;-)
Cheers
Rob
"I'm very intelligent really, just got good at hiding it."
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Erm....baaa, baaa, baaaa
That's me being sheepish.
Ok, I admit it - I am a doofus. Many many apologies for not taking better care over my log-in. I can (almost) guarantee that it won't happen again.
I will now go and bang my head against a brick wall.
Cheers
(It really is) Rob
"Bucket o'lard"
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The way the pension fund's looking the Yaris'll be worth more, even by that time!
Have loast shed loads more than the car's costing already!!!!
Now those funds really *were* a stupid buy.
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loast= lost - I know I corrected that typo! :(
Must be more tired than I thought!!!
Incidentally, am going to post this elsewhere also, but ... it's a thought
Have managed to get an insurance quote for daughter as policy holder, with me as registered owner and keeper (cos she doesn't get to keep the car) and with Mr H and I as named drivers for £1000.65 - considering that a lot of people we know have teenagers who are paying double that for insurance, that's a grand towards the cost of the car already!
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Fully comp yeah - new car, can't risk anything else.
Does not bad = good then?
(quote came down from £1025 something by adding Mr H too)
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Hootie!
Don't worry, you have done the right thing. We bought a new car for our daughter (a Suzuki SC100, that's giving us away a bit) and were happy to know she would not be breaking dowm in unfortunate places or at unfortunate times, and had decent brakes and handling for the time. It gave years of service until written off (tears!) while still in good condition, but little valued by the insurers, after a no-fault accident.
I used to try for a shot in it!
Tomo as was!
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Hi Waterboy - nah I'm not worried. One of the things that I specifically said when I was asking about small cars, is that neither Mr H nor I know the first thing of what to look for to get a second hand gem, he didn't want the hassle either of selling on in a year or so (his choice) add the overwhelming priority of her personal safety (whether driving or breaking down. We think like you) - the fact that we don't know what we are doing with our own cars in the next 10 months or so (so may want a decent second car ourselves) and also that we have daughter number 2 (15) coming up in 2 or 3 years - we thought this would be a good investment for what *we* need.
I'm quite happy to drive the Yaris for a while if we either sell mine, or he loses his company car (if that happens then we will def sell mine and buy a main family car for the two of us to use, and just keep the Yaris in the family) If she leaves home in 2004 to go to a far flung Uni, then I will certainly be inheriting it, as she'll only get the use of during the holidays.
Steve: like I said we were pleased enough. Everything's pricey down in the south east, hard to get any bargains, and even though I did try the brokers, nothing was just exactly the same, and in Mr H's opinion the bit extra was well spent (see Natasha's Daddy's 'Help Needed' thread)
Let us know if you buy?
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I am astonished that anyone would buy a car for their child to use, especially when they haven't passed their test. Both Mrs H and I saved up for our first cars and probably appreciate them more than if we were just handed the keys to a vehicle. There's no way I would dip into the pension fund to buy a car for my lot. Anyway it's a costly precendent to set when there are 4 children ... Still, each to his/her own. H.
I'm not and totally understand why parents might want to buy a car for their children. What would you prefer - your kid driving around all hours in some clapped up rust bucket that should have been condemned or something a little safer? If they can afford I am sure that you would agree that the latter is better. To me, spending a few thousand that ultimately might save your kids life is a small price to pay. As for having four kids..........!
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Can I just add a particularly personal note?
a) where we live is very rural, we definitely didnt't want any chance of her breaking down, rescue cover or not, so we wanted to minimise the chances of that happening (hence choice of car)
and
b) although it *does* seem quite extravagant I agree, the "Princess" is actually very appreciative of her circumstances (95% of the time) but is looking forward to the first car she actually OWNS by her own efforts, which I am sure will be equally exciting for her. She's not a freeloading, take it for granted kind of kid, and we'd rather see her safe now than leave her the value of the car less 40% tax in our estate (hopefully many years off, when it'll be worth zilch)
Appearances can be Deceptive
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Understood, and good luck. My circumstances are different; on a bus route, children have mobiles and I have time on my hands to rescue them in case of breakdown, and am also a half-decent amateur mechanic. As for crashing a modern car or a banger ... I've no doubt the driver would be safer in an accident with a modern car, but in some circumstances would be less likely to get into trouble in a car bought with their own dosh.
Let us know how you get on when you ask for the keys back ...
H.
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Let us know how you get on when you ask for the keys back ... H
H - the law has already been laid down, one set of keys remain in my possession, the other hangs up in the cupboard AT ALL TIMES when not in use.
(errrr......I'll let you know though!) ;)
H
"Appearances can be Deceptive"
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What would you prefer - your kid driving around all hours in some clapped up rust bucket that should have been condemned or something a little safer?
While it is of course up to those spending the cash, I must admit I do find it hard to fathom spending £8k on a new Yaris when you can get a 3 year old one for about half that. It'll still last you 4 or 5 years no trouble but won't be as much of a loss if dinged, scraped or stolen. And for the amount of miles it'll be convering (by the sounds of it) you'd likely be better off using taxis everywhere!
I don't think anyone on here was advocating getting a right shed, simply pointing out that an older car makes a bit of sense in these circumstances. Also, while it doesn't apply here as we are talking about a car for a woman and the police are slightly (and probably fairly) biassed, but someone of this age in a new car would be forever being stopped in some areas.
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LOLOL - I'm going to cause outrage now - and confess,
that if it was a son we were talking about, Mr H would not have
had his way! by hook or crook I'd have had to make an over rule.
(don't know how I have the nerve to say that to a site 95% full of men! mind you statistics back me up I think)
"Appearances can be Deceptive"
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hootie: You did what is right for your family in your circumstances (taking account of all factors, including what you can afford for your peace of mind for safety as well as the comfort of buying new gives you).
So whether anyone else would do the same as you or not is irrelevant. Be happy - with your decision, you made the right choice after proper research, and paid a reasonable price for the car, and found a very good insurance package. Your family, your needs, your money, your choice. Well done on all counts.
P.S. On one occasion I posted about the experience of a friend who bought a brand new top-of-the-range Merc. The number of replies that were bordering on "politics of envy" were unbelievable.
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When I was at school (ahem, just realised that was 10 years ago now..!) my parents bought us a car - 1982 Brown Citroen Visa Special (what was special about it? Only 2 cylinders and 35 BHP - can't do much damage in that!). Only cost £600 and I had to look after - you broke it, you fix it type thing (which I did after I rearranged the front end - twice!). Funny thing was all the lads at school had bangers and all the girls had shiny cars (except my sister as she was the first driver of said brown car!). I think in fact it is a very good idea for new drivers to get a lot of access to a car as it improves their driving with experience (especially bending them...!). Turned out to be a good car as we put 60,000 miles on it over the 8 years we had it, and it only broke down about twice (and sported a white bonnet and red off side front wing at the end!).
RichardW
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Thanks for your comments eMBe - I always knew that there were going to be people who thought it was madness. Like you say though, the decision was based on all prevailing factors for *our* family, and if people actually consider all of those, given that we can afford it, they might see where we\'re coming from.
I\'m very happy, anyway it\'s costing less than our last family holiday, and we\'re not going on one this year.
Incidentally, locally the main dealer\'s second hand price list examples go like this
Year 00 Reg 02 llitre GS with 11,000 miles £6,995 (no alloys or remote c/l) Same with 14,000 miles same price
I could pick out more similar, and frankly, for what you could knock down from that price, the sums didn\'t add up.
You might aswell be the one to enjoy the car new if it\'s going to cost you the same in real terms to buy an older one!
I think I\'ve exhausted the topic fully now, but it might come in useful for someone in the same position to read through later.
Thanks everyone.
\"Appearances can be Deceptive\"
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