One of the most terrifying adventures for any parents is when the teenager learns to drive. This is a child that you have taught to walk, talk, eat, play – but that doesn’t mean you want them putting their bodies into a car that they’re in control of. Of course, you swallow down your anxiety and you encourage them to be as independent as possible because that’s your job.
If you’re in the position where you can buy them their first car, you’re in a very fortunate and privileged position indeed. There is nothing wrong with buying a teenager their first car but there are four things that you really do need to know before you get started. The first thing you need to know is where to find the right resources to learn about the cars that you’ll be buying for your teenager. Edmunds, for example, is one such resource you could use to learn the honest reviews that you’ve been looking at and even watch video test drives. Below, we’ve got the four tips you need to help when buying your teenager their very first car.
- Start with the rules. You don’t want to put too many rules on your teenager when they drive their first car, but one that’s very important is the rule of safety. When you’re looking at their first car with them, don’t really look at the Bluetooth speakers and all the fancy technological features that you could be buying into their car. You want a car that’s practical, reliable, and that allows your teenager to be able to drive safely as possible. If there are cars that have a built-in GPS, that’s never a bad thing.
- Spend less, not more. Ideally, you never want to embarrass your teenager, but the worst thing you could do is buy some fancy sports car for their very first car. You want a car that you don’t quite mind if they knock, dent or back into a curb the wrong way. The reason for this is that a big, boring, and slow car will be more likely to reduce the risk of a crash or an incident.
- Skip the phone to call into faces. Apple CarPlay is one of the best features around for cars, however, you are dealing with a teenager here. Minimizing distractions while your teen is in the car is important. So therefore, you do not want them to have a feature that could encourage them to use their phone while driving.
- Plan ahead for hidden costs. When you are a young person in the car, you have to consider things like extras on insurance, using a black box, additional cost of tax because of the teenager driving. Speak to the dealership to find out whether or not there will be any hidden costs on you buying a coffee or teenager.
The most important thing here is that you are handing your teen the keys to independence – you need to know you can trust them with it!
