Opinion: Hey parents, don’t buy your kids their first car

The barriers to driving in Australia are simply not high enough, breeding a cohort of entitled young drivers on our roads without the proper skills and experience to coexist.

I believe part of this is due to kids simply being gifted their first cars, when they really should be earning their way to a car and their place on Australian roads.

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In a time when goods and services are seemingly skyrocketing in price faster than we can earn the money to pay for them, it might seem cruel to suggest kids buy their own first cars.

But insisting they chart their own course in searching for, saving for, and negotiating the purchase of their own first car not only teaches valuable life lessons, but I believe it also imbues a sense of achievement and a sense of deserved place on our roads.

It’s an idea that aligns closely to my last opinion piece that placed Australia’s laissez-faire ­­approach to getting a driver’s licence in the crosshairs.

Unsurprisingly, it found wide appeal with readers, so I’m going for two from two…

Parents who buy their kids a brand-new car after obtaining their P-plates are not only setting their kid up for a shock when the times comes to replace it – imagine going from the highs of a brand-new $30,000 car to the comparative lows of a $5000 clunker – they’re also robbing the children of valuable money-management skills.

If you’re anything like me, it took a long time to develop a basic understanding of how economics works – and these life lessons didn’t come from school. My first proper experience of being in debt was when I had to buy my first car.

Not only did it teach me to budget and square money away for repayments, but because it was my own money I was allowed to choose what I wanted. Without sounding too profound, earning your own money and spending it on what you want is a definitive moment in life.

Compare this to kids who are gifted a brand-new car for having passed their driver’s test. Sure, a gifted car might come with important safety features at a time when they’re needed most, but there are plenty of downsides to consider too.

There’ll be parking incidents and scratched wheels as a young driver begins to learn their place on the road, plus there could even be an over-reliance on newer active safety features too.

The often-simplistic mechanical nature of older second-hand cars means kids can directly get involved in learning about how a car works, and what to do when things go wrong. Kids who buy their own car arguably have more of a vested interest in keeping it running.

A happy medium is for kids to hit up the bank of mum and dad for a sweet no-interest loan, where parents can have a say in what car is bought, and kids are afforded a valuable lesson in budgeting. But even that’s becoming a difficult prospect in 2023 where bank accounts are being stretched beyond limit.

It sounds easier said than done given competing demands, but parents could also offer the use of the family car while their kids are earning money to pay for their own set of wheels.

But I digress. Being given a new car is not the way to go about getting on the road in Australia.

I’m not suggesting we impress tough love and insist kids fend for themselves when it comes to buying a new car. A parent should play a key role in their children's journey to buying a car.

However, I do think the onus should be on the kid to get the ball rolling, pay for most of it themselves, and reap the life lessons that a first car will inevitably throw their way.

I hope to help my kids buy their own first car when the time comes, but only in an advisory capacity – if they want it.