just a quick question

[Fotowns Finest]

hey all, im trying to convince my mom to buy my an 01 with 55K miles for "$6500 obo". now, this may sound extremely ridiculous, but for the time being im trying to hold off on a job as im a bit too busy trying to graduate, and its on craigslist, which gives me no time to save up that much that quick, so no posts telling me to get a job.

all im really asking is is for some advice from a parent, which i think most of you are, and what i can say to my mom to kinda nudge her into buying it for me, or at least helping me pay for it. i can promise money is absolutely no issue to her, and ive tried a couple of different things, but i cant convince her. any ideas on what i should say?

[coolman]

I think your mom is very smart and you should listen to her. 01's weren't that great anyway.

[Fotowns Finest]

Originally Posted by coolman

I think your mom is very smart and you should listen to her. 01's weren't that great anyway.

well not necessarily an 01, or something around $6000, but i wont settle for anything less than a camaro, and i kinda figure 4th gen is the way to go. all i want are some suggestions on how i can convince her to help me pay for one

[Fotowns Finest]

hey all, im trying to convince my mom to buy my an 01 with 55K miles for "$6500 obo". now, this may sound extremely ridiculous, but for the time being im trying to hold off on a job as im a bit too busy trying to graduate, and its on craigslist, which gives me no time to save up that much that quick, so no posts telling me to get a job.

all im really asking is is for some advice from a parent, which i think most of you are, and what i can say to my mom to kinda nudge her into buying it for me, or at least helping me pay for it. i can promise money is absolutely no issue to her, and ive tried a couple of different things, but i cant convince her. any ideas on what i should say?

also i hope this is the right place to post, i couldent see this fitting anywhere else

[Scott@Bjorn3D]

Sorry nothing coming from me you would want to hear. My 16 year old treats the car she is driving like shit. It is my Honda Accord and she is doing little odds and ends for her mom to make the 53.00 she has to come up with besided me not giving her 100.00 allowance a month to make her half of the payment.

Finally have Kathie supporting me on coming down on her to keep it clean and take better care of it. My feeling is if you did not buy it yourself with money you worked hard to earn you will not take care of it. I would advise your mom not to buy it.

[CamaroTex]

I think we need to hear your mom's side of the story. She must have her reasons.

[GreyGhost]

Aw...the dangers of asking folks who have already raised a teen to support a teen's point of view. Those are dangerous waters Fotowns Finest.

For the moment, I will assume that the $6,500 car is a great deal. And I will assume that you are a top notch student who contributes to the family activities and acknowledges all that is provided to you. (NOTE: The other parents reading this are smirking right now, becuase these assumptions put you in an elite class of teens.)

But even assuming those things, I would find myself thinking that you have set your sights (well, actually your mom's sights since she is paying) about 2-3 times as high as you should for a first car if you can't contribute to the purchase. See, lots of parents think in terms of "helping" or "matching", but you didn't mention contributing to the purchase price.

Unfortunately, statistics show that the first car isn't going to last more than a year or so. At $6,000 that is the equivalent of asking your mom to spend $500 a month on a car for you. That is a lot to be asking. And I am not suprised to hear that your mom, or almost any parent is hesitant to do that.

I suggest that you consider asking your mom if she would be willing to "chip in" say $1000 or $1,500. Then put that with what you already saved and let that determine what price car you should be picturing now.

But there are more "adult" topics to discuss with your mom. Those include the $60-80 or more per month for insurance, the $xxx for gas to run the car. And then the cost of the upcoming repairs (battery, wipers, timing belts, tune up, oil change, etc). There are lots of costs beyond the car itself. You and your mom need to talk about how all those are going to be paid.

Hope this helps you see a few more of the things that your mom is thinking about, along with considering how you may be distracted from school work when you have the freedom to be driving around.

Now, if those first two assumptions at the beginning aren't accurate...then you may be more like my oldest teen. And there was no way in H_ _ L I was going to do this for her until after high school graduation, given all she put us through. But you don't want to hear about that.

[67 Convertible]

Not what you want to hear either.
I have 5 boys, the youngest is now 24. I have never ever bought any of them a car, and I probably could have afforded to if I desired. Just part of growing up and responsibility.....you want to drive, buy your own car and pay for your own auto ins. and maintenance. If that means getting a job to work for what you want in life, so be it. Hand outs were not part of my vocabulary when my boys were growing up. Now I'm not saying I haven't helped them out financially here and there, but I wouldn't buy them a car or co-sign a loan. At some point, you have to work for the things you want in life. It will aslo teach you respect for the things you do own. If you really need a car, you'll need to figure out a way to do it on your own. (You don't even have a job, but want her to buy a car for you??? Really think about what you're saying here!!!) If that means getting a PT job and buying a $1,000 beater, that's what you'll need to do.

[TFord]

Don't rush into any car bro. Finish school first, and get things going for yourself (money, career). Deals come and go, you'll come across a better deal in the future. Take care of your priorities first. It's a much better feeling buying something with your own money anyways. This is advice from a 25 yr old.

[ontheaccount]

As the parent of a teen I have to agree with all of the posts above. If YOU cannot afford it, then be responsible and don't ask your mother to buy it. I told my son that if he wanted a car he would have to pay half. I was willing to pay the other half for 2 reasons.
1. He works hard in school and does well.
2. He will be helping the family with driving his younger brother and sister around to their activities and with general errands.
With that said, it his sole responsibility to take care of the vehicle (gas, maintenance...) Also, if he does not continue to do well in school or, does not help the family when asked, we, his parents, will exercise our 50.5% ownership in the vehicle and repossess it.

[rkmcmd4]

sorry fotown, read on..
i feel one of the biggest problems in america today is the need for instant gratification, and the feeling we deserve it NOW. most of our parents/grandparents have had to work hard for everything they have. your mom is probably one of these people. she probably loves you very much, which means she wants to teach you not enable you. if she buys you the car she teaches you not to work toward a goal, and you dont have to work for what you want. basically enabling you to think the someone else i.e. the government will support you when shes gone.
be a productive member of society and put something back into your community and work, even if its only 10-20 hours a week, it shows effort and innitiative. save up 500-600 dollars. go to mom and show her what youve done. then go to mom and show her a 1000 car you are interested in. there are lots of them out there on the sides of any road in the suburbs! look for one that looks terrible but has low miles and runs good, it'll be a better deal overall. at that point i'll bet you she will match your money, because she saw your effort. doing this you will be able to get a car, gain her respect as a young adult.(this is much different than the love for a child), you wont have payments, and the coolest part is in a year when youve saved another 800-1000 you can sell this one for 1000 or so and then buy one for 2000 and still not have a payment. and so on and so on. each year you get a nicer car to drive and NO PAYMENTS!!! if you want a great book to read that will help you build your future and wealth. read Dave Ramsey's "TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER"............again, sorry it may not be what you want to hear, but this will work. good luck
also, there will always be good, cool used cars on craigs list. not just this one.

LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE NOW, SO LATER YOU CAN LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE.

[rkmcmd4]

Fotown, your not getting beat up here, your getting great advice. show your mom this thread. if you dare to take our advice.

[Scrappy Doo]

No kids here, but i'm not that old. I beat the tar out of my first car. (And i got a brand new one when I turned 16, I didn't ask for it either. The rents just went out and picked it up for me) You need a pos to start with.
I am assuming that the car you want is an 01 camaro? Have you checked into what the insurance is on that?

Try to convince mom that you need a car to help out the family. Use it to drive your little brothers and sisters around, run errands for mom etc.

And I am not telling you to get a job, but I started working at 11. i balanced sports, school and work all the way through hs and college. It's not that hard to do.

[Fotowns Finest]

all of this sounds great and all, and im really happy your all not yelling at me about how foolish i am, and i do in fact agree with a lot of this, but my only problem is that shes not willing to help me out or compromise to help me at all. the reason im mad, and ill try to make this short, is that she has 10's of thousands of dollars lying around, and shes spent it on things we dont need, like a brand new fully loaded charger, which she replaced her old sebring with because it had a bad oil pump, and im sure thats cheaper to fix than getting a brand new car, she completely re-did our bathroom, bought a new sink, toilet and water heater, which we had already had before, and a new washer/dryer and one of those showers that fit into your corner, which i will admit we did need. but among other things we didnt need were 2 new doors, a shit load of windows, new siding, and bathroom itself was added on to. she also just bought 2 huge curio cabinets (seriously 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide) and an electric fireplace.

i approach her about a vehicle and she just gets super mad and tells me i need to work for things in life, which is great, but the thing is she didnt work to earn this money. she had her hip replaced and doesnt work anymore, is 59, retired, and doestn get her retirement check for another 3 years. she got $45,000 dollars when my grandpa died in march, and also got a check for $25,000 in the mail, something to do with my grandpa's stocks or something, idk. and thats why i get mad. i asked her if she would buy me a $60 video game 2 weeks ago, which i NEVER ask to do, its the 3rd video game i actually own, and she flipped out about it. i ended up having to go half and half with her, and even then she called me a spoiled brat.

its these things that add up to my anger. ive told my girlfriend about it, and she 100% agrees, and she actually asked me "so your mom got inheritance right? did you get anything?" so i asked my mom about this whole inheritance. ive had 3 grandparents and my father die, and i asked if they had left me anything. she said they had all written their will's before i was ever born. my girlfriend finds that hard to believe, and idk what to think.

with that novel completed, tell me what you think now. ive been wanting to post my story for a while now, as i know most of you have kids and know all about this kinda stuff, so please give some perspective and advice. also sorry thats really long lol, but please bear with me

questions are also welcome