Wise Myswaggers - what would you do

[wartim]

Chasing some advice from wide Myswaggers,

Son is turning 18 end of October.  Currently finishing grade 12 then off to Uni next year to do Marketing and Business,  He works some days after school and Sat and Sun at Coles.

In January this year we got him a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer for $5,500.00 with only 110,000 k on the clock and full log book history.  It was a little cheaper as was a repairable writeoff.   Its a great car, very clean and looks good however he has now paid this car off in full  he want to buy a 2005 BMW 118i with 78,000k on the clock, 6 speed automatic, rego until Feb 2015, 1 owner, full service history, always garaged, etc , etc for $13,500.00.

He has it all worked out, and wont listen to me when I say there nothing wrong with the car he has and it would be better to be debt free while doing Uni.  Am I being too hard or should I let him go ahead?

[scarps]

18yo with a beamer doing Marketing and Business, you've got an entrepreneur on your hands. Image is important. Let Him go, he may support your retirement

[Jason B]

You are being wise mate and providing him the right advice. See how far you can push the point but at the end of the day he is young and caught up in the moment. It wouldn't be the biggest mistake in the world if he followed the heart instead of the head.

Its hard to watch our kids make the mistakes of our youth, but at the end of the day it gets called experience in the end.

Jas

[Bird]

wait until something goes wrong with the BM and he has to get a loan to repair it...
mates a BM Master Tech down here in Melb... some of the stories he tells me are why I haven't bought one of these cheap used BMs

[berlitza]

wait until something goes wrong with the BM and he has to get a loan to repair it...

x3454433, cars like that are great to impress like minded people providing you can service/insurance pay cash when things go wrong

[McTavish]

Hasn't anyone told him it's his duty as a student to drive an older clunker - what kind of example would that set if he drove the BM!
He's a disgrace to students everywhere if he goes for it 
Also - if the 'oldies' don't spot him any cash how else is a student going to get some $$'s - modern credit criteria and all...

[slcs78]

As an 18 year old he is thinking a BMW will pull more uni girls than a lancer lol.

[muzza01]

wait until something goes wrong with the BM and he has to get a loan to repair it...
mates a BM Master Tech down here in Melb... some of the stories he tells me are why I haven't bought one of these cheap used BMs

Agree and wait u til you get the insurance quote for an 18yo driving a Beamer.

[Fathom]

If he has it worked out.. And can really afford it.. And all that goes with it. Why not...
If he can't and it all goes south...
It won't matter in 50 years.
Probably won't matter in 10 years. 

[Signature035]

Fathom,   You fare a wise man.  My thoughts exactly

[Elky]

Lancer= cheap to own
BMW= not as cheap to service, way more exy to repair

My first car was the hand me down sigma, hated it initially but modded it with 300kg of stereo, I wish I still had it! The BMW will be a money pit, my inlaws bought one new and have had lots of things go Wrong that any jap car wouldn't, currently has no a/c because it has failed twice and this time the bill is $3k!

He should buy a 4wd!

[D4D]

As has been said before, I wouldn't want to own an older Euro car out of warranty unless he or his best mate is a mechanic.

[komaterpillar]

Go with the Beemer

[knoath]

Get a 4wd, a camper trailer and take a year off and see this great country.... oh hang on, that's what I wish I had have done!

[Nomad]

You have to let him work it out for himself. Sounds like a pretty smart kid who's got it fairly well together........maybe suggest that he gets a quote to have the 100k service done. If that includes timing belt etc then that may turn him off pretty quickly.

EIther way all good.

[Marcus73]

Whatever you say you'll probably never win. Do any of us with kids that age?
I'd just recommend for him to get a few prices on spare parts for a BM, including it's 100k service that'll come up before he knows it. That's about all you can do as the more you pester him the more he'll want it

Bugger, Nomad beat me too it

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[oldmate]

Yeah. I agree with nomad and marcus73.

[Spada]

I wish someone would have put their foot down when I was that age.

I cant help but wonder how much further I would be now financially, if I hadn't "invested" so much money in used cars in my youth ?

Money spent on a car is money he will never get back. If he really wants to go into debt, put it towards a block of land somewhere.

[jetcrew]

Not sure i qualify as Wise but here is  my scoop

You cant stop him but you don't have to support him..

Some might think me harsh but when our 16.5 YO wants to waste his money on crap, I advise against it but I cant stop it.

BUT .. I no longer pay for things for him. If he has money to waste on clearly bad choices then he don't need my help and can buy his own take away dinners and movie tickets.

Register your belief that it would be a bad decision and then don't be an enabler through other means.

Friends son has spent 12K on a motor bike, they whine and bitch about it incessantly and worry he will get killed..they justify it by saying "it was his decision what could we do the loan is in his name"

He is 19 lives at home for FREE eats for FREE goes on holidays for FREE yet these parents think they have not supported the decision . They are kidding themselves.

He is riding above his size class so a life ending disaster either medically or financially is just waiting to happen. 

If you disagree with the decision remove other areas of support you provide and he will see he cant afford it. 

Good luck

Jet    

[Goose]

Perhaps its an independence thing and he sees the lancer as your car and the BMW as his car. If the lancer is not in his name then allow him to transfer it all over to his. It's $250 in fees but might solve the problem. Alternatively, suggest he mod the lancer so that he forms more of an attachment to it.

[dazzler]

They are a good quality vehicle. If he can afford it then why not?

Is it a double degree?  He may struggle to do a double degree and still do part time work and maintain his grades.

[scarps]

They are a good quality vehicle. If he can afford it then why not?

Is it a double degree?  He may struggle to do a double degree and still do part time work and maintain his grades.

and find the time to wash his new beamer

[xvprado]

Step by step, I reckon this is the answer

1) Get him to get a "full" financial picture, repayments, insurance, repairs etc
2) Assure him that you wont have any spare cash to assist with such costs, he needs to be able to manage this on his own
3) Reassure him that you value his work ethic and know he is good at managing his finance (proof in previous car)


4) drool and dribble at all the pretty young skirt the beemer will attract

5) Be proud your boy has his priorities right 

[Swannie]

Tell him to keep the old car, put the money he was going to waste into a share portfolio. Continue to add the savings on servicing etc and in 5 years after uni he could buy new Beamer with warranty and fixed servicing

Swannie

[Marcus73]

They are a good quality vehicle. If he can afford it then why not?

Once upon a time they were


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