Teens/car

My parents rule was this, if you are driving, you fill it up. If a quarter tank or more was gone, I had to fill up on my way home. That way, whoever got it next had a full tank. I could see some people abusing this, but my brother and I never had a problem. Neither one of us drove it regularly enough to always be the one filling it. As far as maintenance, it was pretty much the same. If it got messy when one of us was using it, we had to clean it. Tune ups and such were paid for by my parents. When I did finally have a car of my own, my parents bought the car and everything else was on me. My brother and I never fought about it, but I get the impression we might be unusual.

Hi M.!
I went through this as a child and a parent. We kept a mileage log. They have little books now that the kids can keep right in the car. First, the car ALWAYS has to be full. If they can't afford to fill it, they can't afford to drive. The mileage log is for maintenance. You will inevitably have one child driving more than the other. When they go together - they put a star next to those miles. Figure the miles driven between services and the percentage for each child. It seems to be A LOT of WORK! Believe me it is worth it! Never once did I hear "That's not fair - or I'm paying more". Also, work before play. If one has to work - the other has to either give up the car for the day/night to the worker, or pick up/drop off the worker. Have them work out a weekend/date schedule on their own.
Good luck!

Open a bank account and have the kids put the dollar amount of your insurance deductible in it before you get the car to begin with. If money is not in the bank to cover certain things, then no keys to the car.

You could have the kids agree and sign a contract for other items.

You can either let them figure it out on their own, as part of growing up. Or you can suggest that every time they use the car they have to fill it to 1/4 tank or 1/2 tank or whatever, so every time the other takes it there's always the same amount of gas to start out with.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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(I gave an answer on your other posting too, about this).

You said you don't want to pay for the gas or maintenance for the 3rd car.
Then don't. There is also insurance costs too.
Your kids have to be made aware of ALL the "costs" of having a car, and your/their Parents payments for it.

You do not have to buy them a car. Lots of kids don't have one... they find other ways to get around. Or, if they have a good friend... they can get rides here and there with that friend (if they are trusted good drivers)... BUT with the caveat that they help their friend with gas money too. Just like car-pooling adults who go to work.

Again, you do not have to buy them a car. And especially IF budget is a concern... after-all, do your kids KNOW how MUCH car maintenance costs can be??? Even for a tune-up? CAN THEY "actually" afford that??? PLUS gas costs on top of that? I would EXPLICITLY explain that to them... it is reality, and they need to know that if they want a car. They have to responsibly understand the costs/ramifications of having a car.

Just some ideas,
Susan

HI,
I my home we share buying the soap powder. How we handle this is we take turn in doing so. So with your situation, Each week will be one of the teenager week to full the tank if it's $30.oo and it takes only $20.00 the other $10.00 goes into a till f or when it need filling if the gas goes low during the week if extra travel is done. The till may not be use for gas, but can be used for other maintance on the car.

Good Luck! I raised 2 now 30 and 27 and have another 11 on the was to teenage years.

M..

If you want to keep track of consumption, you can try the odometer, most cars now have a programmable odometer for 'trip A' 'trip B' and so forth. You can figure out how many miles each person drove and what would be a fair amount of contribution from that person after figuring out the car's average gas consumption per mile, or if this is too complicated, you could just split everything 3 ways. Say you filled up this week and it was $30, you each pay $10. Maintenance was $300? You each pay $100, you get my drift. That makes it a fair expense for all so that no one complains about how they don't think it's fair to get stuck with a bigger tab because their job's farther away than the other sibling's, something which is beyond their control.

As a mom who's teen's are no longer teens it is easy for me respond to this because I can be objective.
1. What age teen are we talking about? Cars and driving are a huge responsibility and unless a teen is an A/B student they have no right driving a car. If a teen can't take resposibility for his grades in school then he has no right driving a car.
2. If that is the case (A/B) student they have earned the right to drive. As far as the gas, they either have to pay for the gas them selves or the have to contribute to the household and a mileage check should be implemented. Our children have to learn accountability and resposibility and know that it is a privelage to drive.

We bought a car for $500 for my son. He had to have a job and pay for the insurance and the gas or he couldnt' drive it. He didnt' get it until he was 17 and had a job already.
My daughter was told she could have a car when she got a job and paid the insurance and gas. We said we would buy her one for $500 and if she wanted more than that she would have to save. She is 14 and has a good chunk of babysitting money in the bank already.
All my children have had bank accounts since they were babies. They are allowed to use them only for vacations and putting money into until they have a job of their own.

Do these teens have part time jobs, or an allowance? Any time one of them is using the vehicle, he has to put gas, no matter if it is not empty. Let them do the math: x amount of gas = x amount of miles.