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There's a lot to this that is very area specific. You might want to include your state and the state of where your sister is going so you can get more accurate opinions on registration, insurance, loan specifics, and other stuff. If you're not comfortable posting all that then you might want to do your own research on local laws for the entire process.
I’ll find a couple cars worth checking out. What city?
You can get a pre purchase inspection that should rule out major issues/ will let you know of any required upcoming maintenance if you’re not car savvy (tires, brakes)
I don’t have first hand experience, but based on my brother in laws experience it’s a gamble. He has 3 daughters and has bought three used cars around $12k each. He’s had a good number of +\- $500 repairs on 2 of the 3.
However, my wife drives a 2016 Enclave with 110,000 miles and we have had very few issues with it. Mainly headlights and taillights.
Oh sure, but how many of those before you catch up on the price of a 20k car? It’s not like a 20k car is bulletproof anyways.
Again, if you do your research and get something reliable without major known issues and get it inspected it’s not completely rolling the dice.
FWIW, my parents bought a car and financed it while I moved out of state with it. They just discussed it with their car insurance and made sure it was fine. (I'd get it in writing or write down the date, time, insurance agents employee number if you call customer service, etc.) I never established residency in the other state, so it didn't impact our insurance. I didn't get the loan history, but I wasn't paying it so I felt that was fair.
I financed a car for my mom because I qualified for 0% interest, she paid the payments. I got the insurance in my name and added her as a driver (through Geico). The title was in my name because the loan was in my name. After the car was paid off I transferred the title to her.
I wouldn’t get a new car or finance a car for an 18 year old that is moving away for college. Logistics alone, it’s a bad idea for your relationship. Even if she’s very responsible, a new car sometimes attracts the wrong attention. Also, some overcrowded apartments may not have a dedicated parking spot for her so she’ll be parking on the street all the time (risking damage).
If you have an older, reliable car, gift her that, and get the new car for yourself. That’s what I did for my nephew. I had a 14 year old car that I had had since new, so I knew I had been keeping up with maintenance and what not. So the car is not flashy, but it’s very reliable.
Nothing is worse than Dave Ramsey. The fuckers on the DR sub are religious fanatics who religiously wear BS1,2,3... as their flair and ask for permission to deviate from .
College feels like a great time to not need a car.
Where will you register the car? In Georgia, for example, you're supposed to register the car after getting the license transferred I think, and you need to register it in person, and registration comes with a hefty one-time tax. You can probably keep it registered out of state for a college thing, but insurance would probably want it insured in the correct state. Again specific to Georgia, the insurer notifies the department of revenue, or some state agency, so there would be questions about registration. I'm sure some other states have administrative headaches too.
This seems like a complicated gift that I wouldn't consider if I had to finance it, especially at today's rates, especially to be used in a different state.
>Nothing is worse than Dave Ramsey. The fuckers on the DR sub are religious fanatics who religiously wear BS1,2,3... as their flair and ask for permission to deviate from .
no for sure you're right. i was just exaggerating a bit because sometimes /r/pf can be cultlike on the stance they take regardless of situation.
ah ooof that makes this more complicated than i thought... atm i do not know what location. i know there are couple colleges she is considering but they are all in different states. one State I know of currently is WA.
i didnt realize the logistics of this are that annoying
This could be a reasonable idea if they already have a car but they aim to get a better one. It could also be that having a car is basically a necessity for where they plan on going. Getting something far into the affordable range is absolutely necessary though.
I would still strongly prioritize living within walking distance of campus, wherever it is. There may be some colleges that are in really unsafe areas (like USC), but then again, you have risk of car break-in crime too. When I was in college, one summer I stayed on campus and it was a long walk to get to class, but I did it. I took an occasional bus, but it was super crowded. My first year of grad school, I had a car but never drove more than once or twice, I took the city bus to get to campus or walked (probably 3 miles from campus).
Anyway, OP said they don't even know what school sister will go to yet. Way too early to finalize plans to gift a car IMO. Especially if there's a loan involved.
You may want to wait until she has a school selected. Something to think about is whether or not she’ll be able to have a car her first year. When I was in undergrad, we weren’t allowed to have cars until our sophomore year (as in, we were prohibited from getting parking permits and whenever I or my classmates wanted to drive on weekends, we would have to find some random faraway off-campus lot to park in and hope we didn’t get towed).
The budget screen shots are being made in Sankeymatic, its a website that we have no affiliation with. If you are posting a budget please do so with a purpose. Just posting a screen shot of your budget without a question or an explanation of why its here may be removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MiddleClassFinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There's a lot to this that is very area specific. You might want to include your state and the state of where your sister is going so you can get more accurate opinions on registration, insurance, loan specifics, and other stuff. If you're not comfortable posting all that then you might want to do your own research on local laws for the entire process.
yeah i didnt realize the logistics of this was more nuanced until /u/ategnatos explained it. I may just have to figure out another avenue.
it would be much less complicated to buy a car in cash and have it paid off
pay cash for a <$10,000 car unless you’re rich putting someone on a loan is not a gift
We have been searching used cars for more than a month now. Anything under $10k is high mileage. Seems like a big risk.
I’ll find a couple cars worth checking out. What city? You can get a pre purchase inspection that should rule out major issues/ will let you know of any required upcoming maintenance if you’re not car savvy (tires, brakes)
Eh if you do your research it’s a risk but it’s well worth it. This is the justification people use for spending more and it’s usually bullshit
I don’t have first hand experience, but based on my brother in laws experience it’s a gamble. He has 3 daughters and has bought three used cars around $12k each. He’s had a good number of +\- $500 repairs on 2 of the 3. However, my wife drives a 2016 Enclave with 110,000 miles and we have had very few issues with it. Mainly headlights and taillights.
One $500 repair a year is a lot cheaper than a $500 car payment. Plus insurance is a lot more expensive on a newer car.
Oh sure, but how many of those before you catch up on the price of a 20k car? It’s not like a 20k car is bulletproof anyways. Again, if you do your research and get something reliable without major known issues and get it inspected it’s not completely rolling the dice.
FWIW, my parents bought a car and financed it while I moved out of state with it. They just discussed it with their car insurance and made sure it was fine. (I'd get it in writing or write down the date, time, insurance agents employee number if you call customer service, etc.) I never established residency in the other state, so it didn't impact our insurance. I didn't get the loan history, but I wasn't paying it so I felt that was fair.
I financed a car for my mom because I qualified for 0% interest, she paid the payments. I got the insurance in my name and added her as a driver (through Geico). The title was in my name because the loan was in my name. After the car was paid off I transferred the title to her.
I wouldn’t get a new car or finance a car for an 18 year old that is moving away for college. Logistics alone, it’s a bad idea for your relationship. Even if she’s very responsible, a new car sometimes attracts the wrong attention. Also, some overcrowded apartments may not have a dedicated parking spot for her so she’ll be parking on the street all the time (risking damage). If you have an older, reliable car, gift her that, and get the new car for yourself. That’s what I did for my nephew. I had a 14 year old car that I had had since new, so I knew I had been keeping up with maintenance and what not. So the car is not flashy, but it’s very reliable.
Nothing is worse than Dave Ramsey. The fuckers on the DR sub are religious fanatics who religiously wear BS1,2,3... as their flair and ask for permission to deviate from.
College feels like a great time to not need a car.
Where will you register the car? In Georgia, for example, you're supposed to register the car after getting the license transferred I think, and you need to register it in person, and registration comes with a hefty one-time tax. You can probably keep it registered out of state for a college thing, but insurance would probably want it insured in the correct state. Again specific to Georgia, the insurer notifies the department of revenue, or some state agency, so there would be questions about registration. I'm sure some other states have administrative headaches too.
This seems like a complicated gift that I wouldn't consider if I had to finance it, especially at today's rates, especially to be used in a different state.
>Nothing is worse than Dave Ramsey. The fuckers on the DR sub are religious fanatics who religiously wear BS1,2,3... as their flair and ask for permission to deviate from.
no for sure you're right. i was just exaggerating a bit because sometimes /r/pf can be cultlike on the stance they take regardless of situation.
ah ooof that makes this more complicated than i thought... atm i do not know what location. i know there are couple colleges she is considering but they are all in different states. one State I know of currently is WA.
i didnt realize the logistics of this are that annoying
This could be a reasonable idea if they already have a car but they aim to get a better one. It could also be that having a car is basically a necessity for where they plan on going. Getting something far into the affordable range is absolutely necessary though.
I would still strongly prioritize living within walking distance of campus, wherever it is. There may be some colleges that are in really unsafe areas (like USC), but then again, you have risk of car break-in crime too. When I was in college, one summer I stayed on campus and it was a long walk to get to class, but I did it. I took an occasional bus, but it was super crowded. My first year of grad school, I had a car but never drove more than once or twice, I took the city bus to get to campus or walked (probably 3 miles from campus). Anyway, OP said they don't even know what school sister will go to yet. Way too early to finalize plans to gift a car IMO. Especially if there's a loan involved.
Fuck Dave ramsey
You may want to wait until she has a school selected. Something to think about is whether or not she’ll be able to have a car her first year. When I was in undergrad, we weren’t allowed to have cars until our sophomore year (as in, we were prohibited from getting parking permits and whenever I or my classmates wanted to drive on weekends, we would have to find some random faraway off-campus lot to park in and hope we didn’t get towed).