Cameron Huddleston at AARP wrote about the hidden costs of buying a car for a teenager, and she opened with my own situation. My son does not turn 16 until September 2028, and I am already preparing for the sticker shock, because it is not just the price of the vehicle. It is what happens to my auto insurance premium when a 16-year-old driver gets added to the policy. The premium jump is significant enough that I started planning for it now.
As a planner in Forest Hill, Maryland, I help clients through this decision regularly, and the pattern is the same. Families budget for the car and get surprised by everything around it: insurance, repairs, maintenance, registration and gas. Those recurring costs turn a one-time purchase into a multiyear expense line.
My approach at home matches what I tell clients. Our son will pay for his own gas. That is not about the money as much as it is about teaching that a car is an ongoing commitment, not a gift that stops costing anything once it is in the driveway.
If you have a teen driver on the horizon, run the insurance quote now, two years out if you can. The number will change how you shop for the car.
Read the full article at AARP →
