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More parents are buying son first car

Here's Why You Should Buy A Car For Your Teenager Experts credit the significant change to a number of factors, including increasing prices for used cars, community pressure to provide a car for a driving child and allowing children to drive themselves to ease a parent’s busy schedule.
Parents surveyed said their primary motivation for making the purchase was to give them more control over what their children are driving. The secondary reason was because they felt an obligation to help their children.
These motivating factors highlight two interesting hypotheses regarding the role of vehicle purchases among today's first-time car buyers," Wainschel continued. "First, the desire to 'control' the purchase may speak to the inclusion of car purchases in our society's overall move toward so-called 'helicopter parenting.' And second, the 'obligation' that parents feel may be related to the financial situation that their children face in today's economy
Whatever the motivating factors are, that first sense of autonomy and independence that buying a car represented may be diminished just a little by the parent's involvement in the purchase decision.

How Mom and Dad can Control and Monitor Their Children's Driving

YOU'VE PASSED your test and can’t wait to get out on the highway. Naturally, that vision doesn’t include a nagging parent in the passenger seat. But even if Mom and Dad aren’t there in person, clinging nervously to the grab handle, they can now monitor or restrict their child’s driving remotely. This may sound rather too Big Brother for comfort, but teenagers may see it as a worthwhile compromise if the alternative is not driving at all.

Ford offers a system called MyKey on its bestselling Fiesta, designed to help new drivers concentrate and resist the temptation to speed. The car’s key can be programmed to restrict the vehicle. So, for example, if the driver is not wearing a seat belt, the stereo will be muted. The key can also prevent the car being driven beyond a set speed. Mobile phone use can be deterred with a system that blocks all incoming calls and text messages during the journey, as long as the phone is connected via Bluetooth, which is used to stream music to the stereo.

Teenagers who fear such a system could be restrictive should pause before complaining and consider the more draconian alternative. It’s based on the increasingly popular model of black-box insurance, which uses an in-car device to monitor location and acceleration, with penalties incurred if dangerous driving is spotted. Some companies, including one insurer called Autosaint, provide parents with real-time information on the way a car is being driven, including speed, as well as the vehicle’s location, which means misbehaving motorists could come home to a well-rehearsed scolding.

A lower-cost option is to ask teenagers to run free monitoring apps on their smartphone, although this does mean trusting them to activate the apps. Glympse (iPhone, Android, Windows) shares a driver’s location and speed with other users for up to four hours at a time. Others act as black boxes, monitoring and then rating each journey. Confused.com’s MotorMate and Drivology (both iPhone and Android) are two such apps, which are also designed to entice drivers to buy black-box insurance.

The Best Cars for Young Drivers

SMALL CARS are many things to many drivers. They could be someone’s first new vehicle, a family’s second car or an affordable runaround for those who want to downsize from a larger model. Increasing numbers of young drivers are also being financed by the bank of Mum and Dad.

Results of a survey of 1,000 drivers released last week suggest that more parents than ever are buying the first car for their children. The breakdown service Green Flag asked households who was paying for the first car for young drivers and compared results with the same survey 20 years ago. It found 56% of parents are bankrolling the purchase, up from 35% in 1994.

The good news is that in the not too distant past, small cars traded on being cheap and cheerful, with cute styling but little in the way of creature comforts, mechanical sophistication or the ability to withstand anything greater than a gentle parking knock. Now you can rest easy that starter cars are safe, comfortable and packed with touchscreen technology — but as fun to drive as ever.

For young and first-time drivers, buying a car can be an angst-filled process that's as complicated as getting into the right college. What to buy is a personal decision, but here are a few recommendations.

Teen Guide To Car Insurance

While teens face higher car insurance premiums, both they and their parents have a few options when it comes to insuring teen drivers.

Do Teens Need Their Own Insurance Policy?

Generally, teens do not have to worry about getting their own car insurance policy. More often than not, parents add their teen drivers to their own policies because it’s usually the cheaper option.

NOTE: Some teens own their own cars; in these cases, usually they have their own car insurance policies. However, most states have strict rules on teens owning property (such as vehicles), meaning parents have to at least co-sign for the property. If this is your case, talk with your state’s motor vehicle agency about state policies for teens to own vehicles outright.

Will Insuring a Teen Driver Raise Parents’ Rates?

Typically, adding your teen to your policy will increase your premiums; however, it doesn’t have to skyrocket your rates.

There are plenty of steps both teens and parents can take to maintain affordable premiums. Continue reading below for more information.

Tips to Save Money On Teen Car Insurance

Both teen drivers and their parents can find ways to to get cheaper teen car insurance.

Teen Drivers

NOTE: Lots of companies offer good driver discounts. Because you’re young and just starting out, you haven’t had much time to prove yourself as a good driver (most companies require consecutive years of accident-free driving before a driver can qualify for this discount). However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware of potential savings. Spending the first several behind-the-wheel years driving safely will help you get cheap car insurance in the future.

Parents

If your teen is just getting her license, you can employ the following strategies to save money when you add her to your policy:

Other Discounts

Don’t forget to ask about other unrelated to your teen driver. You might be eligible for certain car insurance discounts that have nothing to do with your teen and not even know it.

For example, do you purchase both home and car insurance from the same company? Have you been a loyal customer who’s renewed his policy on time for many years? Have you been accident-free for a significant amount of time, enrolled in a driver safety course, or opted to pay your annual premiums in full? Any of these factors can get you a discount.

And if they don’t, it might be time to shop around and compare rates from other companies.

Teen Drivers with Learner’s Permits

Most car insurance companies don’t require parents to add teens with learner’s permits to their policies; generally, that happens once the teen has a driver’s license.

However, it’s crucial to notify your insurance agent when your teen driver gets a learner’s permit. Every provider has its own coverage requirements, and that includes how the company handles drivers with learner’s permits.