Would you buy me a new car?
Do you remember your first car? I do and I loved it! This car only had lap belts for seatbelts and no airbags as they weren’t invented yet. Ok, now I feel old as I used ‘invented’ in a sentence. As a society, we’ve come a long way in our safety features on our vehicles. Do we search for vehicles that have good safety features or do we buy a vehicle for other reasons?
We constantly watch advertisements that show us how fast a car can go from 0 to 50 km/h. Should that matter when we look for vehicles? I remember my dad buying vehicles that best suited his needs and his budget. It wasn’t so much about how fast it went or what it looked like. As a teenage driver, looks were more important to me.
While growing up I was allowed to drive my dad’s car to and from school from time to time. That felt very good, but since my dad had a station wagon with fake paneling on the side, it wasn’t really going to help me with drawing attention to the girls! I wanted my own car and I began saving for it right away. I actually began saving for it before I had my license. You can never be too prepared, right?
I was looking for a sporty vehicle; something that my generation would be impressed with. The only problem that I saw with buying a vehicle like was that those vehicles were a little too expensive. I was wondering if my dad would help me purchase one of those vehicles. He finally agreed years later that he would loan me the cash to buy a vehicle. It wasn’t the sporty vehicle that I really wanted. Part of that was because I had to pay back the money to him. He taught me responsibility of my actions. Since I paid for the vehicle myself, I took it more responsibly.
I will often hear from my students how their parents will buy them a new vehicle. That very generous, but is it the right move? If you earn the money yourself to buy your vehicle, would you not take more pride in how you used it? I watch my own kids take care of the items they bought, even though they may abuse the items my wife and I buy them. Its part of human nature to take things for granted I guess.
We all want the best things for our kids, but let’s be careful how generous we are. Look for a safe vehicle for them to drive, and not just a sporty vehicle. Make sure the vehicle has strong safety features before you decide that’s the vehicle for your child. Let them pay for at least a portion of the vehicle so they can take some pride in their purchase and respect it as well. Teach them a life lesson before they lose their life showing off in their shiny new sports car!
Good post Scott. I can’t believe I purchased my own car this year in January. I did a lot of research to find a very safe vehicle that was fuel efficient. I landed on my Mazda because it has curtain airbags, great on gas, all shoulder belts and it was brand new. I take so much pride in my vehicle. I take it every 4 months for maintenance to make sure it’s running properly and will continue to do this no matter what!
You are a positive example to everyone! Vehicles are a means of transportation. Even though we want to look good in them, we have to ensure they are safe for us to travel in. I think your choice in vehicles was a smart one!
Way to go Scott! So informative and true! Thanks for sharing your true stories and lessons.
1975 Ford LTD 2 door, yellow, nicknamed the Banana Boat, about 3/4 the length of a Hamilton City Bus while I attended Mohawk College.
A rough incident on hwy 12 north of Lindsay heading for Orillia, I spotted a slow moving vehicle with a horse trailer, so I made my intentions to pass safely, and he sped up, I slowed, he slowed, traffic was coming and I wasn’t having space to get behind, so I cranked my steering and 270 degrees into a 6 ft deep ditch
other drivers spotted me and agreed I was not at fault and helped me out of the ditch. Total damage
$10 for dirt in my tires. Man I miss that car.
Sadly it went through engines like kids through ice cream and I had to give it up. No airbags, safest vehicle I’ve ever owned.