Furious at son being encouraged to get into debt!

sazzybum

If this is the wrong place- Please feel free to shift me over to where I should be

My son is 17, and in the Army- hence him sitting/passing his driving test within a couple of weeks. I had had him convinced that the best thing for him to do was buy a lil second hand- jaunt about if he was determined to have a car. He had went to look at a couple, and had his eye on a 900 quid little Corsa.. Goodo I said, no debt (was going to pay cash), insurance won't be :eek:.

He was on leave this weekend and went to his fathers(my ex husband of 5 years)..who took him to a garage (as he was getting a new car) and ranted on about the unreliability of a second hand car, the 'feeling' of a new car, how great he'd look in it etc etc. Thing is -it's 250 pounds a month for god knows how long!

I told him- he can't get it until he's 18 anyway..and that he'd need to build up his credit rating, which could take ages, but of course father negg-ed that by saying ''it's ok son, i'll put it in my name and you pay it'' :mad::mad:

He's going to get into debt before he's 18!! AND he's going to be deployed to Germany soon, so what's the point?? Am I being unreasonable? Does this make sense to anyone? Honest answers appreciated, no matter how harsh you may think they are.

Thank you

keggsy

Hi SB,

I don't tink you are being unreasonable, my hubby got a loan out when he was 20 with no hesitation, however, over the years he added more to it and made the term longer. He will finally pay it off in May (hes 27 now) and he can't wait.

I think your ex is being a bit of an idiot (don't know the guy), I only have a small amount of debt on a CC but I know that without the money lessons my mum and dad gave me I would have more.

Tell your son that if he waits until he is 21 he would be able to get cheaper car insurance (he's a lad they pay more, under 21 one is also another cost) and have a better credit rating...you could also work out the cost of the car tax that he will lose for every month he is in Germany.

Hope this helps

Keggsy
x

redlady_1

Well, tell him to wait before buying the car as he can get it tax free over in Germany - one of the perks of being posted there! Hopefully, if you can manage to get it put off until then, the idea will leave his head. Suggest he talk to his Sgt Major about it all. If he is worth his weight he will also put him off

scubaangel

If he is certain he wants a new car he's best waiting until he is 18 and at his posting in Germany - under the agreements between the British Forces in Germany and the Germans he will be able to get a new car tax free. As well as getting extra cash for the duration of the posting, not to mention more when he gets deployed after turning 18.
Otherwise let him run the older car, until he is a little older.

sazzybum

keggsy wrote: »

Hi SB,

I don't tink you are being unreasonable, my hubby got a loan out when he was 20 with no hesitation, however, over the years he added more to it and made the term longer. He will finally pay it off in May (hes 27 now) and he can't wait.

I think your ex is being a bit of an idiot (don't know the guy), I only have a small amount of debt on a CC but I know that without the money lessons my mum and dad gave me I would have more.

Tell your son that if he waits until he is 21 he would be able to get cheaper car insurance (he's a lad they pay more, under 21 one is also another cost) and have a better credit rating...you could also work out the cost of the car tax that he will lose for every month he is in Germany.

Hope this helps

Keggsy
x

Thanks Keggsy, I tried not to put it across as a me versus 'him' thing, and I honestly-before I posted- looked inside myself to see if it was an envy because I can't afford to help son in this way, and it's honestly not, It's for EXACTLY the reasons you've stated-the interest, the sheer stupidity of saddling himself with something that in a year or two he would be able to afford to pay cash for.

Lokolo

I want to know the insurance quotes... please post. I need a laugh on this Monday afternoon!

sazzybum

redlady_1 wrote: »

Well, tell him to wait before buying the car as he can get it tax free over in Germany - one of the perks of being posted there! Hopefully, if you can manage to get it put off until then, the idea will leave his head. Suggest he talk to his Sgt Major about it all. If he is worth his weight he will also put him off

scubaangel wrote: »

If he is certain he wants a new car he's best waiting until he is 18 and at his posting in Germany - under the agreements between the British Forces in Germany and the Germans he will be able to get a new car tax free. As well as getting extra cash for the duration of the posting, not to mention more when he gets deployed after turning 18.
Otherwise let him run the older car, until he is a little older.

Thank you both- I had tried to talk to him about the tax-free option in Germany, but he's only seeing the ''I can get it NOW' option, and refuses to listen to his old nagging mother (he told me that his dad had said ''and don't listen to your mother, she worries about everything''-but again to be fair, that was my son telling me that, so can't be 100% certain)

Great idea about getting him to talk to his Commanding Officer though- don't know why I didn't think of it...probably the red flag in front of my eyes.

sazzybum

Lokolo wrote: »

I want to know the insurance quotes... please post. I need a laugh on this Monday afternoon!

Lol.. Lok- tell me about it- the cheapest one was 1800 quid :eek::eek::eek: but for the 900 quid one we got it to 1000. He'd be paying it of course..

However- part of this ''250 a month for god knows how long'' includes insurance... feel as if I'm fighting a losing battle though:(

keggsy

I honestly-before I posted- looked inside myself to see if it was an envy because I can't afford to help son in this way, and it's honestly not!

If your Son is an adult about this he will understand you are only looking out for him, I have countless friends who are in large amounts of debt that originally started from a little low interest car loan!

skylight

The 250 for however long will only include insurance for the first year. He should check that out, cos in year 2 he is likely to be saddled with the £250 plus £150 for insurance at those prices! Not many include insurance for the duration of the loan.

savingmummy

Grr i`d be angry too!!
TRY TRY and TRY to get him away from this idea!! Let him read on here
IF it fails and goes with dad Ensure it is in your Ex`s name then it shouldn`t be bad on your ds`s credit rating.

I really hope he chooses a lil run around tbh.
My DH (32) has horrendous debt now as he couldnt manage finance so got a loan to pay off finance THEN couldnt afford loan repayments. He then had to get the loan spread over 10yrs to make repayments smaller!!!! WORSE MISTAKE EVER!