Most liked posts in thread: This young girl should be a role model for other teens!

Great story! For a lot of things (especially hands on) the teen-ages are sometimes the best to learn skills as the brain is easier to train. That's how it was for me with cars and especially flying.

My dad generously paid for half of my car and I paid for the other half (we decided it was better to get a good car than a POS that would break down a lot). But after that I've had to pay for all gas and maintence. I've put almost $6,500 of my own money in the past two years of owning my car in maintenance costs. I've definitely learned a lot about my car and budgeting money...as well as working hard for what you want.

Friends always say "how can you do this?", "you're that young and have already done...X,Y,Z" etc..... It's about applying yourself, being persistent, stop being lazy, and just DOING IT.

 

Very cool story. Role model indeed

I got my first job at 14... wanted a mountain bike so I saved up for it. Worked every since.

My first car was my dad's (after he died). I paid for all the maintenance/repairs, gas, insurance, etc. After the repairs got to be a frequent thing, I traded it in and bought my first new car.

 

:cornut: WHAT!?!? Teaching her responsibility?:eek6: There must be a government program for giving cars to teenagers at tax payer expense. Young people should never be told to stand on their own 2 feet. This kind of thing could get around and before long, people 'on the dole' will be wanting to work. It must be firmly stamped out NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(tongue in cheek):lol:

Jason

 

I just sent a "guilt email" to my 15 and 12 year old sons. With a link to her story. And the story of what I had to do (back in the dark ages) to get my "dream car". Which included a lot of actual work, saving, restoring, etc.

The sad thing is that it seems a lot tougher now to get kids earning and saving early than it was when I was a kid. Damn child labor laws. I mean, sure, I can get them to do chores around the house and pay them. But otherwise, it's tough compared to the "good old days".

 

I was 14 when I got my first job working at the lunch counter at a local drugstore......within a year I was promoted to the tobacco counter (yep, selling cigarettes when I was too young to buy them) and then when I was 16 I got my first job at a gas station, and that summer bought my first car. Luckily, since I worked at a service station I had a place to work on it and help if I needed it. Learned a lot on that old car and drove it all thru high school......but I paid for everthing.

When my kids were in college we bought them each a car, I paid the down payment but they paid the rest.

 

Great kid!

 

Wish more teens would go this way, we would have lots of valued cars on the road and fewer accidents. IMO!

Don

 

Thing is even I grew up knowing I was going to have to get a job as soon as possible (workers permit at 15-1/2, job McDonalds) inorder to buy or help buy my first car. $1400 '69 Mach 1
Made $68 payments for some of it. Parents paid for my insurance for the 1st year. I had to be prepared to pay for everything else..
Most kids now a days don't have that instilled in them. Parents or grandparents just go buy them everything. They want for nothing.
Now guess what happens when they are actually out of school. They don't know how or why to hold down a job!!! and pay back their school loan.. Assuming grandma didn't do that for them...
Sadly these feel good stories are far and few between now a days!!!! It used to be the norm...

Sorry for my rant... Great story though...

 

I've always said growing up with/working on cars was great as a teen. Kept me out of trouble and taught me patience. (with my self and the cars that is)

I fully intend should I have kids to do this. It how I got my first car.

 

This is a really cool story. My Brother's Fiancé has two daughters, one 16 and one 9. We were sitting around discussing working on cars last weekend and they were getting angry that we were talking about "cars so much..." They would much rather discuss Justin Bieber...

 

This is a really cool story. It's great to see so many people offering to help her out along the way.

 

Thanks for the updates Steve.

 

:cornut: Pretty Too!

Jason