These are tough, and personal decisions. I personally find it unpleasant to dangle a brand new car in front of a teenage kids’ face, and to me (and yes this is my personal issue) I value education more than a car. Of course one can get a very good education at many different schools, but to me the message of “I will dangle a nice car in front of your face if you take the cheaper school” sends the wrong message. But hey, that’s just me. Many teenage kids will not have the skills in place to truly weigh this decision and its implications. Many do, but many don’t.
Congrats on all the scholarship options. The top automatic scholarship is great at Tulane, but it does leave bigger out of pocket costs. What happened with the Altman? If that had come through, would that have changed the decision? Its hard to weigh the “value” of these opportunities. I concur that having to take out loans if it is avoidable is the smart choice.
Our s’s paid a family member to buy her old hand-me-down cars. So they had some skin in the game but also chose to drive older cars. DS#2 drove his older car until just last year, when it it was about 13 yrs old and falling apart. The car alarm going off in the middle of the night finally helped hasten the decision. Then, when it was time to buy a replacement, he chose a smaller, used car, and paid cash. I think he has learned how to prioritize.