<p>First of all, no new cars for teens imo. My D will start driving with a 12 or 13 yo car if it lasts that long (we have two old ones.) As to the car and stay at home deal, my Dad offered this to me twice. It would never have been a new car, since he could not afford it. Once to go to the local U - I got almost full FA for tuition, and a second time to go there for law school (also FA of almost all tuition). I turned him down both times. I know that in my Dad’s case he would have liked to have me around - and I wanted to go away anyway. In undergrad, I begged him to help me get an old clunker (the $100 for the car I could afford, but not the insurance) and he refused. By law school he gave in.</p>
<p>No cars for ANYONE in this family. But no klunkers either. Those things can wind up costing more than new, much more if you include the time and trouble. If they fail at the wrong time, they are truly more trouble than they are worth.</p>
<p>I’m with Hunt on this one, this deal is unfair to the teen on multiple levels.</p>
<p>The average life expectancy of a “first car” is around 18 months, so I vote for used—</p>
<p>As that used is not much of a bribe, I took a different route. I offered FLYING LESSONS through her license (about $10,500) if she either cracked 700 on each section of the SAT or 31.5 on the ACT, which for her is a doable stretch, with lots of work.</p>
<p>For us college money is a fixed pot. To motivate scholarship apps and improved GPA, I offered that any scholarships she landed would have a net positive affect on her bottom line. Any money left in the college fund goes to her as a check at college graduation. She became a scholarship application machine.</p>
<p>i did the same thing, i didn’t see it as a bribe, i just don’t want her to come out of college with alot of debt. we recieved no financial aid to her dream school, which is out of state. she knows the score. i have enough put away for a state school within commuting distance or for that fact she can even live there if she wanted too. not only did i offer a new car, but i also have a 2 family house with an empty 2 br apt. that she could move in to w/ a roomate if she chose to… she chose the dream school and the debt…</p>
<p>Family in our neighborhood offered a car AFTER graduating from college to their D who was considering in-state (but good quality) vs large out-of-state private (which personally I think is no better than our in-state choice). She took the deal. I don’t really see a problem with it…the private was 4 TIMES as much without much added value IMO.</p>
<p>In our case, we offered to refund one of my the multiple scholarships my son earned at his in state U. We felt he earned them through his hard work. Of course, he doesn’t get the moola until he graduates. Might come in handy given the current economic climate - gives him some options for grad school or at least takes off the pressure of funding living expenses. Imagine…graduating with money vs debt - pretty cool. </p>
<p>That said, if we could go back, I think we might do it differently. My s turned down an excellent private which both my H and I though might be a better match. We were more than willing to pay for it. He would have no debt but no money after college if he went this route. He decided against it and he’s done just fine - but I’m a constant worrier type - and I fear we may have influenced his final decision. Oh well, everything worked out OK. He’s happy - so as my H says, “stop fretting!” The bottom line: I would think carefully before putting “deals” out.</p>
<p>I must have missed the memo that says you “owe” either a car or an expensive (or at least a non-commuter) college education to your kids. (My Dad certainly did; I didn’t get a car, lived at home in the basement and rode the city bus to college. 
)</p>
<p>Anyway, I’ll leave others to contemplate effective bribing strategies. It wouldn’t even be an option for me. I’m in the curious position of having had to tell my HS junior son – who will be 18 in December – that I really want him to get his driver’s license this summer. Like his older brother (who was already 18 and graduated when he finally got around to it) he just hasn’t been interested. School and friends are close enough to walk or bike, so he has never seen the need. All my friends with similarly aged kids are dumbfounded when I tell them this. (Even more amazing, he has no interest in getting a cell phone, even though we have plenty of minutes available on our family plan and the incremental cost would be negligible. He’s kind of a throwback kid, which is one reason I intend to hang on to him.)</p>
<p>All that said, like my Dad I’ll send my son to the best college he can get into, that he wants to attend, and that I can afford. That’s worth a lot more than any car could be.</p>
<p>Well I guess I’m doing the opposite. I just told my son that I think that most likely we will be getting rid of his car when he goes off to college. We live in New Jersey and his car insurance is $1700 per year. He drives a 10 year old junker, so no lost $ there, but I can’t see paying $1700 for the year when he will use it about 3 weeks over Christmas break and then 2+ months in the summer. And to my complete surprise - he agreed with me !!</p>