would you let your 18 year old have a Jeep

[mtudb24]

We bought out own - my first at 14. But I rode my bike to work until I turned 16 and got my full license. We paid for it all - car, insurance, gas, all maintenance..............

Yes, you've made that clear. And that is fantastic you did that. You obviously made great sacrifices in your youth and made it pay off with fantastic outcomes later on in life. But I stand behind what I did for them and I wouldn't change that if I had to do it all over again.

My kids don't think they are entitled to anything and are very appreciative to the opportunities we have given them. They got great grades, had after school jobs, played sports, etc. I don't think buying them their first car is any type of sin for a parent.

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[Zachanadandy]

Having just noticed the grumper clad abomination the OP chose for the background I change my advice, clearly not mature enough for a Jeep

 

[DanW]

please cast vote


I've created this thread because I was thinking about getting a Jeep at my age which is 18, I wanna hear your guys thoughts


drop 'em below

You left out the option for just ¨Yes.¨

I would if my kid bought it himself/herself.

Jeep´s since the JK have among the lowest injury claim rates in the industry. So they are safe. The only thing I´d have caution about is that my sons would dick around off-road before they knew what they were doing. LOL. Just like I would have.

 

[Mud Pie]

You bought your kids cars???????

There are 5 of us kids in my family. Me and 4 sisters. I'm the only boy AND the middle child, two older and two younger sisters (a shrink could have a field day with THAT....lol). He "essentially" bought us all our first vehicle. Nothing fancy, nothing nice; but it ran....most times. He actually said, "Never buy your kid a car than can go further than they are willing to walk home.".

When I discharged in 1983, I moved to Texas (where he was transferred while I was in). He had purchased another CJ-3A. He offered it to my littlest sister, now a senior in high school. She flat-out refused to drive it, "it's embarrassing". He bought her a brand new, zero miles 1983 Honda Passport scooter. Me and my sisters were like, "WHAAATT ?!?!?!". He said cars are too expensive now, even beaters were too much. Again, my ungrateful sister refused to even ride it around the neighborhood. (side note - I still have the CJ-3A and that scooter...lol)

At the time I had a 1981 Dodge Ram 50 Sport and had a job working nights as an armed Security Officer. When I got home that morning, my sister asked me to giver her a ride to school.

As we pulled into the parking area I asked her, "This is teacher parking, am I supposed to go somewhere else ?". She guffawed and said, "This is student parking, you're fine.". In that lot were brand new BMW's, Mercedes, a couple Ninja's, tricked out Ford 150's, REALLY nice vehicles. I said, "THIS is student parking ?" "Now do you understand ? I'm a New Yorker with a New York accent. I get teased enough as it is by these rich rednecks. Daddy wants me to drive that Jeep or that scooter to school ? No way.". No where was there a beater car or truck with mismatched doors, no rusted out cars that looked like crap....but ran and you were PROUD of it. No where was there a beat up truck where you and your friends sang the Sanford and Son theme song as your friend pulled up.

I just got out of the Marine Corps after serving my country and these 16 year olds were driving vehicles that I could NEVER afford. Yeah, I was jealous...and a bit mad. But I now understood my little sister.

Parenting is different from when I was a wee lad. We had to earn every freaking thing you got, no hand-outs. You wanted money to go to the movies with your friends ? Rake the yard first. You needed money to go to the mall for lunch ? Wash your Dad's car. If you wanted money, you got a job or earned it around the house. No weekly allowance. I once asked for 5 bucks, he told me to replace the starter in my Mom's Caddy, its going bad. 1967 Sedan DeVille. Winter time. Long Island. Maybe a foot of snow on the ground. I laid on a broken down box and replaced the starter. Got my 5 bucks.

Kids today are given more than they should be getting without earning it. REALLY nice cars with zero sweat equity in it. If they wreck it, no biggie, Daddy'll make it right. No telling your friends, "Nah, we're walking, my Jeep won't start and I don't have the cash to fix it until payday. I think it's the battery.".

So yeah, parents nowadays buy really nice (and expensive) cars for their kids. For some twisted reason that's deemed to be "caring about your kid" but they are really just saving face with their neighbors, "look what I spent on MY kid. See how caring I am ??".

My Dad cared about me. At age 17, he gave me the ability to sit on the side of the road, in the dark, hood raised, in the pouring rain with a flashlight clenched in my teeth while I fixed my Jeep.

THAT'S a Dad. No AAA membership. Fix it or push it home. No sitting there, phone in hand and crying to Dad, "I don't KNOW what's wrong, it don't work. COME GET ME NOW !! I NEED A NEW CAR !!".

Rant over. Apologies. Time for a cuppa Joe....

 

[Mad Mac]

Having them pay for their own gasoline
and repairs is a good idea.
It tempers them in that it is self correcting
for the amount and type of driving,
somewhat.

My son delivered pizza
in his 1975 Datsun 280Z
which he also campaigned briefly
at age 16 in SCCA autocross in 1988.
Now he has moved up to a BMW.
Not delivering pizza anymore.

Allow me to recommend
keeping them on the insurance
of the parents
for three reasons.

First, the rate would be lower
unless the parents are bad drivers.

Second, the parents will be sure
that the insurance does not lapse
for lack of payment.

Third, the injured parties
will sue the parents anyway.

My college age daughter
was t-boned by a drunk driver.
Two years later,
that driver sued me
for allowing my daughter to drive,
among other things.
My insurance company prevailed.

As a point of interest,
the other three college kids in her car
were injured,
none seriously thank God,
but never sued us.

Good luck with your kids.
Now we worry about the grandkids.

 

[Gman 2025]

Yes, what ever than could afford

 

[Metalhead]

Even a Renegade?

Why not my sister had one till she traded it for a wrangler. My nephew drives a 2016 cherokee and loves it.

 

[Mud Pie]

Even a Renegade?

For the love of all that is holy, NOT A RENEGADE !!

I drove one of those abominations for 7 anxious years. Even trying to stretch the truth as far as you can, it is NOT a Jeep, it's a hunk of re-badged Italian Fiat garbage !! Oh, they tried to distract you from the crappiness by trying to get you to focus on all the idiotic Easter eggs plastered throughout the vehicle.

Every time I filled up, I gave the finger to that Italian spider on the filler neck saying "Ciao, Baby !".

Sure, all those Easter eggs were cool...at initial purchase. After the first walk-around in your driveway, they started to grate on you. Fast.

Have an issue ? Pull the negative battery cable and wait 30 minutes. Not a shadetree fix-it, the negative cable has a quick disconnect !!

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Have an issue ? Pull the negative battery cable and wait 30 minutes. Not a shadetree fix-it, the negative cable has a quick disconnect !!

Wait……. Are you saying Jeep PREEMPTIVELY included a factory solution to a known problem??!!

 

[Mud Pie]

Wait……. Are you saying Jeep PREEMPTIVELY included a factory solution to a known problem??!!

LOL...

You're giving Jeep too much credit....it's a re-badged Fiat. Tony thought of that....

Don't actually FIX the problem(s), just reset the computer by pulling the cable and then wait a couple weeks for it to pop up again. Pull cable. Repeat.

I couldn't venture a guess how many times I had to "reset" the damn thing. Start the vehicle, dash flashes like a winning slot machine; parking brake needs service, Passenger air bag needs service, all sorts of stuff. You can ignore it, but the constant pinging from the dash will drive you bonkers. Sometimes it will totally reset on its own while underway. Most times not. Sometimes flicking the passenger seat belt buckle a few times will reset one or two of the alarms. Dunno why. Get to where you wanted to be (if local and can stand the pinging), pull the cable and go about your business. Reseat the cable and you're good for at most a month or two. Oh, it's coming back, rest assured. The beauty part is when you start it and you have NO throttle. Turn it off, immediately restart it, all good. No one knows why. Puts "It's a Jeep thing" in a whole 'nother light.... First blame is a weakened battery, that vehicle is more sensitive than a teenage girl after her first breakup. The slightest drop in voltage makes it cry and turn in tiny circles. Replacing the battery will fix it....for a bit. Came with a flooded and you upgraded to AGM ? Silly boy. It don't like that for at least 10 -15 starts IF you're lucky.

The only, and I mean ONLY thing I liked about that vehicle was the mileage. If I did my part, 39 mpg was easy. Best ever; 42 mpg.

Everyone worrying about our recent recall; that ain't nothing. Own a Renegade if you want trials and tribulations.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

My first two vehicles when I was a teenager were sporty cars. I spent my weekends doing autocross and running the quarter mile at the drag strip. I was a dumb kid, but not in the sense of understanding the physics of the car or lacking decent ability. I had no self preservation. I drove the shit out of those cars and took risks I shouldn't have. I spent a lot of time finding the limits of the cars and myself and pushing boundaries. I was a bit of a menace.

My third vehicle was a Jeep TJ and I drove it like it was a Jeep, because I knew that's what it was.

I can only speak for myself but I guess my point is I was much more responsible and more risk averse in a slow 4x4 than I was a sports car at that age.

 

[D_JT]

You are 18. You make the decision yourself. I was 20 when I bought my first jeep. At the time it was a 12 year old TJ. I still have it 14 years later.

 

[BuckeyeButch]

This past summer I gave my 2000 Wrangler to my Grandson, it came from AZ originally, so it wasn't a rust bucket. It's close to a year and he hasn't shown any reason for me to regret the decision.

 

[Alpine Warthog]

I'm on the fence. My daughter? Yes, but the back seat is removed. maybe the passenger seat too... I don't really want my kiddo getting cute-girl-in-a-lifted-jeep attention.

 

[ChrisNLA]

You bought your kids cars???????

My first vehicle was given to me.

Actually, I had another vehicle at one point to lean on - so there was time when there were two vehicles I could work with that I didn't pay for.

Now - this will sound CRAZY to all the old heads, but I didn't even have a job until I was 18 and graduated from high school. My mother wanted me to focus on school. Fine by me. I was driving on my own for two years prior to that.

Anyway. Graduated school, got my first job shortly after, paid for everything of mine, etc.

As for the step kids - I am not driving them all over to their first jobs, and it's a 30 minute ride by bike along state highways with no shoulders to the nearest village to find the closest thing resembling a job - and they would certainly be run over and killed along the way.

So yea - probably going to provide them with a hand-me-down to get started as long as their behavior and ethics are in line.

As for the OP's questions, 18 years old - it's more your problem than mine.

16 years old, yea sure you can drive a Jeep IDGAF if that's the hand me down I happen to have that you're getting.

Otherwise you're getting whatever has four wheels under it that we don't need as a primary.

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