Mitch Cronin Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 ...my son is yelling at me from upstairs that "this is your fault!". I don't know what he means, other than it being something about the horrible news I just gave him, that our truck was more valuable to me than my car, and that if we were to dispose of any, I'd keep the truck. If we have three vehicles, licenced and insured, when he gets his licence he'll automatically become "primary" driver on one of them. That will cost a fortune, so we think we'll drop one... My wife's been driving our 95 Celica and it's getting tired. It's got about 320,000 km I think... maybe 350, I forget... So I thought we should park the Celica in the garage, drop it's insurance... Mrs C can drive the Infinity, and I'll drive the truck.... and meanwhile the kid and I can rebuild the Celica in the garage.... and he can drive the truck anytime it's available... It's a 99 GMC 2500 Suburban diesel... Loaded with every goody available in it's time. He hates it. "It's a friggin' bus!" he says.... I was gonna explode, so I came here instead.... It's not a bus. It's a damned fine machine to be offered to drive around in! ... I know. .... When I was his age, maybe a year older, I bought a bus for a thousand dollars of my own hard earned cash... a 72 passenger International school bus.... I wanted to move back out west with my then girlfriend (long since, wife) in the bus.... didn't work out.... seemed her family objected.... they abducted her and took her to Kitchener, then to Winnipeg.... I followed.... in my bus... 5 mpg... got to Kitchener too early, they were due back tonight... I waited in a school yard... wallet stolen from bus... 5 mpg , bus indicating about 1/8th of a tank.... no money... ....sigh... Ok, supper's ready and I'm not angry anymore. ... Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 When I turned 16 my dear old Dad bought a '57 International 1/2 ton, 6 volt power system, straight 4 cylinder, 3 on the tree tranny and told me it was mine to drive. Not much of a vehicle but imagine the freedom (I did) until the next week when the brakes went out. "Dad", says I, "the brakes are shot can I drive your car?" No, he says but I'll help you fix the brakes. In the year or so it took me to save enough money to buy a real car I did the brakes, the exhaust, the starter, the battery, the radiator - not because I wanted too but because I had to if I wanted the privledge of being able to drive. The skills I learned have served me very well over the last 30 years - thanks Dad. Mitch, tell your son he's lucky to have the Suburban! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13820 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 If I were to do it again, you're son should start out on his own policy. Screw the discount for multi vehicle. I am sure the insurance companies make up rules as they go along. If nothing else he will appreciate the cost more. Being part of our policy he never got it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Mitch; Wait. Stick to your plan, and wait. He has no right to "hate it" and no say in the matter. Not until he's earning enough to provide just as you provide. You have no requirement to engage in conversation until/unless reason and respect comes first. BTDT, 3 times; waiting and respect worked. When they each got their licence, the kids had the choice to drive a POS '74 Volvo, or not. The argument sounds like it is informed partially by power and partially by being 17 or 18, (if a 19 yr old or older is talking like that, s/he needs to leave the nest for a while, for everyone's good). Wait, and stick to your guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex 9A Guy Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Mitch are you sure about that. When I inquired from my insurance company (RBC) when we had 2 vehicles in the house they said my then 17 year old would have to be insured on the most expensive vehicle on the policy because even though he would not be allowed to drive it he would have access to the keys and could drive it even though it would mean a slow and painful death at my hand. We were given a vehicle by some friends, a 97 Suzuki Sidekick, and he is now insured as primary driver on that and it is much more reasonable as we only have liability on it as frankly it is not worth repairing if it gets banged up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAT3DUAL Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 My problem is tha exact opposite, my son is not interested in learning to drive, just as happy to have mom and dad drive him everywhere. Even tried to bribe him with ownership of our 03 corrolla, still no joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AIP Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 My problem is tha exact opposite, my son is not interested in learning to drive, just as happy to have mom and dad drive him everywhere. Even tried to bribe him with ownership of our 03 corrolla, still no joy. Leave a bus pass on the counter for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon The Loon Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Hey Mitch: I'm not a Dad. So no advice other than do what you and your wife believe is the right thing to do. That's what family is all about. Setting a standard and sticking to it. Sometimes you're the dog; sometimes you're the fire hydrant. You can't get it right all the time. One day, your son will experience what you are going through when the penny will drop for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimer V Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 well mitch kids these days don't understand the word NO my dad said it all the time when i wanted to use the car.usually when he knew we were going out partying. he said if you want a car go out and get a job and get your own,and then you will understand what it takes to own and operate a car if you earn it you will take care of it. he was right at the time i hated him tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canus Chinookus Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 If I were to do it again, you're son should start out on his own policy. Screw the discount for multi vehicle. I am sure the insurance companies make up rules as they go along. If nothing else he will appreciate the cost more. Being part of our policy he never got it. what he said. What better way to appreciate the responsibility of safe driving when it comes out of his own pocket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 WHAT---free car in the garage- just needs to be rebuilt. That should be motivation!!! And he'll learn something. My Dad could do almost anything when it came to cars but never had the patience to teach me--something we both regret now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blues deville Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 When it comes to the lowest insurance rates in the GTA, the vehicle they recommend for males are ten year old 1/2 ton trucks. So if junior is to be insured as either first or occasional driver, your '99 GMC is the ideal machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 It's been suggested to me that a third car could go on a completely different policy, for another insurance company, and that our son wouldn't then have to be a primary driver on it. In fact, one of the guys I work with said his insurance agent suggested that method to him.... I'll ask... I wouldn't want to give any insurance company any way to deny a claim though, so if that couldn't be done all above board, I wouldn't do it. My wife's been doing the inquiring so far, so I'm not sure of all the exact numbers she's been given... I only know she came out of it convinced we had to drop one vehicle. More questions need asking... In any case, as I said above, I was just venting .... the boy just doesn't know how good he's got it. I try not to compare his lot in life to mine at his age (He's 16), since I was out of home at 14... Trouble is, it so happens that he's grown up in an area where there are LOTS of fairly well-to-do families around.... lots of his friends have their own cars (boats, snowmobiles, quadra-thingies, etc...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 When it comes to the lowest insurance rates in the GTA, the vehicle they recommend for males are ten year old 1/2 ton trucks. Unfortunately, this kind of vehicle is also very easy to lose control of if you are a novice driver (not the Suburban which has better weight distribution). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Mitch; the way you described the insurance situation in your first post is the same position my family is in. As soon as you insure the 3rd vehicle, they assume the kid is primary driver on one of them. It sucks, and I had to decided to get rid of my old Civic for this reason. Now only have 2 vehicles, and kids (18 and 16, both boys) are listed as "occasional drivers" on both vehicles. They both have lots of friends from affluent families who have lots of toys... but my kids seem to realize that we are fortunate to have what we do... perhaps because they also have some friends who have much less... anyway, good advice to just suck back and wait.... avoiding saying something in the heat of the moment that you will regret later. All our kids are growing up in a much different world than we grew up in... but you know that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadji Ramjet Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Mitch, I think you're already considering this so maybe it's redundant, but perhaps: Transfer title of the Celica to your son, and since the residual value is virtually nil insure it for liability only. Maybe he could agree to pay the premium as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp fa Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 We also had to park our most elderly vehicle for a time when our son got his drivers licence due to insurance costs - we held on to it though, and gave it to him when it became apparent that he needed a vehicle when he was going to school in the Soo. I think you should stick to your guns when it comes to the Celica - my mommy spidey sense tells me that if he's making that big a deal about having to drive the dependable vehicle instead of the sporty model, he's probably not mature enough to handle it anyway. Don't worry Mitch, they grow out of this phase. But while they're going through it, you have to make some unpopular decisions to make sure they survive it. It'll be worth it in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 Thank you all for your advice. I'll consider all of it. Hadji, I don't know for sure, but I'm told it would be something close to $3,000/yr for minimum coverage for him. We don't want to pay that much. Good to hear from you Jennifer. Thanks. Cheers, Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo32a Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 My problem is tha exact opposite, my son is not interested in learning to drive, just as happy to have mom and dad drive him everywhere. Even tried to bribe him with ownership of our 03 corrolla, still no joy. We had one like that as well. He didn't want to do anything that he didn't know how to do. So I made him take motorcycle training and get his MC license before his regular license. Well he was the youngest kid in the training class so his fear of failure was mitigated somewhat and the fact that he passed the training, testing, licensing on the first go helped as well, especially since a couple of guys who worked for ICBC were in his class and they failed. He then went out and aced his car drivers test and I had no qualms at all about letting him use either of our cars or motorcycles as he became an excellent driver. We got him a car for high school grad for him to use for university and he is still driving it 6 years later. No tickets, no accidents, no problems. I think if you learn how to drive a motorcycle it makes you a much better and more aware car driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I don't know for sure, but I'm told it would be something close to $3,000/yr for minimum coverage for him. That's exactly what we were quoted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blues deville Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Unfortunately, this kind of vehicle is also very easy to lose control of if you are a novice driver (not the Suburban which has better weight distribution). As I am sure you are aware, part of the insurance rate will be based on surviving an accident in whatever vehicle you chose to insure. My old '91 Honda Civic had the lowest survival rating for any car on the road and was just not affordable my for son to operate. My agent recommended the 1/2 ton route. Not glamorous but it is transportation. As much fun are they are to drive, cars like Civic's and Celica's are bad news for young drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 AND beware of the little letters that come after the model name. EX, EX-R, Si, TURBO. and many others. These are indicators to insurance companies that you want to pay extremely high rates for your insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deicer Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Morning Mitch... Just my two cents,,, One must remember, you are a parent FIRST, then you can be a buddy. Most times it isn't the easiest position to be in. HAGD! Iceman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo32a Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Of course you could always move to Saskatchewan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deicer Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Here's the cause of the problem.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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