A LESSON IN CAR OWNERSHIP

A LESSON IN CAR OWNERSHIP

by

Christine Phillips

November 29, 2011

Who knew car ownership could be so expensive? My eighteen-year-old son, Daniel, is finding out the hard way. Since he needed a car for his job as a busboy at Kabuki, and I have been “between jobs” for a while, I let him use my 1999 Hundai Accent which I bought used in 2001. It’s a pretty good little car despite its age and the 176,075 miles on the odometer (I think it’s flipped over once already).

I made sure Daniel understood that until I found work he would be responsible for paying car insurance, buying gas, and maintaining the car. He uses the car more than I do, so it seemed like a fair arrangement. I figured it would be a good learning experience for him and would prepare him for when he had a car of his own. He seemed to be okay with it. The poor kid had no idea what he was getting into. Neither did I, for that matter.

This is a young man who knows the value of a dollar and considers each purchase carefully before plunking down his hard-earned cash. Since getting a job, he’s bought himself some practical clothing and work boots. He enjoys adding to his collections of knives, playing cards, and video games, and he eats out occasionally. His most frivolous purchases have been a 32-inch flat screen TV and a PlayStation for his bedroom. Other than that, he saves more than he spends. That’s easy to do when you work part-time, go to college part-time, and live at home rent-free.

Daniel had no idea what it costs to keep a car on the road, so this experience has been a rude awakening for him. He never spends more than fifteen dollars on gas at a time. He grumbles every time he has to pay for something like a quart of oil.

I thought my Hyundai was in pretty good shape until Daniel and I went to get it inspected this month. As it turned out, my little old flivver needed four new tires and new rear brakes in order to pass inspection. I was horrified! I had no idea the tires were bald and the brakes were that bad. What kind of mother am I to let my son drive around in a car that unsafe? Daniel seemed to be more concerned about the cost of the repairs than about his own safety.  I guess that’s typical for a teenager who just graduated from high school this past June and hasn’t experienced much of life yet.

I haven’t had to put much into car maintenance over the years, but now that it’s being used a lot more, it appears to be wearing out faster. Come to find out, my Hyundai uses fourteen-inch tires which are harder to find, and therefore more expensive. The more modern cars of today use tires which are fifteen inches and up. They’re easier to find and therefore less expensive.

The total cost for all the work done on my car this month including the oil change, new tires, tire installation, tire disposal, wheel balancing and alignment, rear drum brake service, brake hardware kit, labor, taxes and fees, was $602.26. I won’t repeat what Daniel exclaimed when he saw the bill. Suffice it to say his choice of words was very colorful. We are still reeling from the blow. I don’t think his wallet will ever recover.

It is unfortunate that high school driver’s education didn’t prepare Daniel for this experience. It taught him how to drive and read road signs. It didn’t teach him how much it can cost to maintain a car, have repairs done, buy new tires, or have the oil changed. It didn’t teach him how to change a tire, change the oil, or do repairs himself. Maybe those things are covered in an auto mechanics class, which his high school didn’t offer. His father and I are divorced, so he isn’t around to teach Daniel these things. Repair shops are always looking for ways to take advantage of people who are uneducated in this aspect of car ownership, namely first-time car owners, young people, and females.

Future expenses for my Hyundai include a replacing a leaky valve cover and a new left CV axle boot. Hopefully I’ll have a job by then and be able to pay for those repairs myself. Sometimes I wonder if I’d be better off buying a new car. Did I say this was a lesson in car ownership for my son? It’s been one for me, too.