Here's my situation: I have a 16-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a 12-year-old. The 16-year-old is the only current driver but he's a senior this year and will be leaving for school in about 14 months. At that point, the 14-year-old will be close to getting his license. My wife wants her Lexus back, so I'm thinking about a 2022 Kia Soul LX for the kids. Normally, I would only consider a low-mileage used car but honestly, there isn't much difference in price in this market. I made the 16-year-old save $5K for a downpayment but he's only going to use it for a little over a year and then the middle kid will use it so I'm thinking:
1. Tell him to keep his money - good job working and learning how to save for something - he's currently working two jobs this summer - great!
2. You can get one for about $22k - put $10K down and finance $10K for 4 years @ 2.75%. I could pay for in cash but have some large house renovations coming up and want to keep a little more liquidity than normal with all that's going on in the world.
3. My wife and I cover repayment, insurance, and maintenance (it's still our car) but anyone who wants to drive it regularly pays for their own gas and a flat $200.00 per month fee (or some number - haven't really thought about this number) to help offset expenses. This way the oldest only pays the $200 per month until he goes to school and then the middle kid will have to get a job and pay the $200 when he's ready to drive and so on.
I want anyone driving the vehicle to have some "skin in the game" but I want to be fair and I think a "pay as you drive fee" seems fair. Does that seem fair to everyone?