Originally Posted by
chefisaac
My parents used to make us pay for gas, car payment, insurance and maintenance. Mom and dad sat down with us when we were 16 and said "you could pay for these and have no money or we will buy you a bike and you will not have to pay for these things and have money to spend".
No brainer for me. My brother was another story.
That's a great idea. For a minute I was thinking about sharing this idea with a friend of mine that has a teenage son that's learning to drive...but then I remembered that his son has had at least 4 bikes stolen in less than a year....so it may not be a very cost-effective solution for him. He keeps getting his son $40-$50 junkers on craigslist...but people keep stealing them, although they're locked up.