GL, do you pay for your kids vehicles? Ever since I was 16, I had to buy ALL of my own stuff, pay insurance etc. I always take care of my stuff, because if I dont then I am the one that has to pay for it.
He pays for his own stuff - and usually does, but like all kids, he defaults to dear old dad from time to time. In addition to that, I support my kids in some regards - in that I usually supply funds for them to do certain things to their vehicles (I have two sons) so that they can learn the trade, and participate in it with us a a family. What that means is that my stock of parts and tools usually gets used pretty hard... and rarely ever comes back in my direction.
I mentioned the Blazer - That stated out as a Chevy Malibu that was my kid's first car. It had a sucky 265 V-8 in it that would not pass emissions testing, so he bought another car (Accura). I gained possession of the Malibu becasue I had granted my kid the loan for it and it wasn't paid for. I then decided to build it for myself as a nice street project. I found and rebuilt a 350 that I had about $500 into. By then the Accura was gone and traded for the Blazer - and he blew up the motor. Becasue the alternative was for him to have wheels to go to work, or drive my truck, I stuck the 350 in the Blazer. He then sold it to a friend, and bought the Cherokee. Now we have had to reposess the Blazer (I've since sold the Malibu becasue I had no motor...) and it's back home, worse for the wear it got from the "friend" that never paid for it, but used it hard. Net loss to me - About $1000.
My kiddo has ADD and has troubles processing certain types of information - like deadlines, payment schedules, etc. One day is just the same as another to him - it gets really frustrating becasue he has every intention of taking care of business, but 1 day - 1 week - 1 year - 10 years- it is all the same, so when he will actually take care of business is sort of a vague concept to him.
As I said before, he is a great kid - not in any trouble - doesn't drink or smoke - works 6 days a week now as a regular mechanic for Meineke and is doing wonderfully, but he just has this thing for his own vehicles (and those he uses) that won't go away until it costs him something radical. You would think by now that the lessons would start to sink in, but I think it is a factor of the ADD that won't allow him to figure things out easily like other people do. We are having him in for testing soon to see if there is medical help for his condition. Others have shown great promise after getting the right help - and we are just in the process of learning about ADD and his type of adult onset ADD. The worst part is that everything he does gets worse when he is under pressure - which is a factor of the ADD, so I have to dance around the issues a LOT in order to get any resolution.
It just ends up being frustrating to me as the dad - becasue I am on a rather low income myself as a full time student, and I can't support both of us in the realm of vehicles.
