hello! i was thinking of getting a third car (lease) for my son in high school. what are the risks of leasing a car and letting my son drive it? in terms of insurance, i am expecting it to be high, but what if i just add my son as an additional driver and make myself the primary driver?
thanks!
Your insurance issue will be the same regardless of whether you lease him a car or finance it.
There really aren’t any “risks” I can think of that would be unique to leasing, other than the fact that in 2 or 3 years he’ll need another car.
Some brands do not automatically include GAP insurance in the lease so just double check before you finalize any deal.
Is it possible to stick me onto two cars in the household as the primary driver?
Yup! You can be the primary owner of 10 if you want.
Biggest risk is going to be the damage/wear/tear a teenager puts on a leased car that you will have to pay for at lease end. Buy an older reliable car with some miles on it which will be much lower cost on insurance too.
I leased a car for two years for my son to drive to high school so I don’t have to worry about the Carfax. Insurance will go through the roof regardless as you’ll need to add them to your policy and they won’t care if he’s a primary driver or not
I played with having him be primary driver of the car and also not for any car and the rates are the same. In the former case they jack up the rates for his one car. In the latter case they spread it across all of my vehicles.
He probably won’t have a car freshman year of college and then we’ll figure it out.
This doesn’t change anything. Your insurance goes up anyway. Lease is the way to go, IMO. You fix the car, if anything happens, and return it.
Btw, I was told by my insurance agent that Subaru had lowest rates to insure a teen.
I have two teens driving on leases. The biggest risk as I see it is - if someone gets a ticket or has accident the insurance rates will spike dramatically. If I am locked into leases I cannot get out of them easily and switch their vehicles to cheap used cars paid for in cash to carry liability only coverage to offset some of the insurance cost increase. I would have to transfer the lease or wait until maturity if no 3rd party buyout is allowed and leases are not underwater.
If your teen has an accident or gets a ticket, your insurance premiums will increase no matter if they are driving a leased car or a “cheap used car paid for in cash.” I’m not a financial wizard or in the insurance industry, but I don’t think it is a good idea to have teenagers driving around on your insurance policy with only liability insurance.
Haven’t see anyone mention that you’ll be financially responsible or “helping” for a long, long time.
Each time the lease expires it’s natural to expect it to be replaced by another, starting at age:
16
19
22
25
28
…
One of the common ways to mitigate a high insurance bill due to tickets or accidents is to buy a cheap car for cash and not cover it for collision or comp to lower premiums. Currently we are ticket and accident free knock on wood. Our rates reflect that for the moment.
My teen drove an i4 (because I got a great deal) and then an iX (because I got a great deal). One other consideration is they get used to having a new, shiny car (no matter what you end up leasing) vs having to work their way up from a junker.
We didn’t opt for the older junker because we wanted every safety feature available. If you’re going to get the teen a newer car anyway, leasing is a good option because you don’t have to worry about diminished value if they get in an accident (or 2 or 3).
Not surprisingly, this is completely ridiculous as far as the suggested “helping” timeframe in addition to the fact that somehow assisting your kids financially is suggested to be a bad move.
I’m in a similar boat. Thought about leasing this summer for a new driver. Even thought about a BEV since we have a charger at home and range anxiety is not a thing for a new driver who will stay very local. She will never need gas or an oil change either.
I worry about:
Fixing dents and dings over the allowable return policy. (which could add up)
The perception to siblings of helping to buy a new car at 16.5. (sets a precent with other kids)
New car needed again at 19.5 and 22.5
While she will help to pay - she wont be able to cover 100% of lease and insurance
Or do I get a 2-3 yr old car? Minor scratches are a non issue. Can be paid off in 5 years (or less) - which is college time. Has all modern safety features and will be reliable.
I will add a $89 mo lease blowout, I will lease vs a $350 finance payment. But for a $300 mo lease vs $350 finance, I will probably finance.
I see much of “get something older and reliable”. I’d add you want something that is passing with flying colors the latest, more stringent, IIHS side and moderate overlap tests.
I’d also consider the fatality studies, which tend to normalize the dangers of the road and consistently show “luxury” SUVs as the safest cars one can put their precious cargo in. That’s how we ended up with a used 2020 RDX for my daughter as her first car. Couldn’t care less about the optics.
Most teens go to colleges, you know. And most don’t need cars there.
@Oreo12 Also, for 4 years they will be on your insurance as " Student away to school", which gives them uninterrupted driving history
You can always add “excessive wear & tear” on a lease.
This should be an ongoing thread as it comes up fairly often in different iterations.
My thoughts are the same pretty much at this point as well:
I have two teenagers. One is driving already. I hacked her a Ram 1500, about $325/mo with 1st month DAS. My youngest just got a permit and will be licensed in 4ish months. We’re test driving a few things now and whatever it ends up will be a lease as well. The options we’re looking at are also in the $300/mo (with nothing DAS other than 1st) range.
The only risk you run is that it’s kids and they’ll probably do some damage. I got the oldest car seats covers because I knew there’ll be all sorts of coffee stains on the seats. Cost of the car seat covers < cost of detailing or lease charges upon return. Plus I suppose there’s the spoiling your kids with a new car risk? For me that ship sailed long ago, they’ve been spoiled long before they were old enough to drive. 
Given the cost of car maintenance/repair, I doubt I’m paying significantly more over the course of a 3 year lease than I’d pay for a used car for them. Even the most reliable used car at 3, 4, 5 years old starts to need “stuff”. That stuff costs a fortune for even the basics. I’m generally done driving used cars (aside from classics or sports cars which are an entirely different set of headaches 
). For regular, daily driver cars, I’m never not leasing again, including for my kids. I don’t want the headaches of dealing with car issues.
And one of the biggest factors is safety. I want all the auto brake and collision avoidance and all that. Even compared to a 7 year old car, today’s tech has advanced significantly. I’ll happily pay a couple of bucks for my kids to have that added protection.
I was thinking lease at the end of the day, in case there are any issues with the vehicle so everything is covered. Subaru’s MPG are good these days and safety ratings are high