Parents funding youngsters’ first cars

Published on 28/08/2012 00:53

MANY young motorists now rely on their parents to fork out for their first car, according to a survey.

In the 1960s, around 80 per cent of first-time car owners funded their purchase themselves, according to the poll by insurance company Aviva.

But now around a third of first cars are paid for by someone else, most likely by mothers and fathers, or other family members. The recent reliance on the bank of mum and dad comes despite the fact that the average age of a first-car owner is now 25 compared with only 21 in the 1960s.

But today’s drivers are much more likely (26 per cent) to have a new car as their first motor than in the 1960s (8 per cent), when nearly everyone began with second-hand models. The poll also showed the most popular first car of the last 50 years was the Ford Escort.