Getting your first car is one of the biggest milestones in any young person’s life.

Whether its a hand me down jilapi that your parents get your sophomore year, or a car you saved up for years for and finally were able to purchase on your own, it’s an exciting moment nonetheless!

But for teenagers getting their first car, their expectations can be somewhat unrealistic on what type of model their parents will be able/willing to get for them!

For example, my brother famously wanted my parents to get him a TESLA when he got his learner’s permit. Needless to say that was not in the cards.

But when this user agreed to help his sister out by paying the first 5k of her car payments so she could have a car in college, she completely betrayed his trust and she got an expensive Jeep!

He went to the internet to see if he would be wrong for backing out of his deal after his family spent FAR more than he was willing to give.

Would he be wrong to stand his ground, or should he cut his losses and help pay for the Jeep? See for yourself!

WIBTA if I back out of helping my sister pay for a car because she went and got a 65k jeep instead of what we originally agreed on.

My sister (18 f) is starting college this fall. She doesn’t have a car but will need one because she’ll be commuting to school while living at home.

At the beginning of the year, I (27 m) told her that I’d help her pay for a car as a graduation gift, and I’d pay for the first 5k of her monthly payments.

She has an almost full-ride scholarship and is living at home, so this will probably be her only recurring bill outside of school fees and supplies.

I did this so that when she started working, she could build as much of a savings net as possible if something came up.

But OP soon found out he and his sister had very different models in mind for her first car!

My parents, my sister, and I originally agreed on a max of 25k-30k. This car isn’t meant to last her a decade. She’s never owned a car before; this is her “baby’s first car.”

It’s supposed to be an affordable used car for a college kid to get around in. It should last her for college, and then she can figure out what to do from there.

Well, I was lied to because she and my parents went out and bought a brand-new Jeep yesterday. I’m livid my parents co-signed for her to get this.

Not only did they buy a 65k brand-new car, but they financed(!) a 10k down payment at an even higher APR for some reason!

Despite their extravagant spending, his parents definitely did not have the money to help OP’s sister pay for her Jeep!

For some insight, my parents cannot afford this car themselves, and they can’t even afford the new payments on the loan they got for the 10k.

There’s a reason I’m the one helping out with the payments on this, not them. My sister does not even have a job yet, which was supposed to be step 1 before we even got her the car.

I’m livid. The 5k I had set aside for her won’t even last the summer if we put it towards the car and loan payments.

The whole reason I did this is now basically moot because she’ll have to cover the payments while she’s in school.

And OP said that even if he agree to pay the first 5k, the car probably wouldn’t last her the year!

My parents have good credit somehow but ave 0 cash at the end of each month, so I’m pretty sure once my 5k runs dry, the car will be repoed for nonpayment in the next year or so.

What boils my blood even more is they know I’m livid but don’t care.

Mom went on a whole hour about how sisters “eyes lit up at the sight of the car” and “you would not have said no either if you were there.”

We had talked about this for months. My sister and parents both know 100% that she will not be able to afford this car, but they don’t care now.

So with his trust betrayed, OP was seriously considering backing out of his promise to help her pay!

I’m considering backing out. I’ll tell them to return the car, and we return to the original plan, or else I’ll just invest the 5k in a 5-year bond for my sister.

I want some opinions on this plan. I also just got confirmation that the deal was finalized yesterday.

There’s no returning the jeep, I was mistake about how used vs new cars are treated with cool down period laws. She and my parents are screwed.

Sounds like OP’s family seriously took advantage of his kindness, thinking he would feel too bad to go back on the money he agreed to pay. You know what they say, no good deed goes unpunished!

Reddit was 100% on OP’s side, saying that his parents were sadly setting up his sister for a life of money mismanagement.

This user thought OP should have a serious talk with his sister about their parents’ spending habits.

And many agreed that OP’s family definitely expected to help with the debt his sister would inevitably rack up.

And finally, this commenter suggested OP just pay the 5k and wash his hands of the whole thing, but said it was completely understandable that he didn’t want to waste that much money.

This is why we can’t have nice things!

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.