Hi Dr. Laura, 

When I was a teen 1980's, I paid for my first car $1300 and had to pay for my own insurance and gas. I was 17 years old and had summer jobs since I was 15. I also worked 3 hours after school in an office as a clerk to pay for gas and have my own spending money. We have required our 16-year-old to help pay for a car. She worked as a life guard last summer and paid us $1,000 towards a $5,000 car. She's not working during school, but will work in the summer again. Most likely we will pay for her insurance and gas. I will require her to pay for some of it based on her earnings. Now a days I think parents pay too much because there are fewer teenage jobs available - some adults have taken those jobs. I also think parents give in and pay for more because that's what everyone else is doing. I wish we could return to a time where we required our teens to pay for more. We are working on it in our household.
 
Keep up the good work, Dr. Laura! You are my companion at home when I'm cleaning and making dinner. 

Irma