Why Millennials should buy a car

Buying a car at 18 (state dependent) is a rite of passage. Forget all the other liberties you get at 18, no amount of alcohol or casino gallivanting will liberate you the way that driving your very own car will.

At the age of 18, after ashamedly using my mum's car for about 6 months, I decided it was time I purchased my own. I never realised how much freedom it would bring me.

I spent years looking on carsales.com.au for my first car (not sponsored). I was choosing between the Mazda3, Subaru Impreza and the car of my evidently limited dreams, which I decided on, the Suzuki Swift. I was going for the more affordable ‘I’m a young woman who went to a private school’ look.

After a few car inspections, I finally met the one, Fran. She was a 7-year-old white Swift; no badge. After the meeting I negotiated with the owners; a young couple from Kew with a little boy around the age of three.

When the time finally came, I remember the terror I felt, my hands shaking as I held the bank cheque out towards the couple.

It was one of the first big solo decisions I had ever made, and it felt incredible.

Words cannot explain the tremendous feeling of liberation driving back home alone in my new car! I could drive wherever I wanted, with whomever I wanted at any time I pleased. I felt like a prisoner leaving jail after a long sentence. Yeah yeah, I know that’s dramatic, but it’s for the effect.

Buying my first car at a young age taught me so much.

It wasn’t only making a big and expensive purchase that was a valuable lesson, but simply that it was completely my choice. I was handing over years of savings in exchange for a car I deemed worthy, and the onus was all on me.

It also taught me responsibility. If your car gets dirty, you clean it. If you get into an accident, you fix it. If you run out of fuel…you’re walking home. Not to mention I needed to account for fuel, rego and insurance- all such adultey expenses!

Buying a car felt like my first real step into adulthood. My romantic adventures or career changes weren’t nearly as comparable to how grown up I felt when I would pick my keys up from the coffee table and proclaim “I’m going out for dinner Mum, I’ll be home around 10!”

In between all the hullabaloo about millennials not being interested in cars or all being obsessed with ride-sharing I think we’ve forgotten how much we really love them.

I refuse to believe that cars are an A to B for people. Cars are so much more. We grow from them, make memories in them and they become a part of our life.

So here’s my message to my fellow youths: stop finding excuses and mooching off your friends.

Buying my car was such a vital part of growing up, and it should be yours too. Get up, grow up and go buy yourself your ticket to freedom!

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