Dad Slammed for Refusing to Split Daughter's Car Costs With Ex: 'Hypocrite'

Internet commenters were eager to call out one father who refuses to split the cost of his biological daughter's first car, despite paying in full for his 20-year-old stepdaughter's.

In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/Cardaughteraita (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said his 17-year-old daughter recently obtained her driver's license but explained how tension with his ex-wife put a damper on their teenager's milestone achievement.

Titled, "[Am I the a**hole] for refusing to split the costs with my ex-wife for my daughter's car when I paid fully for my stepdaughter's car?" the post has received more than 4,500 upvotes and 2,900 comments in the last day.

"My ex-wife has majority custody of my daughter Corrine," OP began. "My stepdaughter Mackenzie lives full-time at me and my wife's new house."

Continuing to explain that his ex-wife makes significantly more money than he does, the original poster said that before Corrine secured her license, she was given a car for when she was road legal.

The original poster also said that he was initially faced with paying for half of that car, until he came up with a concoction of reasons he should be let completely off the hook.

"My ex-wife wanted me to split the costs of the car with her [and] I told her no because it was absolutely ridiculous that she would expect me to pay 50 [percent] for a car that would come to my house less than a quarter of the time," OP wrote. "[Now] my ex-wife is being childish...saying that if I want Corrine to be able to bring her car here then I need to split the gas and insurance.

"I am willing to split the costs of gas, but I should not have to split insurance," OP continued. "A family friend...is calling me a hypocrite because I completely bought Mackenzie's car and pay for the insurance and gas.

"[She] says...Corrine will feel 'replaced' if I refuse to split costs with my ex-wife while fully paying for Mackenzie," OP added.

A decade ago, more than 50 percent of parents in the United States said that when they were teenagers, they purchased their own first vehicle without financial assistance, according to AutoTrader.

But 41 percent of those same parents said that when their own children reached driving age, they purchased vehicles for them, marking a major change from generation to generation.

With more parents buying vehicles for their children, and a volatile automotive market which has seen both new and used prices skyrocket to unforeseen heights, the question must be asked: how much should parents spend on that coveted first car?

The Car Connection, a trusted online resource for auto information, recommends a cap of $10,000.

Get Jerry, a separate resource for comparing car insurance rates, also suggests that parents aim to spend between $5,000 and $10,000 on a teenager's first vehicle.

But even when the car has been purchased and keys are in hand, the spending is far from over.

Although some states don't require drivers to purchase car insurance, teenagers living in states that do are often faced with higher coverage rates than even slightly-older counterparts.

Last year, NerdWallet reported that while a 19-year-old driver can expect to pay between $1,451 and $3,716 annually for car insurance, a 16-year-old driver can expect to pay between $2,733 and $6,613 annually for the same level of coverage.

Add in current gas prices, which still sit nearly $0.60 higher than this time last year, and it becomes obvious why some parents are hesitant to cover all expenses for their driving teenagers.

However, there is a major difference between hesitating to fork over thousands of dollars because of the cost, and hesitating because a child's other parent can supposedly handle the entire financial load themselves and the car will be parked in that parent's driveway 75 percent of the time.

Throughout the comment section of the viral Reddit post, Redditors echoed this sentiment and slammed the original poster for refusing to split his daughter's driving costs with his ex-wife.

"[You're the a**hole]," Redditor u/Harry7411 wrote in the post's top comment, which has received nearly 21,000 upvotes. "The argument that you shouldn't have to pay because the car is only at your house ¼ of the time is the stupidest argument."

"It will be in your daughter's possession 100 [percent] of the time and you are responsible for 50 [percent] of her care," they continued. "Regardless of what her mother earns in proportion to your income."

Redditor u/Chargednotconvicted, whose comment has received more than 6,000 upvotes, offered a more pointed response.

"So you don't want to pay for a car that rarely comes to your house?" they questioned. "How about paying for a car for your child that you brought into the world.

"You treat your stepdaughter better than your own kid," they added. "No wonder your ex divorced you."

"Clearly she only counts as his child while she's physically in his possession," Redditor u/scheru sarcastically chimed in. "He's legally not required to care about or be responsible for her when she's out of his field of vision."

Newsweek reached out to u/Cardaughteraita for comment.