Teen Thought She Was Getting A Christmas Gift, But Ended Up Owing $8,000 Instead

The OP explained that when she turned 15, her parents surprised her with a $35,000 car. They called it a birthday gift and said they wanted her to have something nice.

At the time, she was being homeschooled and then the pandemic hit, so she didn’t drive much. Even so, it still felt like a big, meaningful present.

A couple of years later, the family moved states. Her parents sold the car and got about $24,000 back. OP was disappointed, but they reminded her that they had paid for it, so it was technically theirs to sell.

Now OP is 19 and a full-time college student. Her mom started pushing her to get a full-time job and become more independent. As part of that, her parents told her she needed to buy her own car. They said they would contribute the $24,000 from the previous sale toward it.

OP picked out a car that cost $28,000. That meant she would owe her parents about $4,000. She felt okay about that.

Instead, her dad bought a different car that cost $32,000. It wasn’t the one OP chose. He told her she would still only need to pay the $4,000 she had originally expected to owe.

But now, her mom says OP should actually pay the full $8,000 difference between the $24,000 contribution and the $32,000 car. In other words, OP owes her parents $8,000 for a car she didn’t choose. And her mom insists this counts as her Christmas gift.

Aside from a small accessory for the car, that was it for Christmas.

OP doesn’t feel like she received a present.

She feels like she was handed a debt.

Scroll through the screenshots below to see how this disagreement turned into a bigger family argument.

Let’s dig into the details

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We gathered some interesting comments from the Reddit community

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“NTA Even though your father has been very generous your mother should not ask the extra 4000 from you.”

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“Step one to gift-giving is you never give someone a gift that they are also obligated to pay into.”

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“If someone gets you a gift. The ownership is yours. Not theirs. So they stole the car from you.”

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“Since the car isn't titled in your name, you didn't get a car for Christmas at all. You are being asked to pay to use their car.”

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“NTA but do not pay those 8k. That's their debt, not yours unless you sign something.”

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“Yeah, NTA 100%. If it was a present, then it’s yours to do with as YOU please.”

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From the outside, this probably looks like a privileged problem. A lot of people would love help buying a car at 19.

But this isn’t really about the car. It’s about shifting expectations and mixed messages.

One parent said one thing. The other expects something else. And now she’s stuck feeling guilty for not being excited about the debt she didn’t agree to.

So what do you think? Is she being ungrateful, or does this “gift” feel a little complicated to you too?