Interesting thread.
DW drove one of her parents old cars during high school and college. But bought her own as soon as she graduated and had a job. I bought my own used car when I turned 16 and never had any hand-me-downs.
We have 2 kids. When DS first started driving in high school, we bought him a used SUV. It had 85K miles and we paid a little over $5K. The car was titled in our name and we paid insurance, but he paid for all gas and maintenance from working part time.
He went off to college and lived on campus with no car for the first 2 years. The SUV went to DD who had started driving in high school around the same time. Same arrangement, we paid insurance, but she worked PT for gas money and any maintenance. She also went off to college and had no car while living on campus.
By that time DS had moved off campus and needed a car. We didn't want him driving long distances in the old SUV. So we bought him a new car but with lots of conditions attached, like maintaining a certain GPA and graduating on time with a job. The new car was also registered in our name, and again, we paid insurance, while he paid for gas and maintenance. He graduated 5 years ago, but still drives the same car. It's still in our name and under our insurance, but he reimburses us for the insurance cost. Much cheaper for him that way.
DD continued driving the old SUV for a while after she moved off campus. We eventually sold it and bought her a new car on same conditions... good GPA and graduate on time with a job. She graduated 3 years ago, still drives the new car, and same insurance arrangement as DS.
Eventually, we will transfer the titles to them and kick them off the insurance. But for now, this is much cheaper for them and both cars are still in great shape.
So basically, each kid got a new car as an incentive for doing well in college and graduating on time with a job. And they shared an old SUV during high school. We also paid their tuition throughout college, and housing as long as they were on campus. Otherwise, they paid all their living expenses from PT jobs. I think this was a good balance that taught them financial responsibility, while also allowing them to get in and out of college quickly and off to a great start after graduation.