My Mom Bought A New 2025 Hyundai Tucson In December, And We Tested It Out Twice, But Now She Hates It

A recent post on Reddit from the r/carbuying forum discusses a common problem adult children of aging parents face when their parents need a new car.

If you've ever had to deal with helping―or at least trying to help―your aging parents with a new car purchase, you can probably identify with the OP's problem.

In this case, however, it is more than just simple buyer's remorse. There are special considerations to take into account not mentioned in car reviews. For example, as the thread progresses, we learn a little more about what is probably going on:

1. The OP's mom owned a beloved Hyundai Tucson for the past 20 years, presumably a shared ownership with her now-deceased husband.
2. The daughter was frustrated by the amount of money her mother was paying in repairs to keep it running, so she encouraged her mother to see that it was time to let her old car go and buy a new one.
3. After some resistance from her mother, a new car purchasing decision was made rather rushed following a couple of test drives. Now, her mother no longer wants the car, and the daughter is seeking advice on how to go about selling the new 2025 Hyundai Tucson.

This is not a simple problem.

Chief of which is a significant financial loss because the car will have depreciated the most within the first year of ownership.

What the Real Problem Is

However, there is more to the problem than money. It is identifying exactly why the OP's mother is unhappy with the car. Even if the OP could walk into the dealership and return the car for an economically acceptable depreciated exchange for another model, would the OP's mother be happy with a different vehicle?

Possibly not.

As some helpful comments point out, there is the attachment factor to understand and consider why her mother is unhappy with the new car.

Sounds like she is attached to the old car. My wife had 2007 Mazda 3 we bought brand new and she was very attached to it and we had it for 17 years but it started having issues but thankfully she was open to getting a new car but it was still her call when we went shopping, ended up with CX30 and she loves it…not as much as her old car but still loves it ―woodworkingguy1

If she drove her other car for 20 years, it's going to take a while. I had driven Blazers for 30 years, my last one for 17 years, and when the time came I opted to switch to someone smaller and more fuel efficient (Subaru Crosstrek). I'm not kidding when I say I disliked it for probably a year. I didn't like how low I was, I couldn't get the seat just right, I got uncomfortable on long rides, I didn't like how it handled in the snow, etc. I gradually got used to it, and sorted out or fixed most of the issues I had with it. (I still don't really like the way it handles in the snow - but that doesn't mean it's not good in the snow, lol). After 4 years, my partner's vehicle needed to go; and the easiest answer was to let her take my Crosstrek, and I would get another car. I went out and bought myself.......a Crosstrek Sport―Agitated-Sock3168

In other words, there are some truisms many of us have experienced with aging parents. Two of the most common are:

1. Older parents hate change.
2. Older parents worry excessively over things their children see as minor, but to the parent, it can be debilitating.

Been there and experienced that.

It's Not About the Car, But What the Car Means to The Owner

Clearly, some car owners become attached to their vehicles―especially when they have owned it for more years than they should have. For some parents, cars, like homes and family pets, are emotional anchors filled with memories of family life with their children. Letting a car filled with memories go is understandably difficult and not always apparent to others.

However, even in cases where family ties are not the case, an enlightening article by Susan Moeller published in AARP discusses the emotional journey of buying "that" last car.

When I complimented a 70ish friend on her new black sedan, she replied, "It's fine, but it's not what I imagined for my last car."

Her comment made me dream of all the vehicles I'll never own, like that classic green Porsche or a yellow vintage Jeepster.

Then, ouch. I realized my "last" car is only a trade-in away, and that my car is now the most tangible measure of my life span.

There are other last things, of course. I'm pretty sure I already own my last vacuum cleaner, my last dog and my last pair of skinny jeans. But it's the car — such a visceral symbol of independence — that so clearly proclaims the finite nature of time.

In other words, for older drivers, sometimes your car is a mile marker of your mortality.

What to Make of This

The point is that while buying a new car for yourself is similar to what you should do when helping your aging parent buy a new car, i.e., reading reviews, finding a reasonably good deal, making sure that any physical limitations are met with assisted driving features, etc., you have to consider that buying a new car may mean something more to them than the obvious.

Or "the crazy" we sometimes get from our parents like one car dealer pointed out in to the OP about dealing with older car shoppers:

Good example is I had a customer who insisted on having a CD player in his car. Well Dodge hadn't put a CD player in a car in 3 years at this point. And it wasn't even an option. So what I did was find a car with all of the features he wanted, and then talk to an aftermarket shop about pricing options of a CD player install. I presented this information to him and the pros and cons of this, then showed him the new stereo systems and how he could get ALL of his music digitally and listen to it without shuffling through CDs.

In other words, sometimes it takes a little more effort and some gentle persuasion to get a parent into a new car that makes everyone happy and avoids a family situation.

We Would Like to Hear From You: What was your experience with helping your parents buy a new car? Do you have any memorable experiences or advice to share?

Let us know about it in the comments section below.

Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati who currently researches and works on restoring older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. He also reports on modern cars (including EVs) with a focus on DIY mechanics, buying and using tools, and other related topical automotive repair news. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites as well as on Facebook and his automotive blog "Zen and the Art of DIY Car Repair" for useful daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.

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