AITA for telling my 17yo he has to pay off his truck repair before driving it again

So my son Tyler (17M) has been driving my old Ranger since january, its technically mine still, i just let him use it to get to his job at the hardware store. 3 weeks ago he comes home saying a shopping cart hit it in a parking lot. Whole front bumper cracked and the headlight housing busted. I believed him, ate the $640 repair myself cause thats what dads do. Turns out last night his buddy Marcus let it slip at dinner (my ex has them every other week) that Tyler actually clipped a light pole doing a burnout for a video. My ex (44F) texted me laughing about it like it was nothing. I was pissed, called Tyler out, he finally admitted it. I told him he's not driving the truck again til he pays me back the $640 from his hardware store paycheck, which is gonna take him like 3 months of every check. His mom thinks im overreacting and says he needs the truck for work and its "just a bumper." Tyler says im ruining his summer and wont talk to me. Group chat with my sister got involved too, she says i shoulda just grounded him from the truck for a month instead of making it about money he doesnt have. Back in my day you paid for what you broke, simple as that. Now im the bad guy apparently.

#aita#family

asked by @gmetz_fixit · Aug 20, 2026 · 276 votes · 9 comments