All of your options are possible. If you want to be "nice" about it, you could tell your son that this fender-bender is on you but all future accidents will be his to pay for. (I'm assuming here that he has a way to earn money or has money of his own somehow. If he doesn't, then you're paying!) Alternatively, you can be "nice" and tell him you'll treat him to half of this mistake. Of course, this is just a little less nice than option A. Finally, you can tell him that the privilege of driving your car comes with responsibility - but this is a message that needs to be delivered BEFORE you give him permission to drive your vehicle. If you didn't let him know that, you really shouldn't make him pay the total cost right now - just tell him that in the future, the cost will be his to bear. I'm sure that your son is pretty upset about this accident. He doesn't really need the added consequence of having to pay in order to learn that he has to be much more careful. No new driver feels O.K. about denting a car! Your compassion can actually help him regret the error even more and be even more careful to never let it happen again. Personally, I recommend the most compassionate approach if you can afford it financially.   Sarah Chana