Relationships between spouses after divorce often lead to various not-so-lovely stories, which sometimes turn out to be even less lovely if children were involved. This applies, for example, to the relationship between fathers and stepfathers.
And when almost adult children become parties to a protracted conflict, it can be very difficult to understand who is right and who is not. For example, as it was in the situation that ensued with this Redditor, whose recent post received more than 11K upvotes and almost 2K various comments.
More info: Reddit
Image source: David Villarreal Fernández (not the actual photo)
The original poster shared custody of his 16 Y.O. son Andy with his ex-wife Eliza
So, the original poster shares custody of his 16-year-old son Andy with his ex-wife Eliza. In the new family, Eliza has many children - three with her new husband Scott, and three more from Scott's former marriage.
At the same time, the OP lives alone, makes good money working in a family company, while Eliza and Scott do not earn a lot. Moreover, the OP has repeatedly wondered how they manage to feed such a large family.
Image source: dontdrivethecar
The father helped Andy to get a driver license and then bought him a new car
The OP and Eliza ended up in court over whether Andy should attend private school. The father won the case, but in addition to paying for classes, he was also instructed to provide transportation to school and back. As a result, OP helped Andy to get a driver license and then bought him a car - a 2021 Mazda SUV. According to his own words, he is aware that teenagers do not need new cars, but he chose this one for safety reasons, mainly.
Eliza and Scott called OP a "pretentious p***k", but the car was bought with his money and is in his name until Andy turns 18. Moreover, the mother and stepfather did not pay a dime for the car as the father pays for the upkeep of the car and insurance, while the son pays for gas.
Image source: dontdrivethecar
Andy told his dad he was being punished and his step-dad took the car to drive to his work
And so, one fine day during spring break, Andy called his father and asked him to bring the model paints he had left at his house. The OP was surprised that the son himself wouldn't come to pick it up, so Andy replied that he was being punished and had to stay at home.
The OP went to his ex-wife's house and was surprised to notice that his son's car was not there. It turned out that Scott took the car and drove to his work. The OP insisted that only Andy should drive the car. Eliza told him that their own car had just broken down and they would no longer take this Mazda.
Image source: dontdrivethecar
The next day the OP found out that Scott had taken the car once more
The next day, father deliberately drove past Eliza's house and saw the car was gone again. He called Andy and found out that his stepfather had taken the car once more. Then the OP called Eliza and said that if her husband did not bring the car back immediately, he would call the police and report the theft.
Image source: dontdrivethecar
Even Andy said his father had gone too far
Eliza threw a tantrum, but Scott immediately rushed in - although he blamed the OP for missing work and losing money because of him. Finally, the OP told them that if he ever discovered that Scott took the Mazda again, he would immediately call the cops without any warning. This time even Andy said his father had gone too far - but he felt within his rights.
Image source: artistmac (not the actual photo)
People in the comments basically supported the OP
At the same time, the commenters basically supported the OP, arguing that since he bought a car for his son, then only Andy has the right to drive it, and if the son was being punished (by the way, as the OP noted, he was punished for refusing to do his chores, and not as his stepfather wanted to drive a new car), they should have let the car sit there and wait for its owner.
Some people thought that Eliza and her husband simply decided to take advantage of the situation
According to some people in the comments, Eliza and her husband simply decided to take advantage of the situation, and they were just being rude and disrespectful. The most important thing is actually that Andy feels good. By the way, the OP admitted that his son loves both his mom and dad, and he does not feel any discomfort about them living separately.
The situation, however, still looks rather ambiguous, so we will be grateful for your opinions and comments. Perhaps some of you have found yourselves in a similar situation, so please write in any case, it would be really interesting.