??? wrote:
Sounds great, but they have your balls in a vice for the REST OF YOUR
LIFE! Can you hear it now?
wife: "Lets go on vacation with my mom and dad"
you: "I don't think thats a good idea"
wife: "its the least we can do, they DID buy you a new truck!"

No thanks, I like to buy my own vehicles and keep my balls in tact.

This all depends on the attitude of the giver. And the receiver. (Since we
know how the receiver feels about it g I'll just talk about the giver
side.)

I know of *large* gifts (like new cars) that came with *absolutely* *no*
strings attached. On the flip side, I know of small gifts that were
positively dripping with obligation. The size of the gift really doesn't
matter.

Look at the situation from the parents-in-law point of view. Suppose their
daughter and her husband are important to them. Suppose they don't want to
go to a funeral because these important people were driving a worn-out POS.
Suppose they're well enough off that writing the check doesn't affect their
retirement. On the cynical side, suppose they are reducing the inheritance
taxes by gifting away money now while they're alive. Why not write the
check if everyone's cool about it?

When I was in high school I was going to the state basketball tourney about
350 miles away. My wheels (owned by dad) were on a marginal Pinto. When I
got home there was a new bottom-of-the-line Mercury Comet in the drive. He
didn't want me driving a marginal car 700+ miles, and he had the $ to make
the change.

To me this is a similar situation. Major gloat IMO. ;-)

-- Mark