Buying car for teen driver

[Anonymous]

I do not want to be pennywise and pound foolish. We have one teen who will start driving next year and will have a 2nd and 3rd teen following along 2 and 4 years later. I want to purchase a car that has the most forward looking safety features with the hope that it will be the car that each of them learns to drive.

We have financial flexibility - but not unlimited. We live in DC so it will be an urban driving car and mostly (initially) for getting to activities independently. Our other cars are a few years old and do not have all the latest safety features - and we think this would be better to get a new car to support them. There are lists like "Top cars for teens" - but looking to DCUM to see what local people have encounter.

Thanks for any recommendations and things to consider.

[Anonymous]

Subaru. All their incredible safety tech comes standard, even on the base model. The insurance rates for Subaru are laughably cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Subaru. All their incredible safety tech comes standard, even on the base model. The insurance rates for Subaru are laughably cheap.

I'll add - I would buy a teen a pre-owned Subaru Crosstrek.

[Anonymous]

My 15 year old will get to choose something from this list when he gets his license:

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/safe-vehicles-for-teens

[Anonymous]

Wait as long as you can. We bought from a friend whose parents didn’t need a second car anymore, because the car market is so crazy right now. Honda Fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait as long as you can. We bought from a friend whose parents didn’t need a second car anymore, because the car market is so crazy right now. Honda Fit.

Thanks - we heard this as well. We are thinking the timing will be the fall - new model year to get the next iteration of safety features - as well as hope for more inventory. We can push out to about a year from now if necessary.

[Anonymous]

The most important safety feature is size/crush space, albeit taking into account the ability of the specific driver in question.

Some of the latest “safety” features sound buzzers and flash lights and/or vibrate the seat to distract the driver at the worst possible time. If you’re counting on a computer to keep track of whether the vehicle is in the lane the driver shouldn’t be driving.

Kids like to “accessorize” “their” cars. So if you’re going to get worked up about stickers and aftermarket sound, etc., you might not want a brand new vehicle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 15 year old will get to choose something from this list when he gets his license:

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/safe-vehicles-for-teens

Oh, yeah! Let’s buy the new teenage driver a Lincoln, or a BMW, or a mom-van!

[Anonymous]

Get a stick shift so they have to pay more attention and not text

[Anonymous]

Mazda 3

[Anonymous]

Given how my teen drives, he is driving with our 11 year old Mazda 5. It's already scratched up from my husband past encounters with the Bethesda TJ's parking adventures. DS needs to learn to turn his head, look in the mirrors, evaluate back-up distances and turning safety. No amount of new safety features are going to help him do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a stick shift so they have to pay more attention and not text

Good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Subaru. All their incredible safety tech comes standard, even on the base model. The insurance rates for Subaru are laughably cheap.

I'll add - I would buy a teen a pre-owned Subaru Crosstrek.

Good choice.

[Anonymous]

My son is 16 and driving our older subaru. He drives about 4-5 miles a day so we aren't worried about him wearing it out or anything.

To those who don't want their teens driving, scroll on past. Some of us can assess risk and put limits on our teens' driving without needing to do a draconian decree.

[Anonymous]

If you must buy a luxury car for your kid, and many DCUMers must, get a Volvo.