Best car for 16yo

[Anonymous]

A) What is the best* make/model are you giving or ‘lending.*’ to your 16 year old?

B) *best = in your opinion, all things considered, not the “best” car ever. That’s another discussion. Best for a 16yo.

C) *please specify if you are giving this car to your child OR if it is a family car that is yours, and your 16yo can use.

D) how old is this ideal car. Brand spanking new, or 5 years? What’s your take?

[Anonymous]

They will get our old car if its still running.

Best is subjective.

I might buy them a new one just for all the safety features if I could afford it. But, we need a new car so they'd get the old one.

[Anonymous]

Buy a car they will not show off in. So no trucks, jeeps, convertibles etc.

[Anonymous]

We purchased a new Subaru Crosstrek.
We wanted something that had latest safety features as not only will it be the car to support 16 YO, it will be the car for a child who is currently 11.

The financing on a new car was better than what we could get on a used car.

It is a family car that we are letting the 16 YO use. The 16 YO (being oldest) got the opportunity to go car shopping after we had narrowed down the options to see if there were models they felt most comfortable in. They also got a voice in color given there were 2 on the lot.

[Anonymous]

New drivers only get used cars.

[Anonymous]

AAA says the most important safety feature is weight. AN older bigger car is better than a new tiny one despite the cameras etc.

[Anonymous]

please specify if you are giving this car to your child OR if it is a family car that is yours, and your 16yo can use

My DH and I had a disagreement about this for years. Years. And it never got resolved. And we got through the teenage years never agreeing. Since the car title was never changed, I never considered it the teen's property. Each of our teens, however, had a car available to them to drive in high school and eventually each of them drove a car away from our house, post college.

However, teen years and college ... DH and I never agreed on the semantics and discussion would have started a fight I think because of a difference in how we were parented: he was given a car as a teenager. In my family that would not have been considered spoiling.

[Anonymous]

The one I can afford. And right now that is a 2008 Civic with 100k miles (that is around 10k right now!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAA says the most important safety feature is weight. AN older bigger car is better than a new tiny one despite the cameras etc.

In 1992, my brother wrapped a 1965 Mustang around a tree. He and his friend who were in the passenger seat walked away. The police said the only reason they walked away without a scratch was the 65 mustang was all metal.

But - the difference today in weight between a car the is 10 years old and a new car is relatively small.
There is a difference in weight between a mini and a SUV - but as long as you are looking at same car class the changes are not that big.

[Anonymous]

Np jere. Say you’re intention is to hand down in a few years. I want to buy a car I might like now, then lend it to them at age 16.

What car would you get now? Both mom and kid will be happy with (me now, her in a few years).

I can’t decide! I can think of many cars both of us would technically be happy with.

Keep in mind when I lend to her, I get to upgrade again, so this car doesn’t need to have all the upgrades.

[Anonymous]

The best car is the slowest, heaviest model with blind spot monitoring, lane change assist, and traction control. I had an old BMW soft top - fun to toss around corners, speed with the top down and the stereo cranked up, worth next to nothing. No chance my teenager was driving that. Instead, he got a used Prius that I hated to drive. I was pleasantly surprised that the driver assists gave him more confidence and awareness rather than making him dependent on the car's CPU.

[Anonymous]

Everyone is talking about heavy cars, but please don't give a 16-year-old a Suburban to drive over every obstacle and person they can't see.

[Anonymous]

Mine is getting a 10 year old subaru outback that we're done with and I'm getting a new suv.

[Anonymous]

Our youngest driver (16 years) gets use of the older car (17 year old Toyota) when it is not being used by someone else.

Not fast, not fun, not top heavy, not high theft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAA says the most important safety feature is weight. AN older bigger car is better than a new tiny one despite the cameras etc.

In 1992, my brother wrapped a 1965 Mustang around a tree. He and his friend who were in the passenger seat walked away. The police said the only reason they walked away without a scratch was the 65 mustang was all metal.

But - the difference today in weight between a car the is 10 years old and a new car is relatively small.
There is a difference in weight between a mini and a SUV - but as long as you are looking at same car class the changes are not that big.

showing off in a Ford Mustang… there’s a surprise. SMH. OP don’t be this parent.