Forum Index
»
Elementary School-Aged Kids
What's The Safest Type of Car for a Teen Driver?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
My step daughter is going to be 17 this spring and has her license. For a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that she's a very responsible driver (and person), we want to get her a car.
Is there any rule of thumb on the safest type of car for her? A smaller car like a Honda Fit is cheaper than an Accord, but wouldn't the Accord be safer? Her dream car is a Mini Cooper, but I'm hestitant about that one. And we'll be buying used. One thing I *don't* want is for it to break down and leave her stranded, so reliability is almost as important as safety. |
Anonymous
|
Here is a great resource we used.
http://teendriving.aaa.com/map/map.php |
Anonymous
| I would check with your insurance company to see which vehicles they recommend. Buying used can be tricky, You want to make sure the car has front and side airbags, anti lock brakes and stability control. All three add to the car being a better risk. |
Anonymous
| How about a Subaru Forrester or old Volvo station wagon? |
Anonymous
| I would go with a medium sized car- nothing tiny like the fit nor huge that would be difficult to maneuver. Maybe a honda civic/toyota corrolla or similar? I wouldn't go with anything smaller than that. |
Anonymous
| A tank. But that wouldn't be so safe for others. |
Anonymous
| We got a Honda CRV for our daughter. It is reliable, safe, she can see better sitting higher up, it doesn't have a ton of power. The small cars for teens make me nervous (especially a mini which is essentially a sports car) |
Anonymous
| Schwinn |
Anonymous
| a scion xA It is small, but it has front and side airbags, we've been really happy with with it and so is our daughter |
Anonymous
Actually not really. My DC has to drive on the beltway and a Schwinn would be mighty dangerous there. It would actually be pretty dangerous anywhere other than the immediate neighborhood or the Cap Crescent Trail. |
Anonymous
Seriously? This is your response to safest car???? These are like toy cars. |
Anonymous
| A 10-year-used minivan |
Anonymous
I think that's only true if it's got all the safety features and is reliable. We got a used car for our dd but only went back 4 years because older than that didn't have safety features we wanted. |
Anonymous
I drove an old pick up truck in high school  I guess my parents weren't too concerned about my safety because they NEVER let me drive their accord.
I think a Honda civic or something similar would be good. They are reliable, pretty inexpensive, have good safety features and are small enough that it would be easy to park. I drive one and love it. Mine is a 2007 and has front and side airbags but I don't think earlier models have side airbags if that's important to you. |
Anonymous
|
PP with the civic here. . .I test drove the CRV when we were buying our civic and thought it felt tippy. I mentioned this to the toyota deal where I was also test driving the highlander and he said it's because they have a higher center of gravity but pretty narrow body. Don't know if this has changed with later models (CVR owners, feel free to chime in). Just a thought
|