What car, 3 years away from having a teen driver?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:High is bad for teens—harder to drive, easier to tip, more likely to kill someone else in a crash because where the bumper hits a pedestrian, bike rider, or a sedan.

We didn’t buy it for our teen, but our Tesla (the cheap model) has location tracking and I can always see the speed. I think I can even set an alarm so my phone sounds if it goes outside a certain area, or block it from going above a certain speed. I was sort of wondering if other cars have that capacity.

Our driving instructor told us not to teach our teen using the Tesla. Teach him to drive that later. Just one opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I gave my 17 yr old my old Cadillac SRX (v8). Built like a tank. She is 18 now and she loves that car. The extra gas is no problem (uses 91 octane). She works full-time, so she doesn't mind paying a little extra for fuel. She has been driving for years, though. She goes storm chasing during tornado season (we live in tornado alley), and that SRX can handle it.

How does a 17 year old work full time?

[Anonymous]

My daughter has a 2017 Chevy Cruz which won the award from car and driver best car for teen drivers. She loves it.

[Anonymous]

Accord or similar. Being higher up doesn't make a vehicle safer, just more prone to rolling over. And a larger vehicle that allows more passengers to ride is also not recommended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Accord or similar. Being higher up doesn't make a vehicle safer, just more prone to rolling over. And a larger vehicle that allows more passengers to ride is also not recommended.

Scratch that. Since you want a hybrid, I'd say Toyota Camry. Just a great all around car and a top safety pick.

[Anonymous]

I went through a similar process a a few years ago. My daily driver died on me a year and half from oldest getting their license. I wanted something safe, easy to drive, and relatively inexpensive that I would let them drive once they got their license. I ended up with a Subaru Impreza. It's an IIHS top pick and ticks all the other boxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about a suburb forester?

A Subaru would be a great, solid choice.

I think the PP was being sarcastic.

Or maybe not, it's a crazy world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I gave my 17 yr old my old Cadillac SRX (v8). Built like a tank. She is 18 now and she loves that car. The extra gas is no problem (uses 91 octane). She works full-time, so she doesn't mind paying a little extra for fuel. She has been driving for years, though. She goes storm chasing during tornado season (we live in tornado alley), and that SRX can handle it.

Say what, now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Accord or similar. Being higher up doesn't make a vehicle safer, just more prone to rolling over. And a larger vehicle that allows more passengers to ride is also not recommended.

This. My driving kid has a Civic. I really don't like how low it is but we weren't getting her an SUV. Safe, reliable and not horribly expensive to service.

My 2nd soon to be driver probably will get a hand me down Acura MDX.

OP, whatever you get, make peace with dings on it. Teens are horrible at parking. Even if your teen is great at it I can guarantee you most of the teen drivers at their school are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:H..has location tracking and I can always see the speed. I think I can even set an alarm so my phone sounds if it goes outside a certain area, or block it from going above a certain speed. I was sort of wondering if other cars have that capacity.

Hyundai has this feature in some 2020 models. I assume it is in most now.

[Anonymous]

In a similar situation, oldest kid is 13. I picked an older Audi A4 because it has a stick shift. Important skill for a teen to learn IMO.

But if that's not important to you, I'd choose from the Civic / Accord / Camry / Impreza / Legacy lineup. All solid, safe, reliable cars. Speaking as someone who learned to drive in a pickup truck, I don't recommend anything that has the seating high up.