Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you still find cars (non-sports cars) in a manual shift? Would love for my kids to learn that way. Who knows, they may need to drive someone else's car if that person is drunk, hurt, etc.

I think jettas have a manual option. Honda civics did too. Not sure if they still do. Subarus.

Dodge Darts, IIHS Top Pick+ winner, also comes in manual. From experience, though, manual cars are hard to resell.

IIHS ranks cars based on crash results...more important is preventing the crash from happening in the first place: driver skills training, removal of distraction risks from the car and a car that handles well enough to avoid hazards during sudden maneuvers.

Just the drivers ed class isn't enough, demonstration and reinforcement of good driving habits by parents and especially peers is vitally important!

Just asking... How many parents talk on the cell phone with their kids in the car?

safety was the number one issue for us in picking a car.

After looking at the Insurance for Highway Safety, there are only a few cars that come in at the top safety level. Many cars failed or came in average on the small side impact test.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/tsp_current.aspx

Look at the pictures as to what happens when the car fails that test. THe front dashboard pushes into the driver's area.

we went with a Honda Civic 4 dr. which had one of the highest results.

Another consideration is insurance. Getting a kid a BMW comvetible is going to add a lot more to your insurance.

If you can afford it, OP, which I think you stated above, get a non-SUV that won't roll over and has all the airbags including side, as well as antilock breaks and stability control. Don't be an idiot about it -- get him a safe car.

Best car for teen? Metro card.

When DS1 got his license, we passed the oldest car in the family on (a Toyota sedan). We also made a rule that if he was going to drive on the highway he had to drive the family minivan. He complained that both were uncool, but still preferred them to the bus.

If you care about pure safety, bigger is better, up to a point. If your kid is in a Taurus that collides with a Smart Car, physics will be on your child's side. Statistically, the safest cars are around 4,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. Large family cars like the Taurus or a minivan. SUVs, especially mid-sized and up, are more prone to rollovers.

I'd buy as new as you can afford, to take advantage of the newest safety features. The most significant advances in safety have been air bags, anti-lock brakes, and vehicle stability assist. You can get all three on modest used cars.

There is a lot of safety information available at iihs.org.

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts having the kid learn on a manual? At least it discourages texting and driving, or anything else requiring other than two hands.

+100

10:16 back

I never said sedate...

I would disagree that a big car and certainly not an SUV is safer for a teen driver. SUVs have too high a center of gravity. Big cars, you may not be able to get out of trouble because they may handle as well. Even with bigger cars I would take the sports package car verssus the generic one -- Example Camry LE vs. Camry SE. The SE version has bigger tires (and contact w/ the road), bigger brakes, stiffer suspension...all thing you would rather have if something goes wrong.

The driver (any driver) needs to be focused on the driving task which is the road, other cars, the clutch/acclerator/brake -- the whole thing, a somewhat sporty car I believe increases that focus, and that's good...

So, to the poster who asked -- three final choices we considered a well kept '82 RX-7, a first series Miata and an '86 MR2 (which we picked, it's a Toyota after all) the Miata was good idea but not the two we looked at.

...and I was able to get in a test drive in a Lotus Elise as part of our search [Now that's a two-seater that no teenager should have access to EVER unless they are on race track]

Anonymous wrote:Can you still find cars (non-sports cars) in a manual shift? Would love for my kids to learn that way. Who knows, they may need to drive someone else's car if that person is drunk, hurt, etc.

I think jettas have a manual option. Honda civics did too. Not sure if they still do. Subarus.

Anonymous wrote:Best advice I have gotten on cars for teenagers is for it to be a two seater with a stick shift. Why, you say? 1) no back seat distractions from friends 2) if you're shifting gears in traffic you have less time to mess around on a cell phone 3) there are more choices than one would would think from crazy (no) to reaonsable (YES!) and 4) if well chosen can be a really good car for a teenager to enjoy and be safe driving.

My teen drives a manual mini cooper and I actually disagree. First of all the car, and certainly any 2 seater, is small. Plus they are mostly sporty cars, unless you get a smart car. I think larger cars are safer for teen drivers. The manual is a distraction. I'd rather have the focus on the road then the clutch. And yes, as a poster pointed out we have replaced the clutch once already. We are looking at alternatives to the mini, which happened to be the car available, not one we bought for DC.

What sedate 2 seater did you buy for your teen?

Can you still find cars (non-sports cars) in a manual shift? Would love for my kids to learn that way. Who knows, they may need to drive someone else's car if that person is drunk, hurt, etc.

Best advice I have gotten on cars for teenagers is for it to be a two seater with a stick shift. Why, you say? 1) no back seat distractions from friends 2) if you're shifting gears in traffic you have less time to mess around on a cell phone 3) there are more choices than one would would think from crazy (no) to reaonsable (YES!) and 4) if well chosen can be a really good car for a teenager to enjoy and be safe driving.

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty surprised by the responses here. DS and DD were able to pick out a car in the price range we saw fit (20-25k) when they started to drive. I was given a BWM convertible on my 16th birthday and I still love and miss that car today, my parents required I make all As for them to pay the insurance and gas. We have the same policy, Bs mean the child pays for gas and Cs mean you pay the insurance anything else and you lose the car.

I am the OP. I have zero desire to just hand an expensive car to my child even though we can easily afford to do so. I see my job as making my child as equipped to function in the adult world as possible, and spoiling said child with a new BMW convertible does not work with our values or what we are trying to teach our children.

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts having the kid learn on a manual? At least it discourages texting and driving, or anything else requiring other than two hands.

I think learning is a great idea, but having that as their primary car may be pretty expensive. Clumsy shifting, which new drivers are prone to, will wear the clutch out faster, and that's a very expensive repair...IF you can actually find someone to repair it.