Safest Cars for Teens: Our Top 5 Affordable Used Makes & Models

So your kid is a Junior in high school, gets decent grades, and has just been hired on at “America’s best first job” to flip burgers and super-size fries. Now they need a ride to get from home to the Golden Arches and back. Does the idea of your teenage son or daughter having their own car scare the hell out of you? Are you worried about tracking down options for some of the safest cars for teens?Don't worry, because you’re not alone, and your fears are well founded. Teenage drivers are three times more likely to be involved in a fatal auto accident than all other drivers. According to the Centers for Disease and Control & Prevention, 963,000 teens are involved in motor vehicle accidents each year. 383,000 of those accidents result in injuries, and another 2,865 involve fatalities. These numbers can be scary for parents of new drivers, which is why we're looking at some of the safest cars for teens.Teenagers Lack Driving ExperienceWhy are teenagers so susceptible to car accidents? It can be summed up as inexperience with driving, and more importantly, juvenile judgement. Are you interested in knowing the top five reasons teenagers and young drivers are involved in car accidents? Good news: the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has compiled this simple list: Driver Inexperience. This is a no-brainer. It takes a lot of on-the-job training to become competent while driving at night, in the rain, on interstates, in congested parking lots, and yes, even in fast food drive-thru lanes. With time and practice, your teenager will become more confident while driving, and improve. Distracted Driving. All age groups are susceptible to this, but teenagers seem to have their phones surgically implanted in their hands. Cell phone use accounts for 12% of all teen accidents. Studies show that the reaction times of teenagers are about equal to that of drivers aged 70 and older when using their phone. Always remind your teenagers to keep their eyes on the road. Intoxicated Driving. Everyone knows not to mix alcohol and driving, but liquor has an exaggerated effect on teens. Their lack of driving experience and their willingness to participate in dangerous behavior, including being a passenger in an intoxicated person’s vehicle, amplify the risk. Reckless Driving. The National Young Driver Survey (NYDS) found that 21% of car accidents involving teenagers happen due to the teenage driver traveling too fast for road conditions. More than half of teenage fatal motor vehicle accidents are a result of speeding. Teenage Passengers. This will be a source of many family arguments. Teenagers are three times more likely to be involved in an accident when there are two or more teenage passengers. Typical accidents include running off the road, rear ending the car in front, and being struck while attempting a left turn.Give Your Teen an Edge With a Safe, Used CarAs a parent, your guidance and leadership will help influence how your teenager drives. But what if you could get them in a ride that alters the odds of preventing and/or surviving an accident? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has studied this issue, and periodically issues a list of recommended used cars for teenagers. These suggestions are incredibly helpful for those interested in the safest cars for teens.In the last 10 years, manufacturers have packed more and more safety features into their cars. The IIHS list looks for vehicles with critical safety systems, and good crash test ratings. For example, electronic stability control, which helps drivers maintain control on curves and slippery roads, is a must have for inexperienced teen drivers. In fact, all of the vehicles on the list have this feature.Over the years, it became obvious to IIHS that certain makes and models consistently provided rides that offered safety features designed to assist new drivers, and warn or correct distracted drivers. Couple those attributes with good crash test performance and you have the Hall of Fame nominations for the IIHS's list of safest cars for teens. Not surprisingly, you aren’t going to find any Mustangs, Camaros, or the Toyobaru twins on this list.So, we’ve put together some of the safest used cars you can get for your teenager once they start driving. It's important to note that they are listed by body style, not safest to least safe. The prices we show are based on the KBB estimate for the base model of each vehicle as of 2017. Expect the price to vary slightly based on your location, the mileage and condition of the vehicle. Let's take a look at these great used cars for new drivers, and see if there's anything that catches your eye!Small SUV: 2009 Subaru Forester - $9,000Small SUVs are pretty popular, so this Subaru may be an easier sell to your kid than others on the list. It has 68.3 cubic feet of storage space, which means plenty of space for sports gear and other stuff they might need to haul around. Like all Subarus, the Forrester is AWD, which makes it a better bet than FWD in the snow or rain. Powered by a 170-horsepower engine rated for 20 MPG in city driving, and 27 on the highway, it has enough get up and go to negotiate on-ramps without being a street racer.When it was new, there was a lot of hype on the Forrester’s safety features. Here’s why: Front-impact airbags for the driver and passenger designed to protect the head during a frontal crash. Side impact airbags for the front seats designed to protect the torso during a side impact collision. ABS brakes automatically sense when a tire has stopped rotating under extreme braking. The system’s modulator automatically “pumps” the brake pressure to allow the tire to rotate. This increases the vehicles ability to turn while braking. Electronic Stability control (ESC) senses when the vehicles handling limits have been exceeded, and reduces engine power and/or applies select brakes to help prevent the driver from losing control of the vehicle. Anti-whiplash head restraints react to rear collision forces and support the occupants head to reduce the likelihood of a whiplash injury.Large Car: 2007 Volvo S80 - $5,800You just knew there had to be a Volvo on this list, right? This is Volvo’s 2007 equivalent of a luxury car, which competes against the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E Class. It has lots of very comfortable room inside the cabin. The base model is powered by a 3.2-liter inline six-cylinder engine rated at 236 horsepower, and is available in FWD as well as AWD. The S80 is rated at 16 MPG in city driving, and 25 on the highway.The IIHS crash tests have four ratings with “good” being the highest. The Volvo scored “good” in all categories of testing. Not surprisingly, it is also packed with safety features. It’s easier to group them than list them individually: ABS, traction control, yaw control. Front airbags, and dual-chamber side airbags (one chamber for the hips and one for the chest). Adaptive cruise control that brakes the car without driver action. Collision warning system with pre-braking. Headlamps are active xenon lamps that follow the road around curves. Pretty cool. A key fob that can detect the presence of a human heart inside the car from a distance of 110 feet. Think about that when your daughter is leaving work in the dark.Midsize Car: 2012 Honda Accord - $12,000This car was very popular when it was new, and critics admired it for its unusually spacious interior considering its class, and its agile handling. The base LX version is powered by a four-cylinder engine EPA-rated at 22 MPG in city driving, and 34 on the highway. It’s also a gas sipper, which is an important quality given a teenager’s limited operational budget. It comfortably seats five people and is a favorite for its overall combination of polish, refinement, and efficiency.Safety wise, the Accord looks a lot like the Subaru Forrester: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducts crash tests and awards stars with 5 stars being the top rating. The 2012 Honda Accord earned a 5 star rating. ABS anti-lock braking system. Air bags. Lots of them. Front collision, side collision, front and rear air bags. 4-wheel disc brakes. Brake assist. Electronic stability control. Traction. Daytime running lights to give other drivers a heads up.Pickup: 2007 Toyota Tundra Double Cab - $12,000The only reason a pickup has made the list because 14% of teens drive one. Just like the rest of America, teens love them some pickup trucks. Of course, you may find yourself in the position of asking your kid if you can borrow the keys to their truck because you’ve got stuff to haul, or a toy to tow. The 2007 Tundra was designed to directly compete with Ford, Chevy, and Ram. The interior is big for a crew cab, and provides lots of room for five passengers. The commodious console is large enough to house a laptop. The V-6 engine in the base model is rated for 15 MPG in city driving, and 19 on the highway. There is a V8 but it’s downright pricey, as well as off-road tempting.Electronic stability control (ESC) has been required on all vehicles since 2012. The 2007 Toyota Tundra is one of the few vehicles that had it as a standard five years before it became the law. As far as pickups go, the 2007 Tundra is one of the best. Let's take a look at what it has safety wise: Stability control. Even though it is an early edition of this safety feature, it is still effective. Air bags. Front, side, and overhead protection. Pretensioners. Seatbelt automatically tighten to place the occupant in the optimal seating position during a collision. Anti-lock ABS brakes for all four wheels.Economy Sedan: 2011 Mazda 3 - $5,450Normally you wouldn’t find a compact car on a list like this, but the 2011 Mazda 3 is a Consumer Reports recommendation for a safe, affordable ride for a teenage driver. Like Toyota, Mazda has an excellent reputation in preventive and reactive safety features. This is the closest thing to a “sports car” on the list so it’s an easy sell to a kid. The base comes with 2.0-liter inline-4 that produces 148 horsepower, and a 25 mpg combined EPA rating. A 5-speed stick transmission is standard but there is a 5 speed automatic available as well. The interior is almost too nice to waste on a teenager’s propensity to eat greasy food in the car. The Mazda 3 is a hit with the general public thanks to its pleasing driving demeanor, ample equipment, excellent quality, and choice of body styles. It pleases your Jinba Ittai (go ahead and Google it).The 2007 Mazda 3 safety features include: Stability and traction control. Antilock disc brakes (with brake assist). Active front head restraints. Front side airbags and side curtain airbags. NHTSA 5 star crash test rating.So there are five rides to consider when choosing a vehicle for the new driver in your family. If you are old enough to remember first cars being Corvairs, Pintos, or VW Bugs that were one step away from being converted to dune buggies, you can appreciate how far the industry has come.As a general rule, make sure the vehicle you buy has key safety features like electronic stability control and curtain airbags. These systems are worth every penny they cost in an emergency situation. Remember, your teenager is inexperienced, and is more likely to need this gear than you are. If you can stretch the budget, find a model with forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking.Of course, there is the whole issue of the purchase being a used car. No two owners are alike. A car can be loaded with safety gear, but if the vehicle was poorly maintained, it represents a serious risk. Buying a used car is an art unto itself. We suggest you read our other articles on buying a used car so you can get the best results.You, and your insurance agent, are about to enter a brave new world. The more you can afford to spend on safety, the better the odds for your teenager. But above all, your driving example and your concern for safety will be the most important “equipment” a teenager can have when they start to drive.

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