There are so many things to consider when it comes to picking a new car: reliability, price, appearance and, of course, safety.
That last one might be of particular importance when choosing a car for your teen driver, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Consumer Reports is out with a new list of the safest options for teens who’ve only recently gotten behind the wheel.
IIHS Research Scientist Becca Weast joined WTOP’s John Aaron and Michelle Basch to talk about it.
The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.
John Aaron: First off, what exactly makes a good car for a teen in your view?
Becca Weast: So it’s really pretty straightforward. We like to recommend things that are slightly bigger and slightly heavier that have lower horsepower. Basically, teens are often killed in speeding-related crashes. So we want them to not be able to go as fast as quickly. So things that don’t accelerate very fast. And then they also have to have high crash test ratings. And Consumer Reports also includes a bunch of reliability factors so that kids aren’t getting stranded on the side of the road.
Michelle Basch: Well, surprisingly, some of these picks this time around are very affordable. Tell us about some of the cheaper options.
Becca Weast: So some of the cheaper options are going to be on the good list for used cars. So our used cars can go as low as, you know, just under $6,000 and are capped at $15,000. And they tend to be like the things that are maybe like 9-10 years old, but they’re still really, really, highly crashworthy and they’re very well equipped. And all of them have electronic stability control, and they’re going to keep your kids safe. So like things that are small mid-size cars are gonna like fall into that $10,000 limit.
John Aaron: Yeah, older Mazda 3s, Honda Civics, Toyota Prius, things like that. Can you give us examples of some of the top picks among new cars for teens?
Becca Weast: So the new cars are everything that comes out with a Top Safety Pick+. They score really well on four of our crash tests. And it’s a relatively small list because the price limit is $40,000 and new cars as we know are pretty expensive. But you’ll see things like most Mazda models — CX-5, CX-50s, CX-30s, CX-90s, a handful of Lexuses, brands that like will look familiar, like we got some Toyota, some Honda, some Subaru, things that have high recognition for safety.
John Aaron: I thought for a teen driver, you were supposed to give them an old Volvo station wagon or like a 2004 Taurus or something like that. Why can’t we just do that?
Becca Weast: There are a bunch of Volvos on the used list, actually, if you’re looking for one.
John Aaron: I’m talking about like a 1980s, boxy 240 or something like that.
Becca Weast: I mean, those cars were like bricks, but things have advanced quite a bit now. So we have better ways to keep teens safe. The stuff that’s come out in the last 10 years, they all have electronic stability control. So kids are gonna be able to keep control of them in case something goes wrong. They’re all really crashworthy. They all have like the entire suite of air bags. And some of the ones on our used list, all the best ones on our used list, also have front crash prevention standard, which is the first time that we’ve been able to do that, like this filtering through the used car list so that like the car can actually help mitigate some front end crashes, which is big.
John Aaron: Absolutely. And I’ll point out that you don’t have to be a teen to drive these cars, these would make a great car for anyone who wants to be safe.
Becca Weast: Yeah, I actually really like to recommend this list for families that have younger kids because often families hand down a family vehicle to their kid and then the parents get a new car. So if you’ve got a kid that’s like 5 to 10 years old, and you’re looking for a car, and you’ve got maybe a little more to spend, our new list is excellent, because that car is gonna be in great shape, and it’s super, super safe. So when your kid starts driving, you’ll have something great that they’re familiar with that you can hand down to them.
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