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Smart Shopper Best Car for a new teenage driver
554 messages, Last post on Nov 08, 2009 at 7:33 PM
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Replying to: marys236 (Oct 11, 2008 3:39 pm) i would be more worried about your son talking/texting on the phone and other kids being in the car, than the safety features of the car itself, as long as it is good condition. you might try buying a cheap car, and if that works out for a while, tell him he will have earned something better. he is not going to be happy with a base fusion, so you are just going to end up spending more money trying to make him happy.
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Replying to: marys236 (Oct 10, 2008 5:53 am) Cheers! Paul
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Replying to: explorerx4 (Oct 11, 2008 5:17 pm) ESC is a fairly recent safety option, you just aren't going to get it on many old cars, but it is supposed to significantly reduce the risk of a one vehicle accident. Someone on another board suggested a Sonata, we are looking at a used 2007, it has ESC, side airbags, lots of safety features. It doesn't have as good of crash ratings as the Fusion, but it's close, and it would be about $5,000 less. We may go that way.
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Replying to: obyone (Oct 11, 2008 4:44 pm)  You're funny.
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Replying to: hammerhead (Oct 11, 2008 6:25 pm) "No disrespect intended here, but I don't think any 16 year old needs a new car. There are so many good, safe, reliable used cars out there - I really don't see the need for your child to drive a car newer than yours." I agree with you hammerhead. It's better for teens to have a used vehicle thus making them having to work to earn the necessary money need to buy a new car when their older. There's some used vehicles out there (2+ yrs old that would be good valuse and some of them probably have similar safety featuress as new cars. BTW: Here's some bad driving clip found on youtube plus one from myspace. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxNZ1p13rJw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JZmcUX-IsI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FItiAxpUlI&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtB8F3ieHMM.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=segBM1Sh_qs&feature=related.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf3TCCVnxic&feature=related.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVWj8B-ueSk.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYOo2u9UPAU.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUFBl-CVaDM&feature=related.... http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1724081.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA0aHEFCIHQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-x8F_SpSQ8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0c0PGXpJWs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jzdkHKN0TU&feature=related# http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WypkzocFxXg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jy32d--R2A&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtcNB32HY2Q&feature=related\
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Replying to: thechiefs (Oct 11, 2008 8:08 pm) Cheers! Paul |
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If you can live without ESC, the 500 is very safe with side impact airbags (check out gov't and IIHS scores). And, it is pretty cheap, and it is a "stodgy" car that provides adequate but not super fast acceleration, so a young male driver isn't going to feel like he has a sports car (even though the handling is perfectly fine). Only potential problem would be the huge rear seat in case there's a date with a girlfriend. If you can find a used '08 Taurus with ESC, that would work well. Every '09 Taurus comes with ESC, but of course none of them are used right now. |
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1) Cheap to maintain 2) None to expensive 3) Save and reliable 4) Fuel friendly, imagine your kids having to pay for current gas. Arent those what counts when looking for a car for teenagers? Personally I think the rest depends on the driver itself. My neighbor gave his 17 y.o daughter a hand me down 04 Mustang GTand nothing ever happened to her. OTOH I know a guy who bought his son an 06 Scion tC and he crashed it in 4 months. The only problem with most teens, they still lack responsibility and experience, in general that is. A used car from japanese brands is the best option, I'd say either a Scion, Toyota, Subaru or Honda. There's a premium for getting a Subaru, but the tradeoff is great snow traction and engine that last probably longer than the car itself  Avoid any european brand including VW (actually, particularly VW) Avoid SUVs, one may think its big = save. heck an SUV is actually a handfull to control in less ideal conditions. If space is important, buy him/her a wagon or crossover instead. An outback, impreza wagon or matrix are ideal enough, give them nothing taller than a CRV. |
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