Teen Driving: When Your Kid Takes the Wheel

It may be the moment to upend the time-honored tradition of giving your fledgling teen driver your hand-me-down clunker. Rather than debating whether your new car will be cherry red or electric blue, we recommend that the newest driver in the house get the newest car.

Why would we suggest that cruel reversal of fortune? Because new cars today have key safety and accident-avoidance systems such as electronic stability control—which wasn’t required until 2012—as well as forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking. (Learn more about car safety.)

Of course, every driver needs those features. But a more experienced motorist can more deftly navigate an emergency maneuver in an older car with fewer safety devices.

For teen drivers, we recommend a moderately sized sedan or hatchback, or a small, car-based SUV. Consider a car with a stick shift; with both hands engaged, the temptation to text is eliminated. But a base-model stick shift often won’t offer forward-collision warning or automatic emergency braking.

Also nix full-sized pickups and large, truck-based SUVs. Their higher center of gravity makes them more prone to roll over in a sudden move, handling is cumbersome, and braking distances are longer. Three-row vehicles are another no-no, because the extra seats tend to get filled with distracting friends. Also avoid sporty cars, which beg to be driven too fast and usually have higher insurance premiums.

The cars on our list, featured in the photo gallery below in alphabetical order, performed well in our testing and did adequately or better in government and insurance-industry crash tests, plus they have average or better predicted reliability.

We ruled out cars with 0-60 mph acceleration times faster than 7.5 seconds or slower than 11 seconds—the better to avoid drag racing or sluggish highway merging—as well as cars with braking distances longer than 145 feet in dry conditions, and those with mediocre emergency-handling scores.

For more safety information, visit Consumer Reports' Guide to Distracted Driving & Teen Safety.

Top Used Cars for Teens

Not every family can afford a brand-new car. If you’re watching your budget, a used car with low mileage can fit the bill, too. Here are our recommendations.

Make	Model	Year(s)
Acura	TSX
Buick	Regal	2012-13
Chevrolet	Equinox (4-cyl.)	2012 or later
	Malibu (4-cyl.)	2009 or later
Ford	Focus sedan	2010-12
	Fusion (4-cyl. and hybrid)	2010-12 2014 or later
Honda	Accord (4-cyl.)	2008 or later
	Civic	2012 or later
	CR-V	2015 or later
	Fit	2011 or later
Hyundai	Elantra	2012 or later
	Santa Fe	2007-09 2011-14, non-3rd row
	Sonata (4-cyl., nonturbo)	2006 or later
	Tucson	2010 or later
Kia	Forte	2010-11
	Optima (nonturbo)	2011 or later
	Soul
	Sportage (4-cyl., nonturbo)	2011 or later
Mazda	Mazda3	2011 or later
	Mazda6 (4-cyl.)
	CX-5
Mitsubishi	Outlander (non-3rd row)	2007-13
Nissan	Altima (4-cyl.)	2010-12
	Rogue	2010-13 2015
	Sentra	2011-12
Scion	xB	2008 or later
	xD	2012 or later
Subaru	Crosstrek
	Forester (nonturbo)	2009 or later
	Impreza (nonturbo)	2011 or later
	Legacy (4-cyl.)	2009 or later
	Outback (4-cyl.)	2009 or later
Toyota	Camry (4-cyl.)	2010 or later
	Corolla	2010 or later
	Matrix	2010 or later
	Prius	2010 or later
	RAV4 (4-cyl., non-3rd row)	2004 or later
Volkswagen	Jetta	2009-14
	Jetta SportWagen
	Rabbit	2009
	Golf	2010-14
	Tiguan	2013 or later
Volvo	S60	2012 or later

Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the September 2016 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

More from Consumer Reports:
5 least reliable cars from Consumer Reports' survey
Best Used Cars for $25,000 and Less
Which Car Brands make the Best Vehicles

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