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When we talk about best and often first cars for teens very different images appear in one's mind's eye depending if you are the teen in question.
Or the parent of said.
While the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety can broker this one.
With a new set of recommendation as of the end of 2015.
they have good choices, and best choices.
With four and five star crash ratings at both under 10k and under 20k price levels.
I zeroed in on a sweet spot, the few cars that are at the intersection of best choice And under 10 grand.
There are 20 vehicles that make that cut rather than run through them all here, I've got a link to be list in the show notes for episode 80 on CNETonCARS.com.
But let me summarize a few bullets first of all a lot of Volvos are out there real safe and real cheap.
Mid-size cars like Fusions and Jettas, those are gonna be the lions the share of your best choices.
And no pickups, minivans, or full-size SUV makes the cut.
Some chestnuts in terms of car types.
High horsepower doesn't make a lot of sense.
And frankly, young driver, the coolest drivers are the ones who get it done with the least machine.
Anybody with cash or credit can buy performance.
Sad, but true, bigger, heavier vehicles remain safer.
That flies in the face of intelligent and efficient design but physics are physics.
As long as big cars and smaller cars collide, you kind of want to be in the bigger car.
Compact crossovers?
Those are a nice compromise, however.
And nothing without electronic stability control.
After airbags and anti lock brakes, this is the third of the big three that have fundamentally change auto safety.
Esc is mandatory since model year 2012 and that alone can quickly shorten your shopping list.
Some market notes.
Time is on your side.
Every day you wait more used cars come on the market with later and better safety techs.
Pushing down the price of that tech due to supply And the average teen car purchase price is a rather lofty $9800 says IIHF.
The median, more reasonable $5300, but be aware at that price point, you might leave out some recent safety techs.
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