(WWJ) Safety and budget can go hand in hand, if you’re looking to buy a vehicle for their teen driver.
“When you’re looking for a car for your teen, you want to make sure it provides them with as much safety as you can afford,” says Emily Thomas, associate director of auto safety at Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety releasing their annual list of best vehicles for teens. The list tries to target vehicles for different families with different needs.
“It spans new vehicles and a whole collection of different kinds of used vehicles,” says IIHS Senior Research Scientist Rebecca Weast.”
That list includes 45 used vehicles that cost less than ten thousand dollars.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL LIST
“Budget is a big issue for people who are looking to add a vehicle to their household for their teenager to drive,” says Weast.
The more money you have to spend on a vehicle, the more active safety equipment you can buy.
The list is based on Consumer Reports evaluations as well as crash testing from the Insurance Institute.
There are vehicles that parents should avoid, including minicars and big SUVs.
“We look for vehicles that are kind of the goldilocks range of sizes,” says Weast. “Nothing too small or too big”
While many young people would love a fast vehicle. Emily Thomas of Consumer Reports says you won’t see any of those on their list.
“You want to make sure you’re not providing your teen with too much power in their vehicle.”
The idea is that young drivers, no matter how responsible they may be, are still learning, and they may not yet be able to handle vehicles with high horsepower, or off road credentials that make the vehicles less stable on the road.
And when it comes to purchasing a vehicle for a teen driver, Weast says it’s probably not a good idea to just toss them the keys and make that vehicle their own. A shared vehicle may be the best first step for a teen.
“Having a car that a parent shares access to with their teen driver means that there’s more overlap between the parent and the teen. The parent talks to the teen more.”
