The Best Cars For Teens Are Selected, But Would You Trust Your Child In One Of Them?

If the kids want a car, let them buy their own, and support it.

A few months ago my son rolled his Olds Intrigue 5 times down a cliff and came out without a scratch.The car was totaled.Another young kid we know did the same a month later in a Japanese car and is paralysed from the waist down.I will let my son only drive American cars since they are built solid.

Those who deboosted Fijan are low. His son survived a potentially fatal car accident and all you can do are deboost him.

He was deboosted because he made wide generalizations about Japanese and American cars.

First of all, people on the internet who make wide comparative generalizations about cars like that are often liars, a person like Fijian has an agenda and that's why we deboost him

Uh, no they are not built that solid. Close the doors and then close the doors on a German car. Actually you want the car to crumple to absorb the crash energy that would normally be transferred to the driver. if the car doesn't crumple, the driver takes all of the force. When the car crumples it is slowed down more gradually so there is less impact to the driver. Also, I didn't de-boost you but I think it is not wise to just assume American cars are the most solid because they are not. There are some foreign cars that are more solid and some that are less solid. What do you do about rebadged cars like the pontiac vibe. What about all of the GM and fords coming from europe, like the new focus, fiesta, buick regal and lacrosse, pontiac G8, pontiac solstice,/Saturn Sky, Saturn Aura, Chevy malibu, etc. these are all either re-badged cars from the respective manufacturers european divisions or built on the underpinnings of european vehicles. The Taurus/500, Flex and Lincoln MKs are built on the Volvo S80 chassis, the Charger and 300 are based on the older E class Benz Architecture,. the new durango and Cherokee are based on the Mercedes ML SUV. The Chrysler Crossfire is a SLK Benz with different skin and painted interior, so Tell me which cars are American. The badge doesn't make the difference in the crash tests. If I re-badge a Toyota Camry and put a GM sticker on it it doesn't automatically become a more solid car. So the best American cars are not even American, they are re-skinned or based on vehicles from overseas. Now top that

Oh yeah, Lets not forget the rebadged Daewoos GM is selling here. and The rebadged Isuzu's Hmmm... what else......So basically you car selection is very very narrow.

Statistically, teen and elderly drivers are the most at risk for injury/death in automobile accidents. I started the search for a vehicle for my teen at iihs.org. If the vehicle did not pass their tests with a "Good", it was not on the list. Also, if it did not have stability control it did not go on the list.

Some advocate buying cheap cars for teens. I advocate buying safe cars for teens. There are few cars that fit both bills, but it depends on what you call cheap. What is a life worth? What is your teen's life worth?

A great article, I would suggest new though, when you get used there is always the surprise repair that costs thousands and in many cases it would have been cheaper to buy new with safer crash results.

Acura TSX (2004 or later)
Ford Focus sedan (2009 or later)
Hyundai Sonata (2006 or later)
Hyundai Elantra SE (2008 or later)
Mazda3 Touring (2007 or later)
Scion xB (2008 or later)
Volkswagen Jetta (2007 or later)
Volkswagen Rabbit (2007 or later)

What a ridiculous list. All of these cars are either newer or worth more than my current car. That'll be the day when my kid is driving something newer/better than me. They will be riding their bike to work to save up the money to buy their own, then calling the insurance agent to get their own insurance, and obtaining their own cell phone. Just like I did, sorry folks there is no entitlement clause that says I HAVE to get my child a car, let alone a shiny Acura.

Lol, I must agree, but I may be more inclined to buy my daughter (when she is older) a car so she doesn't have to bus around, there are so many nuts on the bus, and all the waiting around for the bus isn't safe, my boys can fend for them selves,lol

Anyone know if a 1993 Volvo would still be considered safe in this era?

Anyone know if a 1993 Volvo 240 model would still be considered safe in this era?

Volvos are very safe and well built cars. The older ones like the 200 series, 700 series and 900 series have particularly strong roofs. in a rollover they are far less likely to collapse than most other cars