<p>Consider a used Chevy Prism. It’s a clone of the Toyota Corolla and built at the GM/Toyota NUMMI plant in California. It’s the same plant that builds the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe. Cheap to buy and insure. Very reliable and inexpensive to maintain.</p>
<p>Definitely not sexy is the Ford Taurus station wagon. Cheap and reliable, holds five and all their stuff… It’s the least stolen vehicle in America and great for road trips.</p>
<p>The Ford Explorer Sport would be one of my least favored vehicles for a young inexperienced driver. The base 2WD model was the most prone of Ford’s SUV range for rollovers. The 4WD models were fractionally better (according to Consumer Reports Auto safety ratings for the 1992-2000 models). The shorter wheelbase and the narrow track (distance between the front wheels and rear wheels) made them more rollover prone. Ford made significant improvements to the Explorer sometime after the 2000+ model years to make them more stable (a wider track). </p>
<p>With any used SUV, pay close attention to the tires which need to meet manufacturer ratings for load (to properly handle the vehicle’s weight) and type. By type: either all terrain or standard mud and snow ratings). This is important. The difference between the two tire types is the difference between “sliding” and “snapping”. When you swerve around debris on the highway, too much grip at the rear will “snap” the back of the vehicle around with disastrous consequences. Because of the height and weight of most SUVs, engineers design the rear to “slide” a bit so as to maintain some level of driver control. If the SUV came with all terrain tires, replacement tires need to be the same type though not necessarily from the same manufacturer. </p>
<p>The typical highway speed limit varies from 55 to 70MPH. Most SUVs will begin de-stabilizing at around 50 MPH when forced to swerve around some other vehicle or debris on the highway. Even experienced drivers will have their hands full going the speed limit and needing to suddenly stop or swerve,</p>