<p>[The</a> Top Cars for Graduates: Beyond the Used Camry - WSJ.com](<a href=“The Top Cars for Graduates: Beyond the Used Camry - WSJ”>The Top Cars for Graduates: Beyond the Used Camry - WSJ) for more food for thought.</p>
<p>Pattyrick, glad to hear you’re being a safe driver, but I absolutely would not recommend an SUV for a newer driver. Among many other issues, the safety requirements for a truck are nowhere near as stringent as for a passenger vehicle.</p>
<p>Agreed with Slithey. Some of the NEWER SUV type vehicles adhere to car safety standards, but not all.</p>
<p>We never the let teenagers in house drive the big honkin’ SUV. We read something about teens’ inability to determine correct brake pressure and that was that.
So while it’s great for the passengers in the SUV, those on the receiving end may not be so lucky!</p>
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<p>With worse handling so that you are more likely to roll the truck when trying to avoid crashing into something?</p>
<p>Any of the following: Volvo Wagon; Volvo Sedan; Honda element; Ugly cars that say I can’t be drivne fast!</p>
<p>I’m still driving my '04 Pilot, which I got after two minivans.</p>
<p>Pattyrick, I hate for it to seem like I’m piling on, but I can’t agree with your recommendation, either. Sorry.</p>
<p>I like my Pilot. I make my kids drive it because I think it’s impractical for them to be completely uncomfortable driving a vehicle that size. But I would never pick it for a new driver.</p>
<p>The visibility out the front is very good–if you’re tall enough, or you can raise the seat high enough. But the visibility out the back? Not so much. You just can’t see as well out the back of your car when the back window is as high off the ground as it is in a minivan or an SUV. Things far behind you, you can see, but not things that are close behind you and near to the ground–where a child, a pet or a tricycle could be. I’ve been driving this car since October 2003, and I’ve been driving since 1980, but I’m still nervous backing up in a school parking lot. The rear view from my Pilot and my vans is unquestionably worse that the rear view from the Subaru station wagon or the sedans I had before that.</p>
<p>And the center of gravity simply is higher. I had one scary event, a few years ago, in my Pilot. I swerved at highway speeds to avoid an obstacle (that I admit I should have noticed sooner), and the way my car swayed really frightened me. And I’m almost never afraid in my own car.</p>
<p>Additionally, I’d never deliberately choose a car with this powerful an engine for a new driver.</p>
<p>All this having been said, we probably will hand my wife’s CR-V down to the kids some day. It has some of the same defects as the Pilot, IMO, but we already own it, and we know it’s been properly maintained. Compared to the Pilot, it has the advantages of being somewhat more maneuverable, significantly easier to park, and appropriately powered. But I wouldn’t choose a CR-V either if I were starting from scratch.</p>
<p>1st kid car here was an OLD…read that again…OLD Volvo sedan with a four cylinder engine. What sold me on it was the LACK of power…and it was not a cool “teen car”. Next kid drove my Nissan van that DID have antilock breaks and both front and side airbags. Since she was only driving to school (4 miles) and back, I felt NO NEED to get her a new car…NONE.</p>
<p>It has been a couple of years, but when I was looking for a car for my new teenage driver, I made sure to get one with electronic stability control (ESC) as well as the anti-lock brakes, side airbags and other safety bells and whistles. At the time, we chose the Mazda 3 (which is also a great handling car) as having the best safety features and really the only one of its class to have the ESC (I think we had to get the “touring” edition for that feature). We only leased it for the two years he was finishing high school (doesn’t need a car in college), but it was a great car. I would look at it again for when he graduates college and needs a car.</p>
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<p>I can’t second the recommendation for a hatchback enough. I’ve moved cross-country three times in my little '03 Focus hatchback, and it’s never ceased to amaze me how much stuff I can manage to jam in there. It’s also been really handy for my frequent apartment moves over summer break and during grad school. The hatchback is great since you can get a small car, but still fit a lot of those larger, weird-shaped things into it.</p>
<p>How many sedans out there could you drop by a random yard sale and walk away with a really comfortable rocking chair without worrying about how it would fit into the car?</p>
<p>L.A. Parent…just curious…how much did leasing for the high school student cost you? We looked into this…and the costs for leasing a car for a high school student’s use were VERY high.</p>
<p>Re: Honda Pilot</p>
<p>Note that the Pilot is an SUV version of the Odyssey minivan. The Odyssey has more room and (before the latest redesign) better handling.</p>
<p>Re: rear visibility</p>
<p>Unfortunately, styling trends today mean smaller rear and rear side windows, making rear visibility worse (for both backing up and changing lanes) in newer cars than it was in years past (compare a 1988 Honda Civic sedan or wagon to a 2012 Honda Civic sedan and note the size of the windows). Hence the current trend toward backup cameras to compensate for the rear visibility limitations when backing up.</p>
<p>For changing lanes, it may be worth it for new (and old) drivers to consider how they adjust the side mirrors to minimize blind spots:</p>
<p>[How</a> To: Adjust Your Mirrors to Avoid Blind Spots - Feature - Car and Driver](<a href=“http://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots]How”>How To Adjust Your Mirrors to Avoid Blind Spots)</p>
<p>I love this thread, I dont feel like the mean old father anymore with having bought my D a 1999 pontiac sunfire 4 years ago to go to college with. She has been teased to no end because of the age of the car but she gets excellent gas mileage, it is solid and reliable and as imorrtant parts are a dime a dozen. What surprised me though is that she registered herself for a certified defensive driving course (without my knowledge) passed and got her insurance dropped by 15%. I had taken a defensive driving course many years ago and still swear by it today, She knew it and I guess decided to take it also and has told us that she has had to use it a few times because of all the deer and wildlife she encounters. I would recomend the denfensive driving course for all new drivers.</p>
<p>We purchased a 2011 Toyota Corrolla for our soon to be 16yr old, it is a great car that will last her 10yrs or so. Our concerns were safety and economic to own. I am not sure why so many believe getting an older car is better but we felt that we wanted her to be in a car that will last and did not want to have to worry when she leaves for College in a year. As far as insurance, we would have carried full coverage regardless of the car and honestly the difference in buying a car 5-7yrs old vs. the 2011 corolla was very little.</p>
<p>thumper:</p>
<p>I thought it was pretty inexpensive–I think about $249/month (including tax). (and that was with the almost top of the line Mazda 3). The insurance is the most expensive part because we got a new car (for the lease). My older son had my '92 Volvo and cost very little (comparatively) to insure, but it didn’t last for son #2. Of course, teenage drivers are ridiculously expensive to insure. I will say that I switched to Geico because if your kid goes to college away from home (without a car of course), you can take them off the policy and they will still be covered when driving at home for Christmas and summer breaks. I saved a fortune doing that. </p>
<p>I am a pretty good negotiator for cars. I always do my homework, find out the invoice prices (consumer reports) any rebates or incentives and only negotiate by telephone with the sales manager or fleet manager. You can get a list of dealers in your area and just call and negotiate from the comfort of your own home. Then you can go pick it up without the stress. Of course, being in LA, there are a lot of dealers. Also, you can check the internet sales departments.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Bottom line, the lease cost was no more for having a teenager. It was the insurance that gets expensive.</p>
<p>@Longsx3–I suppose one reason I fall into the “somewhat older car” camp is that I don’t envision either of my new drivers taking a car with her to college. So the advantages of a new car (e.g., warranty, belts and hoses and tires that are all brand new) don’t seem as great to me.</p>
<p>It’s not that I think oldness is inherently good. It’s more that I don’t want to put more money than I have to into something that’s going to lose value and that’s quite probably going to be subjected to some hard treatment.</p>
<p>Of course, YMMV.</p>
<p>I’m only seventeen, but I’ll put in a good word for a Volvo sedan. Mine’s about 10 years old, around 80,000 miles, it’s pretty (I think it’s an S60 but I’m no good with cars) and it’s a tank. I’ve been in a few wrecks in Volvos when I was younger and they are super solid and great in a crash. Plus, I only get gas once a month and the trunk is giant (I golf so it gets a lot of use). This’ll be my car for at least another ten years and I can’t reccomend it highly enough!</p>
<p>We just bought our son a 2003 Outback. Thing is a tank, plus great in snow. Has all the safety features and perfect car for him to schlep all his stuff back and forth to college.</p>
<p>Here’s an article about the safest cars for teen drivers - </p>
<p>[Choosing</a> the Safest Car for Your Teen Driver - Edmunds.com](<a href=“http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/choosing-the-safest-car-for-your-teen-driver.html?articleid=121346]Choosing”>http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/choosing-the-safest-car-for-your-teen-driver.html?articleid=121346)</p>
<p>The newest cars are generally safer than older cars because they keep improving them to meet newer crash worthiness standards. the ‘5 star’ ratings changed a couple of years ago where they got tougher and you can bet car manufacturers are beefing up their designs to fare better. This is often in areas you can’t see or quantify (unlike number of airbags, etc.) - areas such as the ‘crumple zones’, door impact protection, new types of head restraints, dual stage airbags, etc. The brakes are better, stability control better, etc. Some fancier new things ($$) include lane change warnings, active collision avoidance (where the car will apply the brakes itself if it thinks a collision is imminent), etc. If you want the safe ‘est’ be prepared to spend.</p>
<p>There are tradeoffs on different types of cars - bigger, heavier vehicles are usually safer for the occupants of those cars (but not the tiny car they collide with), SUVs have higher seating positions enabling one to see better down the road, which is good, but have a higher center of gravity so they’re less stable in evasive maneuvers, an under-powered car can keep people out of trouble by not making it easy to hot rod but can get them in trouble for accelerating out of a situation, etc.</p>
<p>If driving in snow and ice then AWD is good to have.</p>
<p>Importantly - training. The more training the better. Some people have sent their kids to performance driving schools to practice on a skidpad, high speed evasive maneuvers, etc. which I think is a good idea if you have one near you and are willing to pay for it.</p>
<p>I think some minimums should be established - front air bags, not too small and not too big and not too tall, in sound mechanical condition. Going up from there - stability control especially if it’s any type of SUV/crossover, side airbags, etc. Go to the government website to check on the impact ratings for the vehicle you have in mind. You can also check on the highway institute’s website which does some different type of testing - </p>
<p>[Home</a> | Safercar – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)](<a href=“Safer Car Vehicle Safety, Ratings and Recalls | NHTSA”>http://www.safercar.gov/)
[IIHS</a> vehicle ratings](<a href=“http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx]IIHS”>http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx)</p>
<p>My first car was a Saturn Vue. Totaled it in an ice storm last year when I rolled off the freeway. That was a very safe car as the cops and ems were amazed I managed to walk away without a scratch. Plus, it was an suv with small car mpg. Great first car imo.</p>
<p>Now I have a itty bitty Kia Rio. Everyone thought it would fold if I tapped anything. However, I was tboned last October after a woman ran a red light. My car had some damage, I was fine despite being hit directly on the drivers side. Her car lost the whole front bumper and had major damage. She had a sebring.</p>
<p>Are you in a snowy region?</p>
<p>Ah, fair enough. I was just posting my positive experiences with the car, and I can now see where a “big honking SUV” may fall short in some areas (although I don’t really see my car as very large).</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-I500 using CC</p>