<p>I would go with a Honda orToyota or subaru coupe (discourages large crowds which tend to distract drivers.) They handle well and are easy to park and to fill at the gas pumps.</p>
<p>Bigger isn’t always safer…some have mentioned getting a bigger car because it will be safer in a collision. If you go by this philosophy I’d definitely recommend looking at rollover data because the bigger the car the more likely a rollover. When looking at this data try to find which SUVs have fiberglass roofs as those are EXTREMELY UNSAFE (all Ford/Lincoln/Mercury SUVs have them) in a rollover. The fiberglass roofs tend to collapse in on average about 20-22 inches. Think about it…in your car is your head more than 20 inches from the roof? Probably not. I just want to warn people as my girlfriend recently lost her brother in a rollover. </p>
<p>In my opinion, if you want a bigger car I’d go with a small SUV (Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4,etc.)…they drive more like minivans.</p>
<p>Bern, that’s so sad. My condolences to her and her family.</p>
<p>We’ve been dealing with a similar tragedy in our family.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago, around the time my son got his license, I read an article, I think in the AAA magazine, about safe driving. The factors they mentioned included adequate acceleration, responsive steering and short stopping distance for accident avoidance, and side curtain air bags. We ditched our 4 Runner, as we were uncomfortable having him drive an SUV (no side door or side curtain airbags, long stopping distance, less responsive steering than in a sedan, rollover issues, and poor visibility when backing up because of sitting up high). We traded it in for a new Honda Accord which had the requisite features and he has been driving that for two years, without incident. We are very happy we got rid of the SUV. After driving an SUV and a minivan, I find it easier to maneuver a sedan. With a new driver, I was also concerned about pedestrians and how easy it is to see people (and young kids) walking behind the car when backing out of a parking space – another factor that weighed in our decision to get a sedan. I have no data, but anecodotally, I read about more fatal teen driving accidents in my suburban area occuring in SUVs (even the smaller SUVs such as the RAV4) than in sedans. Of course this may be because of the SUV popularity. My personal recommendation is a sedan with requisite safety features.</p>
<p>are side air bags in the category of absolutely essential? I understand that they greatly improve the safety profile of a vehicle. If so, that generally limits the used car search to cars of very recent vintage.</p>
<p>The trade off on used/older cars is the lesser safety features. One reason many folks look at higher end older cars is that they frequently “had” more when new. IF you want the greatest amount of side/head protection then you will by necessity look at new/warranty used cars. This also speaks to the OnStar type of feature or phone in dash feature also.</p>
<p>Papa Chicken,</p>
<p>Three years ago my D (who was just turning 15 at the time) and I were in a bad car accident in our old Lincoln Continental. We were hit twice, did some spinning and hit a pole head on. My D was hit in the face with the airbag and I hit my head on the driver’s window but that was it. I was SOOO grateful to have been in that car that I would have liked to just turn around and buy the same model. (Unfortunately, no one else in the family did.) I got on the internet and did some research checking for “safest minivan” and the Toyota Sienna fared the best. I didn’t care at all what it looked like because of what we had just been through…all I cared about was safety and that’s what we bought, although I really like the way it looks, too!</p>
<p>Of course, after my D got her learner’s permit there was no way she wanted to be driving a minivan. She had worked and saved some money to put toward a car. I did the same thing as far as researching vehicles (checking for safety of mid-size cars this time) and the Toyota Camry was the “winner” at the time. We found a used 1998 for $6,000…daughter paid half and we paid half. </p>
<p>We really love both vehicles and have had no problems…daughter’s has 103,000 miles on it but it looks and runs great. (I would have liked to get something with side airbags, too, but as you said, you’d have to pay a lot more for the vehicle.)</p>
<p>My family swears by the Volvos. They are built well for taller people (even the over 6’ crowd gets a lot of head room in the old ones), but could be overwhelming for the shorter types. They run forever (and then they keep going) and are extremely safe. A lot of people swear that the cars have saved their lives in accidents - 72 year old grandmom who was sideswiped and rolled down an embankment walked away; a woman who slammed into a stone wall going 60 was fine… you get the point. :)</p>
<p>ariesathena: Volvos have always had a reputation for being the safest cars. Too bad Ford just acquired Volvo and is now doing the same thing to Volvo as it has done to its other lines…adding fiberglass roofs, weaking the construction material of the car,etc. </p>
<p>I’d argue that now Volvo is just as unsafe as any other Ford car (the least safe cars in the world btw). What a shame…</p>
<p>You know, I really think there are three parts to this issue. One is a car that will protect the people IF there is an accident; second is a car that makes it easy to avoid an accident; third is a driver with the training and experience to avoid an accident if it’s possible.</p>
<p>When our kids were learning to drive, we gave them LOTS of safe opportunities to learn driver safety. Besides the drivers’ ed, we paid for extra hours. We found skid-car classes that let me “crash” a car at 5 mph and learn control in skidding situations. And, something that horrified some of our friends and not others, we paid for them to drive at high speeds on a closed race track with a professional race car driver at their side. (Yes, 125 mph.) If my kids were going to speed, I want them to know how to do it safely–and I don’t know a single teenager who doesn’t drive too fast, no matter what they say to their parents. (Incidentally, one of those drivers gave me this advice: if you see an accident ahead, focus on your own exit, not on the accident; your car will go where you’re looking!)</p>
<p>Both kids have had the stupid accidents kids have when they back up too fast (why do they always cost $1143?). However, both kids have also avoided accidents by using the training they were given. I was in the car with my son when he regained control of the car in a wet-leaf slow-speed spin, driving the car out of it, narrowly avoiding another car that had spun in the same spot. My daughter was cut off by an SUV and narrowly avoided an accident. </p>
<p>So our family focus has been on educated drivers. Our D has a Mini–6 air bags and lots of manueverability. It doesn’t roll and has done well in crash tests. And easy on gas. Son shares cars with us and mostly drives my husband’s Z3 convertible. Two airbags, roll bar, highly manuverable. </p>
<p>A good friend works for NHTSA and will not allow his kids to even ride with other teenagers in any SUV; they are too prone to roll over with inexperienced drivers. His children share a 4-cylinder Honda Accord (2 air bags).</p>
<p>i agree dmd…the mini btw is a great car; very safe & economic (cool too)…</p>
<p>I don’t know anybody here who bought a car for their kid, but my little sister just bought herself a honda civic. (the common thing in this area is for a kid to get a job and buy their own car… most of us have been working since we were 14) hers has a 10 disc cd changer which is in the trunk, so there is no changing of cds while driving. there’s a remote on her steering wheel to change the songs. i actually bought her a wireless transmitter for her mp3 player, but she won’t be getting that till her 17th birthday in october.</p>
<p>Completely agree re: new Volvos. They are more expensive, less reliable, and a heck of a lot less safe.</p>
<p>For USED cars though, a mid-90s Volvo (940 series or so) would be fantastic for kids - especially the station wagon, which can fit a ton of stuff for those college runs. </p>
<p>Story: my parents were looking at used cars for me. My mechanic suggested the one I have now, which was being sold by one of his customers. She was terminally ill and wanted to sell the car, but had kids who were just about driving age. My stepmom actually tried to convince her to not sell it - said that they are the best cars, that her daughters would have a lot of metal around them, and that it would last forever. Absolutely great cars… until Ford. </p>
<p>~Aries, a proud and loving owner of a 240 :)</p>
<p>I’m a new driver (10 months, one accident, no tickets), and here’s my take: I feel comfortable driving sedans (Toyota Camry), but I much prefer the visibility of driving the family minivan (Previa) - sure it’s a funny looking van, but I feel a lot better since I can see more of the road. I hate driving my family’s 4Runner…I just don’t feel all that safe in it.</p>
<p>Regarding iPods…there’s a cheaper alternative to the FM Transmitter. Just buy one of those headphone jack to car tape deck things (like this <a href=“http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=T4332LL/A[/url]”>http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=T4332LL/A</a>
…they usually go anywhere from $12-20.</p>
<p>There’s not much safer than a well-maintained OLD Volvo, plus it’s not as likely to be stolen or ticketed. My husband has a 1983 Volvo & it’s built like a tank!</p>
<p>For mechanical reliability, there’s nothing like a Toyota or Honda. Unfortunately Honda’s are the #1 target of car thieves, with Toyotas #2. Basically, you have to look around & find something in your price range that the driver feels comfortable driving & has decent reliability & crashworthiness, just “in case.”
Starion</p>
<p>how about pickup trucks (not big ones) from a teenage driving safety standpoint?</p>
<p>HI Mom - actually, when you divide the number of total Hondas stolen by number of Hondas on the road, you get a lower theft RATE than you do for other cars. The most frequently stolen cars are the most common ones - just sheer probability. The probability of YOUR car getting stolen, though, is not the same - you have to compare the relative theft rates of each car, not just aggregate numbers stolen.</p>
<p>Long story short - once you correct for the numbers of them on the road, Hondas and Toyotas aren’t stolen very frequently. Toyotas once had a problems with their keys - you could open almost any Camry with the key to another one. Not an issue for the newer ones.</p>
<p>83 Volvo - how many miles?</p>
<p>somebodynew - i paid 16 dollars for the fm transmitter. why would someone buy a tape thing when most cars these days have cd players anyway… (tapes are becoming obsolete) plus the fm thing can be attached to your computer or anything… you can use it to listen to the mp3 player through the stereo in the living room that doesn’t even have a tape deck (just a reciever and a dvd player)… its’ great :)</p>
<p>The Consumer Reports article mentioned in an earlier post recommended cars using not just how well the car survived the accident, but also how well it was able to avoid a colision in the first place. I don’t have the article in front of me, but as I remember it, they recommended the Honda Accord, VW Jetta and some others. We got our son a Subaru Forester because I haven’t seen another car to beat it’s 5 star crash ratings. You can get crash data from The National Highway and Transportation site. You can also join Consumer reports online and access all thier crash data as well as car reviews.</p>
<p>anothermom,
I loved our two Subaru Foresters. I like my Honda Pilot, too, but those Foresters had the quickest and surest vehicle control of anything we’ve ever owned. (the tag line “from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip” is true)</p>