Spoiled Brats: Forbes makes teen-car wishlist
No matter how dramatic your explanations of how you walked barefoot uphill in the snow both ways are, the fact remains that teenagers will at least need access to a car from time to time. Given that your youngun' will be talking on the phone, listening to the radio, text messaging, chewing gum and chatting with passengers (all while breaking graduated-licensing laws), you want to give him or her the best chances of surviving a possible crash. Better yet (especially for the passengers, who never seem to fare as luckily as the driver), a car that can handily avoid an accident is the safest of all. That's part of the reason why we Autobloggers like a little starch in the ride, swift action from the steering, good strong brakes and enough power to get the hell out of the way should the need arise.
Forbes Magazine also sees the need for kids to have cars that emphasize safety. They've compiled their list of Smart Cars for Teen Drivers, and that doesn't mean a bunch of those little bean-shaped things, either. Forbes picked 15 cars as good rides to put teenagers in. While they may not all generate a lot of excitement in the hearts of the kids they envision getting behind the wheel, we don't see a problem with them. After all, we sure didn't get new cars when we started driving. We delve into a few of the picks after the jump.
[Source: Forbes}
It makes a certain amount of sense to put the youngest, most inexperienced driver in the newest and safest car in your fleet. In an effort to keep things close to reality, Forbes figured that parents shopping for a "kid's car" would be looking to maximize value. Only vehicles with base prices below $20,000 were considered, and cars without accident-avoidance ratings from Consumer Reports or J.D. Power were also kicked out. NHTSA test ratings below two stars and a lack of rollover-resistance numbers gave Forbes further criteria to eliminate vehicles. Making the list this year are the Ford Fusion for safety (high scores in IIHS crash tests), good chassis dynamics, high quality and reasonable price. The Honda Civic's good handling means it can stay out of trouble, while low buy-in price and reliability make it a good choice on virtually everyone's list. The Hyundai Sonata also makes the cut with lots of five star safety ratings and high quality overall. Hyundai has been refining and improving its cars steadily, and the current Sonata is arguably the best value on the market for a family-size sedan.
Forbes attempted to analyze matters as if it was the parent. Cars without good fuel economy were eliminated, and insurance costs were also taken into account. Motorheads like us are left cold by this "by the numbers" method of car purchasing, but for 99 percent of the car-buying world, it has merit. We just hope that little Biff and Buffy know how lucky they are to be provided with a brand-new car to trash.
The complete list is as follows. Head over to Forbes for the rationale behind each selection
- Chevy Malibu
- Chrysler PT Cruiser
- Ford Escape
- Ford Fusion
- Honda Accord Sedan
- Honda Civic
- Honda Element
- Hyundai Sonata
- Kia Spectra
- Mercury Milan
- Pontiac Vibe
- Subaru Outback Wagon
- Toyota Camry
- Toyota Corolla
- Toyota Matrix
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
srivendel 2:08PM (3/07/2007)
Lots of those cars are a bad idea for teens for one very simple reason: they can hold a lot of people. A friend bought his daughter a Mazda Miata for her first because (a) he wanted her to learn how to drive well, and Miatas are great teachers, and (b) it only holds one other person. His theory is that cars packed full of teenagers are a very dangerous idea. I tend to agree, and while the Miata is a little small for a new driver, a Civic Coupe might be a much better idea than a mid-sized four door.
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Bonita 2:12PM (3/07/2007)
This wouldn't even be an issue if there was a law governing a 21-yr-old minimum for a drivers license.
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ellerton 2:17PM (3/07/2007)
Buying a brand new car for your kid is foolish. There's nothing wrong with a 5 year old Honda Civic.
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porker 2:17PM (3/07/2007)
I gave my 16-year-old son a full size Chevy truck. It's huge, safe, and reliable. When it breaks from his beating on it, we can fix it ourselves. My daughter talked me into a '94 Camaro which I bought for her as a present for winning a full-ride college scholarship. It, too, is large enough to be safe, and the V-6 doesn't have the temptation that the V-8 models have. My first car was an eight-year old ('59 model) Studebaker Lark. Big enough, very solid, but sloooooooooooooooooooooow. That flathead six had 0 HP, and even less torque. Today's kids don't need cutting-edge cars, they still need the big, safe, and reliable American cars that will keep them out of trouble.
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geo.stewart 2:18PM (3/07/2007)
I'm putting mine into a Buick Roadmaster or Olds Ninety-eight. Neither go fast and can take a lickin without the kids getting hurt. Yes, they hold a number of kids but who's going to want to go in one?
seriously, #1 is correct. the cell phone and passengers are probably the biggest contributors to teenage accidents, higher even than pure inexperience.
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bob 2:21PM (3/07/2007)
#1. not necessarily...the miata is a car thats on a whole nother level for new drivers. its quick, light on its feet, and prone to being totalled by a new driver. i dont think coupes are good at all for new drivers...they see them as sports cars, and may even think about racing. also, from the parents point of view, insurance for a coupe is almost double the cost of insurance for a sedan for teen drivers. insurance companies know teens think coupes and 2 doors are "fast" cars.
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mj 2:23PM (3/07/2007)
Dissed in the Malibu.
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iQuack 2:24PM (3/07/2007)
Quite a difference from the old, rusty, oil-burning, clutch-chattering, gasoline leaking, broken-springed Studebaker I had while in high school.
Must have taken that thing 20 seconds to reach 50 mph.
Such a death trap!
Kids are safer in cars these days, but they seem to be taking greater risks with drugs and guns.
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Geoff 2:25PM (3/07/2007)
21 year old minimum for driving? You have got to be kidding.
How about better driving instruction that focuses less on parking properly and more on evasive maneuvers in the event of an emergency? I think we could all do with less soccer moms rolling their SUVs because they dont understand the concept that 'high center of gravity' doesnt mix with 'jerking the steering wheel one way and then completely jerking it the other'.
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geo.stewart 2:25PM (3/07/2007)
#4 has the right idea with an old fullsize pickup. my dad a 1972ish chevy pickup and solid. additionally, we could sit on the wheelwells and work on the motor.
seats 2 and solid. easy to work on.
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Bob R. 2:26PM (3/07/2007)
The Fusion/Camry/Accord/ is a great idea as a used car. Most of the cars on the list will be good used cars in 4-5 years because they are reliable. The Fusion wont have a too spectacular resale value for the 1st owner because of what Ford has done a for the past little while, but it has excellent reliability (so far) and a cheap price for the second owner is good for a student/teenager on a budget. What would a Fusion be worth in 4 years?
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brimg87 5:08PM (3/07/2007)
#11 is right. I honestly feel that playing racing simulators like Gran Trurismo as a kid has made me a better driver when it comes to how a car handles. You learn nothing like this in drivers ed. There have been a few occurances that I've gotten myself out of spin (ice) that could have been otherwise a crash because of my reflexes. I just know what to do and how the car will react.
As for the guy saying you should be 21 to drive, you are out of your mind. I've had a job since I was 15 and I'm a month away from 20. If I didn't have a car starting when I was 16 I would have a hard time getting to work. I'm now a sophomore in college and I don't think I could go there if I didn't have a car. I commute 15 miles to college and 15 miles to work.
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Mike 2:40PM (3/07/2007)
Lower the drinking age to 18 raise the driving age to 21. Buy your teenager a bicycle.
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PyroGlaze 2:42PM (3/07/2007)
well, you can say that 21 should be the age to be allowed to drive, but i can bet 50% of above 21 drivers are horrible drivers themselves. dont' bash us because we're new to the game. turns out some of us are actually responsible behind the wheel.
sure dont buy ur kid a new car. i got an 89 caravan as my first car. yes, it did prove to fit quite a lot of people, but i never got in trouble with it. parents wouldn't buy me a new car, so you know what i did? i worked and saved up enough cash to outright buy an '03 audi a4 1.8t quattro with low miles for well under 20k. the problem isnt kids behind the wheel. i love my car, and i drive carefully not because im a safe driver, but because i would never want to hurt my car.
it's when kids get new cars from they're parents and just use it as a toy rather than caring for it.
so they're you have it. i chose a safe car. it's given me no problems yet. it's fun to drive. better in the snow except for maybe a hummer.
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Big jim 2:42PM (3/07/2007)
my first car was a 1994 Ford Explorer, bought it in winter 2003 with 149K on the odomitor, it has 184K and runs perfectly. i had it for a little over 3 years
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Thomas 2:44PM (3/07/2007)
Mercury Milan and Ford Fusion and Honda Accord are the 3 best ....
They are the best looking ones by far and about the most affordable ones ....
And the Toyota Camry is the ugliest one...
I would choose the Mercury Milan for my soon be 16 year old son over the rest of them...
But like #3 said its kind of foolish to buy a brand new car for a teenager but if you go the money go for it....
Personally i would buy my son a used Mercury Sable or Grand Marquis very safe and reliable cars and you can get them at a good price when there only a couple of years old...
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Jeremy 2:45PM (3/07/2007)
Another thing that pisses me off #2 is that when I'm driving, I see more old farts going 15 under the speed limit and more in minor accidents then I've ever seen with teenagers. If you ask me, going way under the speed limit is more dangerous than going a couple miles over! I know it sucks to have to take the license away from our elderly, but if they can't drive why are they getting their license? If I was caught driving like one of them my license would be gone in an instant.
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Mike 2:44PM (3/07/2007)
Jeremy, with your anger management issues, I question whether it was a good idea for your drivers license to be reinstated at all.
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Brian 2:47PM (3/07/2007)
My first vehicle was (and still is) a 91 Miata. Handed down/soon to be bought from my father, it has had no major mechanical problems since I started driving it, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't drive it hard every once in a while. But this car has been more reliable then half of the cars my friends have, and many of those are only 2 or 3 years old. Not only that, but driving a Miata in the snow before I got snow tires tought me about careful driving really quick.
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LOL 4:37PM (3/07/2007)
hahaha lol with that car list you'd be in serious danger of killing off your kids with boredom. I got my kid a impretza sti Lichfield 25 and he's got the time of his life, and i dont think that any of those lead cars will outhandle it.
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