5 ON YOUR SIDE: Best cars for teens

5 ON YOUR SIDE: Best cars for teens

To help you strike a balance between cost and safety, Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety identified more than 50 used cars under $20,000 with top safety and reliability ratings.

For teenagers, the combination of inexperience and lack of driving judgment makes driving especially risky. Car crashes remain the leading cause of death for teens, so choosing a car for your teen driver is no simple task. Luckily, two safety groups have come together with a list of used cars that are safe, reliable, and ideal for your young driver.

To help you strike a balance between cost and safety, Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety identified more than 50 used cars under $20,000 with top safety and reliability ratings.

On the list, you’ll find some popular names, like the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Hyundai Tucson. And luckily, cars continue to get safer and prices on the new and used market have stabilized. So, CR and IIHS have been able to point families to even better options this year!

Consumer Reports says that proven safety features like forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking and blind spot warning are worth considering. A teen driver’s first vehicle should be balanced — not too small, not too big and not too fast!

Those who want and can splurge for a new vehicle have many recommended models to choose from — one benefit is the bumper-to-bumper warranty that usually comes with new cars.


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