Finding the best safe cars for teenagers is crucial than ever. Teenagers are among the riskiest drivers, which makes it the duty of the parents to find their kids something that they can rely on.
Teens are the rebellious years. Teenagers are prone to put themselves in dangerous situations. Thus when they are behind the wheels, their safety is more important than ever.
You cannot just buy any car for your children. You must understand that one car is not the best fit for everyone.
To ensure the safety of your teenager on the road, you must understand the stakes here.
What is the Need for Safe Cars for Teenagers?
The first thing that you need to understand is the need to focus on the safety aspect of a car while buying it for your kid.
Here are a few reasons that will clarify why you should prioritize safety features in a vehicle for your teen:
- Teenagers are under-age drivers well-known to disobey traffic rules universally.
- They are more of an adrenaline enthusiast when compared to drivers of other age groups.
- They can easily get distracted while driving.
- Teenagers don’t have a stronghold of driving and related pressure.
- Other drivers on the road can be reckless too.
Thus just because they are behind the wheel doesn’t mean they are perfect. They need to be taken care of.
Young drivers only care about the looks and popularity of the vehicle. It is the parents who need to understand the need for the safest cars for their teenagers.
What Makes a Car Safe for Teenagers?
Being the major contributor to road accidents, safe cars for teenagers are the most demanded ones.
So when buying a car for your teen, there are a few features that you need to check out.
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC):
The vehicle you buy must have ESC. ESC is now standard in all new vehicles, so you must look out for this feature when exploring a choice.
If your kid loses control of the steering, ESC will automatically jump in and applies breaks to give your child get a hold of the car.
- Side Air Bags:
The occurrence of an accident can lead to severe injuries. So when buying the vehicle, parents must ensure that it has side airbags that safeguard the head.
- A Good Vehicle Safety Score from NHTSA & IIHS:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) does complementary crash tests and provides safety ratings accordingly.
Along with this, The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) also provides safety scores for various vehicles in the market.
So before you make a final decision, look out for these kinds of safety ratings.
- Class Of The Vehicle:
Whether a vehicle is brand new or used has a huge impact on its safety. A used car is worn out and can cause issues.
A brand new one will have everything up to the mark and will serve the best safety measures for your kid.
- Weight Of The Vehicle:
The weight of a vehicle plays a major role in ensuring its safety. The heavy the vehicle, the safer it is.
So make sure you consider these norms before finalizing the good first car for a teenager.
What Are We Going to Discuss?
In this article, we are going to tell you about the most suitable 9 safe cars you can buy for your teenagers.
- Subaru Crosstrek
- Honda Insight
- Subaru Impreza
- Hyundai Kona
- Mazda CX-3
- Chevrolet Equinox
- Toyota Corolla
- Nissan Kicks
We will be talking about their features, safety measures, rankings, and price affordability.
With detailed comparison, you can see the best available in the market. Further, we will also discuss the best choices among the list that you can go for without any doubt.
We will help you form an informed decision that you can discuss with your teenager and come to a compromise.
You will finally be able to find a car that satisfies the demands of both you and your teenager as well.
So without any delay, let’s get started on exploring the safest first car for a teenager a parent can buy.
9 Best Safe Cars for Teenagers that Every Parent Must Know About
Teenage is the age where kids become more & more rebellious and want a hold of their life. They want every experience to be the best and unforgettable.
Buying them their first car is such an important task. Being a parent the pressure is immense to provide what they need without any drama.
So you have to make sure you buy a good first car for a teenager. To help you with this, we have a list of the best safe cars for a teenager that you can consider.
1. Subaru Crosstrek – $24,505
If you have an idea of buying an SUV for your teen, then Subaru Crosstrek is a perfect choice. It is one of the most versatile SUVs with an eyesight suite.
It is ranked as one of the safest first cars for a teenager. Equipped with a standard eyesight suite, this SUV can keep your child safe on the road.
Best Safety Features:
- Anti-lock brakes
- Stability control
- Front-impact airbags
- Side impact airbags
- Overhead airbags
- Knee airbags
- Pretensioners
- Security system
You can buy this best starter car for your teenager for $24,505
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 5 Stars
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick
(Also Read: 6 MOST EXPENSIVE CARS IN THE WORLD OF ALL TIME 2021)
2. Honda Insight – $23,860
With its prime safety and strong crash score, Honda Insight is a good first car for a teenager.
The car offers passenger airbags, electronic stability control, brake assist, child safety locks, and traction control.
This hybrid model is unique and ensures every safety standard.
Best Safety Features:
- Driver Air Bag
- Front Head Air Bag
- Rear Head Air Bag
- Front Side Air Bag
- 4-Wheel ABS
- 4-Wheel Disc Brakes
- Daytime Running Lights
- Lane Departure Warning
- Lane Keeping Assist
With an impressive amount of $23,860, you can buy this safest first car for a teenager.
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 5 Stars
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick
3. Subaru Impreza – $20,895
Subaru Company gives teen parents practicality, safety, traction, and fuel efficiency, all in a single package with their car Subaru Impreza.
With an eyesight driver assist package and high crash test ratings, the Impreza is one of the safest cars for teenagers.
The car can warn your kids if they are out of the lane and steer them back into safety. The car allows you to start the engine, set climate control remotely through your smartphone.
Best Safety Features:
- Blind-spot detection
- rear cross-traffic alert
- a rear vision camera
- reverse automatic braking
- advanced airbags, including side curtain airbags
- monitors traffic and adapts cruise control accordingly
You can buy this car for $20,895 and be tension-free.
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 5 Stars
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick
4. Hyundai Kona – $21,195
Hyundai Kona is another SUV you can buy as a good first car for your teenager. The car is easy to steer, making it a good first car for teenagers.
The car has immeasurable crash test scores making it one of the safest cars for teens in America. It comes with standard collision prevention technologies.
Best Safety Features:
- 10-way Power Driver Seat with Lumbar Support
- Smartphone Connectivity
- Steering Wheel with Audio & Bluetooth Controls
- Electric Parking Brake with Auto Hold
- Paddle Shifters for Adjustable Regenerative Braking
- Seatbelt Reminder (Driver + Passenger)
- High-Speed Alert
You can gift this best starter car to your teenager for $21,195.
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 5 Stars
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick Plus (2019 model)
5. Mazda CX-3 – $21,435
Mazda CX-3 is the smallest SUV from Mazda Company. The car provides top driving comfort with ease of safety. The car has solid crash test ratings making it a good first car for teenagers. The clean dimensions make it easy to control, and the young and first drivers will not face much difficulty.
Best Safety Features:
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Automatic emergency braking
- Blind-spot monitoring.
- Pedestrian detection
- Adaptive cruise control
- Lane departure warning
You can purchase this beauty for $21,435 and forget about the road safety of your teen.
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 5 Stars
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick
6. Chevrolet Equinox – $24,995
Chevrolet Equinox is one of the best choices to consider for the first car for your teenager. With enhanced standard features, automatic emergency brakes, it is one of the best safe cars for teenagers.
The car also has a teen driver feature which allows parents to set speed alerts and mandatory to put on a seat belt to access radio and other features.
Best Safety Features:
- Forward Collision Alert
- Low-Speed Forward Automatic Braking
- Front Pedestrian Braking
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning
- Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert
- Rear Cross-Traffic Alert
- Rear Vision Camera
- Rear Park Assist
With your teenager in this car, you can relax. You can buy it for an estimated price of $24,995.
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 5 Stars
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick
7. Kia Optima – $24,115
When talking about affordability in a safe car for teenagers, Kia Optima is the name that rings the bell.
The car has a robust ranking for safety. It has active driver-assist tech that can help to keep your teen safe on the road.
Best Safety Features:
- Blind-Spot Collision Warning (BCW)
- Forward Collision-Avoidance Assistance with Pedestrian Detection (FCA-Ped)
- Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)
- Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go
You can have this car in your garage for $24,115.
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 5 Stars
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick
8. Toyota Corolla – $20,555
The latest addition in the Toyota Corolla generation raises the bar of safety with Toyota safety sense 2.0 embedded as standard on all models.
This hybrid model comes with strong crash test scores and an efficient EPA fuel economy rating.
The car is considered among the best safe cars for teens that go easy on your pocket at the pump.
Best Safety Features:
- Pre-Collision with Pedestrian Detection
- Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist
- Automatic High Beams
- Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
- Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management
- Vehicle Stability Control
- Traction Control
- Smart Stop Technology
- Brake Assist
You can make this good car the first car of your teenager at $20,555 only.
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 5 Stars
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick
9. Nissan Kicks – $19,735
Easy to control, heavyweight SUV with affordable price is Nissan Kicks. The car comes with a surround-view camera which ensures the safety of your child.
The car also has a forward collision warning along with automatic emergency brakes that can save your teenager from having an accident.
These features are standard in the model making it a good bargain with a marginal price.
Best Safety Features:
- Adaptive cruise control
- Driver attention monitoring
- The surround-view parking camera system
- Forward collision warning
- Pedestrian detection
- Forward and reverse automatic emergency braking
- Lane departure warning
- Blind-spot monitoring
Nissan Kicks can be the best starter car for a teenager at $19,735.
Safety Ranking:
- NHTSA Rating: 4 Stars (2019 model)
- IIHS Rating: Top Safety Pick (2019 Model)
Good First Car For A Teenager
With excitement and enraging hormones, teenagers are tough to handle. Such a spirit and enthusiasm is what makes parents worry about their safety behind the wheels.
In the USA, kids learn to drive in their teens. The late teen years are the ones where they go solo in this journey.
Our list of the 9 best safe cars for teenagers can help you a lot. The list has the best of the models with supreme safety features. You can pick anyone you like.
But if you ask us about our opinion on the good first car for a teenager from the list, we have a nice one. If we have to choose one car from the list, we will go for Subaru Impreza
Subaru Impreza
The Subaru Impreza is one of the most lovable and safest cars of the Subaru corporations. The car comes with a Sedan and 5-door body style, standard symmetrical all-wheel drive, and the eyesight drive assists technology that has now been made standard on every 2021 model.
The car is easy to steer with prominent safety features. On top of this, it is highly fuel-efficient, saving you a lot of money on fuel.
With high crash ratings, remodelled interior, and remote access through smartphone makes it the best first for a teenager.
Also, when it comes to safety, the company has done a marvellous job. With the latest safety features, you can finally be worry-free from the idea of your teenagers on the road all by themselves.
What makes Subaru Impreza the good choice?
Blind-Spot Detection: The car comes with blind-spot detection. Thus no worries about your kid bumping it anywhere.
Rear-view Camera: The car has a rear-view camera that can help your kids when they are parking, turning the car around, or accessing the traffic.
Rear Cross-Traffic Alert: It also has a rear cross-traffic alert which makes the driver aware if they are about to violate any traffic law.
This will save your dear kid from getting any of those traffic violation tickets.
Reverse Automatic Braking: Most of the time person damages his car is during reverse. It is a tricky job that even adults have a hard time mastering.
So it is obvious it can be dreadful for teenagers. To help your teenagers in this area, Impreza comes with reverse automatic braking.
If at any point the system feels like control going out of hand, it will apply automatic breaks.
Thus keeping your teen safe & sound.
Advanced Airbags: One of the most crucial safety features a car can offer are airbags. While some models offer a restricted number of airbags, Subaru Impreza has advanced airbags including side curtain airbags.
The overall protection from all sides makes it a good first car for a teenager.
Traffic Monitoring: Most young drivers get overwhelmed in severe traffic. Many start to panic which most of the time leads to accidents.
By keeping this in consideration the makers of Impreza have installed features that let it monitor the traffic.
With proper access, the vehicle adapts its cruise control accordingly and protecting your teenager from any unfortunate happening.
Price: You can purchase this best first car for a teenager at an affordable price of $20,895. The price may vary a bit depending on the state you reside in in the USA.
Safety Ratings: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has given the car fie star rating for its safety on the road.
Apart from this, The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has rated the car as “top safety pick”.
You can buy this affordable, easy to maneuver, 5-door spacious car for your teenager without any worry.
Your teen is going to love this vehicle with all its latest features.
Summing Up
Teenagers are the eager kids living their life to grow up fast. It is an age where they want to be the controller of their life choices and decisions.
Buying a car is such a decision. But it is hard to get something that suits both parents as well as their teenagers.
To help such parents, we have provided a list of the 9 best safe cars for teenagers. All the mentioned cars are loaded with the latest features along with safety as the prime concern.
Your kids can now enjoy the technological advancement they want in a car with you being completely assured of their safety.
FAQ Safest Car for Teenagers.
1. What would be a good first car?
A good first car depends on your age. For every age, there is a suitable car out there in the market.
If you are looking for a good first car for a teenager, then Subaru Impreza of the Subaru Company is the best choice.
2. What’s the safest car to give to a teenage driver?
The car companies are concerned about people’s safety more than ever. Every model you find in the market is equipped with the best safety gadgets.
Sometimes it can be overwhelming, so we have the list of 9 best safest cars you can give to a teenage driver:
- Subaru Crosstrek
- Honda Insight
- Subaru Impreza
- Hyundai Kona
- Mazda CX-3
- Chevrolet Equinox
- Kia Optima
- Toyota Corolla
- Nissan Kicks
3. How Much Does the Safe Cars for Teenagers’ Costs?
A car that comes with latest safety measures can cost you from $18,000 to $25,000.
4. What is a Good, Safe, Inexpensive, Starter car for Teenagers?
To get a starter car for your teenager that is good, safe, inexpensive you can look into the various models of the car brands. The top brands that we consider are:
- Hona
- Subaru
- Mazda
- Hyundai
5. What should I look for when buying a car for my teenager?
There are a lot of things that you must consider and look out for when buying a car for your teen kid.
- Firstly check out its safety scores
- Price available in the market
- Insurance safety
- Weight of the vehicle
- Electronic stability control
If the car has these basic features, you are good to go.
6. What cars would you recommend for a 17-year-old?
For a 17-year-old, there are few top cars that you can explore. The cars are a mixture of features, looks, and safety, making you and your teenager happy at the same time. Here are the best features as per our research:
- Subaru Impreza
- Hyundai Kona
- Mazda CX-3
- Kia Optima
- Toyota Corolla
- Nissan Kicks
- Subaru Crosstrek
- Honda Insight
- Chevrolet Equinox
7. Is it safe to buy a used “beater” car for a teenager or are possible hidden safety defects not worth the savings over buying a quality used car?
Well, if you want an honest answer, never buy a used car for your teenagers. Teenagers are risky drivers. So buying them something that has already been pushed to its limit is a bad idea.
Sure you will save quite a sum, but you will never be able to ensure the safety of your kid.
So the best idea is to use a brand new car with advanced safety features. You can have the good ones starting from $18,000.
8. Is Subaru Impreza a good first car for teenagers?
Yes. The car is filled with the best safety features and the latest technological advancement. It has strong safety scores from NHTSA & IIHS.
Also, the price range for the model goes from $18,500-$20,895.
