What 2019 Car/SUV for teen drivers?

[disneymagicgirl]

The best 2018 car for a teen driver is a 2008 or older vehicle. New drivers are going to ding and dent as they gain experience. Don't waste money on a new car.

Buy a cheap reliable vehicle in cash. Avoid collision insurance and get up your liability. For my new driver, I got them a 2002 Toyota Solara that runs excellent for $1200 with no collision option and increased the liability protection to 100,000/300,000. The one and only vehicle I will by buy them.

I tried that for DD when she was 16 for all the reasons you mentioned. Bought a Honda Accord because we are Honda people. Well, not 3 years later, here we are car shopping because it needs a whole new engine.
I’m now buying a new car, under warranty...Toyota for $17k. I will not need to sink any money into it for repairs thru college grad, and then it becomes her responsibility.

The $6500 we spent on the accord and its subsequent repairs and maintenance was a waste.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

No problem I was just curious as to what you didn't like about it?

It is a reliability thing. There a lot of cars I love the look of but would never buy because of reliability. But plenty of people do buy those same cars. Not right or wrong, just personal preference.

 

[cbl1]

Kia and Hyundai dealers around me seem to be doing well (all stand alone dealership/service too).

 

[tvguy]

Kia and Hyundai dealers around me seem to be doing well (all stand alone dealership/service too).

Yeah I just don't get it. Although the current Kia dealership is one of those that really don't focus on selling cars, they focus on selling loans to people would not otherwise be able to get a loan, and they sell lots of used cars. And then have a huge repossession department.

 

[J'aime Paris]

We recently leased a new Chevy Equinox for our DD 19.
We like that she has On Star with her at all times if necessary!

 

[davper]

I tried that for DD when she was 16 for all the reasons you mentioned. Bought a Honda Accord because we are Honda people. Well, not 3 years later, here we are car shopping because it needs a whole new engine.
I’m now buying a new car, under warranty...Toyota for $17k. I will not need to sink any money into it for repairs thru college grad, and then it becomes her responsibility.

The $6500 we spent on the accord and its subsequent repairs and maintenance was a waste.

I would not expect a car you buy for a new driver to last more than 2 years. Any more than that, bonus.

 

[tvguy]

I tried that for DD when she was 16 for all the reasons you mentioned. Bought a Honda Accord because we are Honda people. Well, not 3 years later, here we are car shopping because it needs a whole new engine.
I’m now buying a new car, under warranty...Toyota for $17k. I will not need to sink any money into it for repairs thru college grad, and then it becomes her responsibility.

The $6500 we spent on the accord and its subsequent repairs and maintenance was a waste.

I guess it's glass half full, half empty kind of debate. For another $2,000, you could have put a new engine in the Honda, been into it for $8,500, and saved $8,500.

 

[tvguy]

I would not expect a car you buy for a new driver to last more than 2 years. Any more than that, bonus.

I was a lot more optimistic with my 2 kids, and a lot luckier I guess.

I passed my car on to my son...a 13 year old Mercury Sable with 100,000 miles on it, and bought myself a new car. He drove it 4 years until his sister got her license, then I bought him a 1 year old 2006 Taurus from Hertz for $9,995. He drove that Taurus 10 years until he totaled it last November. He's out of the house, married and 31 so it wasn't my problem.
DD drove that Sable for a year until she totaled it. Actually, since it was 18 years old, I didn't even bother to get a repair estimate. I bought her a 1 year old 2007 Taurus from Hertz for $9,500. 2 weeks ago SHE bought her first car on her own, and that Taurus is back in my hands, 11 years old with less than 90,000 miles on it. It will become my car, and I am selling the 2003 Focus I bought way back when since it has 160,000 miles on it.

 

[mom2alix]

Subaru has some great lease deals going. I saw one last week for either the Forester or Outback for $199/month. I have a Legacy right now, and had an Outback before. LOVE them. Not sure if you live somewhere where all wheel drive is important, but it’s been wonderful here in the snow, etc.

 

[tvguy]

Someone put I shouldn't have gotten the Jeep Compass - then deleted? What did you have against the Jeep Compass (its actually a completely new model just came out last year).

So far we have liked everything about it. Not to big - not to small. About every safety feature. Even 4-wheel drive modes for bad weather.

Now Forbes has the Jeep Compass on it's list of 15 new cars to avoid. http://www3.forbes.com/business/15-new-cars-to-avoid/6/

 

[Communicore1991]

I would look at a GMC Terrain. Available with AWD, not too expensive but American made, reliable, has OnStar. It’s nearly identical to Chevy but I always find you get more bang for your buck with GMC and they are usually a bit cheaper with more features. New Terrains also have Android Auto/Apple CarPlay which may be something to consider for a teen driver especially with iOS having Do Not aDisturb While Driving.

Jeeps to me have always seemed relatively expensive and with not as much to offer. Again, just my personal preference.

 

[GZanta77]

I guess it's glass half full, half empty kind of debate. For another $2,000, you could have put a new engine in the Honda, been into it for $8,500, and saved $8,500.

Hmmmm....not sure about 'saved'. Over the next 3 years, who knows what else would need replacing on that Honda - transmission? Struts? etc. Plus routine servicing costs etc and you end up with a car worth maybe $2000?

Conversely - the toyota is covered for anything going wrong, and service costs probably included for 2 years. After 3 years it might be worth $11k+ depending on mileage?

Agree that the likelihood is that you would save money with the used car, but the difference is not always as great as you might think. The extra few $$$ buys a lot of peace of mind - not least that your teenager is far less likely to get stuck on the side of a road in the middle of the night with a piston breaking out of the hood.

 

[tvguy]

Hmmmm....not sure about 'saved'. Over the next 3 years, who knows what else would need replacing on that Honda - transmission? Struts? etc. Plus routine servicing costs etc and you end up with a car worth maybe $2000?

Conversely - the toyota is covered for anything going wrong, and service costs probably included for 2 years. After 3 years it might be worth $11k+ depending on mileage?

Agree that the likelihood is that you would save money with the used car, but the difference is not always as great as you might think. The extra few $$$ buys a lot of peace of mind - not least that your teenager is far less likely to get stuck on the side of a road in the middle of the night with a piston breaking out of the hood.

Transmission, another $2,000. Struts, $500. You should never look at what a car is worth, you should look at the value of the transportation that those repairs are getting you, and a much lower price than another car.
Peace of mind I can't put a value on. My family car will be 31 years old in October. Bought it new. 2 transmissions, 1 ac compressor, 2 radiators, 2 water pumps, 1 power steering pump have added up to less than $10,000 in repairs over 30+ years. And, yes I have all the receipts. Replacing it, with new, $50,000+. Used, probably $30-35,000. It is still our vacation/weekend/long distance driving vehicle.

 

[JinxedSydney]

I would look at a GMC Terrain. Available with AWD, not too expensive but American made, reliable, has OnStar. It’s nearly identical to Chevy but I always find you get more bang for your buck with GMC and they are usually a bit cheaper with more features. New Terrains also have Android Auto/Apple CarPlay which may be something to consider for a teen driver especially with iOS having Do Not aDisturb While Driving.

Jeeps to me have always seemed relatively expensive and with not as much to offer. Again, just my personal preference.

Be very careful with the year of Terrain or Equinox. I have a 2012 Equinox (same GM engines) and there is a service bulletin about excessive oil consumption. I just had an entire engine replaced, but it was no small task to get the dealership to fix it.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I guess it's glass half full, half empty kind of debate. For another $2,000, you could have put a new engine in the Honda, been into it for $8,500, and saved $8,500.

It was $5k for the engine.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I would not expect a car you buy for a new driver to last more than 2 years. Any more than that, bonus.

Why? We have driven multiple Honda’s to 300k miles with nothing but oil changes and tires. I expected no less from hers.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Hmmmm....not sure about 'saved'. Over the next 3 years, who knows what else would need replacing on that Honda - transmission? Struts? etc. Plus routine servicing costs etc and you end up with a car worth maybe $2000?

Conversely - the toyota is covered for anything going wrong, and service costs probably included for 2 years. After 3 years it might be worth $11k+ depending on mileage?

Agree that the likelihood is that you would save money with the used car, but the difference is not always as great as you might think. The extra few $$$ buys a lot of peace of mind - not least that your teenager is far less likely to get stuck on the side of a road in the middle of the night with a piston breaking out of the hood.

Yes exactly. She drives to college and back several times a semester 3 hours away. I was stressing about sending her in the accord. Older therefore less safety standards and not to mention all several mechanical issues in the last year before it bit the dust. I am glad I have seen it towed from my driveway for the last time.
We bought her the new corolla LE through the costco auto program this week. It was great! So easy! And got the factory cash back on top of the costco price. Now she has a brand new car with all the latest safety features that should last her til she is 30+ if she takes good care of it. New toyota= $16,500. Routine maintenance for next 24 months=free. Peace of mind = priceless.
I’m usually one to buy a car that is a few years old and low miles. But I’m this case I could get the brand new with warranty for only $2k more than the 2015 with 10k miles. Was a no brainer.

 

[tvguy]

It was $5k for the engine.

Clearly that was a dealer. There are many independent Honda specialty shops around, the according to the Honda Tech forum the average price there is $2,000 to $2,500 if you need a new block.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Clearly that was a dealer. There are many independent Honda specialty shops around, the according to the Honda Tech forum the average price there is $2,000 to $2,500 if you need a new block.

It wasn’t a dealer but we live in a high income area so everything is more expensive than normal.
I don’t know what all the $5k entailed but he said that was to get it running long term. A temp fix was $1800.

 

[Eastern]

I wouldn't buy a new car and then let new drivers use it. I have 3 kids and while they were careful drivers, they were still learning those first few years. They always drove the older cars we had. No major accidents but lots of fender benders and dings, some their fault, some not, and some based on where they tended to park. A ding or dent on a cheaper used car is just a blip. It hurts more when it's your brand new vehicle.

Also never got the dings and dents fixed before trading in. Saved the deductible amount and probably got the same (low) amount for the trades anyway.