5 Used Cars Under $6,000 Recommended For Teen Drivers

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Consumer Reports released their annual list of the safest used vehicles for teenage drivers last week. The list is made up of two different categories: best used choices and good used choices. We showcased the five cheapest cars on the best choices list last week, so if your budget for a first car is a bit more flush, between around $13,000 and $15,000, you should check out the five cars around that price bracket. 

This list, however, highlights the five outright cheapest used vehicles that both the IIHS and Consumer Reports recommend for teenage drivers, so all of these models are on the ‘good choices’ list, and they’re significantly less expensive. Unlike the ‘best choices,’ the cars on the ‘good choices’ list are not required to have standard automatic emergency braking systems that earn an advanced or superior rating from the IIHS, and they’re not required to have headlights that earn a good or acceptable rating from the IIHS.

All vehicles on the ‘good choices’ list do, however, weigh more than 2,750 pounds and earn a top rating of good in the IIHS’ driver-side small-overlap crash test. They also have average or better scores from Consumer Reports in braking and emergency and routine handling, and a minimum of two-out-of-five points for the usability of their controls and displays. Check out the full list for many more options.

Though it might not be the most titillating first car for a teenage driver, the 2012 to 2015 Volvo S80 is a refined, safe, and handsome car. Sadly, this year range disqualifies the Yamaha-developed 4.4-liter V8-powered Volvo S80, which was only offered between 2007 and 2010, but you don’t really want a new driver wringing out a V8 anyway. Sorry, teen drivers. Engine choices during this time period include a 3.2-liter inline-six cylinder for 2012 and 2014, and either a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine or a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six that produced 300 horsepower when new.

Volvo’s City Safety automatic emergency braking system became standard equipment on the S80 in 2012, so if you’re looking for a cheap option with automatic emergency braking, the S80 could be the right fit for your new driver. According to Black Book, as of April, 2026, the median retail price for 2012 Volvo S80s is about $5,600, making it the priciest option on this list.

The tied-for-third-most affordable cars on the list are the 2015-to-2025 Kia Soul and the 2015-to-2019 Chevrolet Sonic, though only Sonics built after February of 2015. The data used to make this list shows an average price for both vehicles of $5,300.

The Kia Soul is a versatile, roomy subcompact crossover, though it was exclusively sold with front-wheel drive, so it’s not going to be the right machine if your new driver is hoping to traverse any rough terrain. It’s pretty spacious, though, and it’s a relatively fuel-efficient option. Depending on which model year and engine you go with, the Soul received EPA estimates as high as 31 mpg combined.

The Chevrolet Sonic was Chevy’s subcompact car, and it was sold either as a sedan or a hatchback. The Sonic was engineered to look sporty and to offer a sporty driving experience according to Chevy, but it was a bit down on power. Thankfully, it had several variants that returned above 32 mpg combined in the EPA’s testing — so it’s a fuel-efficient option, too. Sonics built before February of 2015 received a marginal rating in the IIHS small overlap frontal crash test, but Sonics built after that month received structural changes that bumped its score up to the highest rating of good — so stick with the later models.

The 2015-to-2025 Nissan Sentra is the second-cheapest car that makes the list, with the average price of 2015 Sentras hovering around $4,700. Sadly, the seventh and eighth generations of Sentra are some of the most bland, boring, and banal NPC cars you can buy, but at least they earn good safety ratings, and they’re good on gas. Another benefit of Sentra ownership is the potential for available spare parts. This generation was around for a decade, so there should be ample replacement parts, and maintenance should be quite affordable. The same cannot necessarily be said about the cheapest car on this list.

The 2012-to-2024 Mini Countryman is the cheapest car to make this list, with an average price of around $4,600. Unlike the Sentra, though, the Countryman provides Mini’s signature spunky driving dynamics, and it was offered with all-wheel-drive, as well as in spiced-up Cooper S and JCW trim levels, so it’s arguably the most enthusiast-oriented car on this list as well as the cheapest. 

Unfortunately, those years of Mini Countryman models are not known to be especially reliable, easy to fix, or cheap to repair. But hey, it’s safe, fuel efficient, and fun to drive, so it might make the perfect first car for a budding car enthusiast who also wants to learn how to work on their own car.