As great as it would be for teens to be able to walk or bike anywhere they want to go, that isn’t really possible in most places around the country. Aside from the Bike Haters fighting tooth and nail to stop the construction of any separate bike infrastructure, you also have to worry about the cops showing up if you dare let your teen walk somewhere. So, outside of a few cities where it’s possible, if you don’t want your teen trapped at home any time you aren’t available to drive them, you have to make sure they have a car.
But what cars are actually good choices for teens? As a teen, I would have said a Subaru WRX STI, but as an adult, I wouldn’t let an inexperienced driver anywhere near a car you could call quick. Do you know how fast I was going right before I got my first speeding ticket? At least 90 mph. In a 55. Behind the wheel of a Mazda Protege that made like 90 horsepower when it was new (and before Mazda shackled it to a power-sucking automatic transmission). Teens are idiots who will speed in anything they get their hands on, and the last thing they need is a car that actually encourages that.
Also, yes, I know we’ve asked this question before, but it’s been a few years, and the car market changes over time, so the best suggestions for teens also change. Especially since used cars that may have been unaffordable for a teen driver in the past could now be better options thanks to the magic of continued depreciation.
My pick
The way I see it, you generally want something as small as possible, since teens are idiots and their friends are too. The fewer friends they can fit in their car, the fewer bad influences they’ll have whispering in their ear, telling them to do something stupid. You also probably want as little power as you can reasonably get away with, so it’s harder to get a ridiculous speeding ticket. Plus, you want basic safety features such as anti-lock brakes, since teens love rear-ending other drivers.
Of course, you might be tempted to go with a manual transmission to make it harder for your teen to play with their phone while driving, but as long as they have a place to charge it, I actually think the better move might be to go electric. Even without speed limiters, EVs encourage more responsible driving, since you can see your range drop every time you do something aggressive or irresponsible. And they’re going to need that range if they want to hang out with their idiot friends later.
In theory, I’d say a first-gen Fiat 500e would be perfect since they’re tiny, cheap and not too quick, but they charge so slowly, you probably won’t want to deal with the headache. Instead, I say go with a first-gen Chevrolet Bolt. They have rear doors and room for multiple bad influences, while also being quicker than I’d like, but you get more range and faster charging, which should make it less of a headache for you, the responsible adult in the room who’s going to have to go pick them up if they run out of juice. They also come with a lot of the safety features you’ll probably want and can be found for around $10,000. If it survives high school, they may even be able to take it to college.
What about you, though? What do you think is the perfect car for a new teen driver?
