You're in luck; we've compiled a list of our top vehicle picks
for teen drivers. (See "
The best cars for teen drivers
")
We assembled our list by looking at safety information from
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
, information on pricing from
Edmunds.com
, reliability data from
TrueDelta
, and the ever-so-important fuel economy from Fuelly.
Finally, we looked at the cost of insurance. The auto
insurance rates shown on our list of cars will differ from yours,
since your personal information like location, miles driven per
year, etc. are rating factors that change premiums. However, our
list will give you a general idea of how our top picks' car
insurance rates stack up against each other and give you a starting
point for getting your own quotes.
At the top of our list was the 2008 Audi A3, but there are also
models manufactured by Honda, Ford, Nissan and many others, so
likely there is a car that you and your son can agree on would be a
good fit for him. If not, you can do your own research using
our general strategy:
- Start with the top safety choices from whatever year or years
fall within your price range. Safer cars generally have better
claims records, and that allows insurance companies to charge
less for premiums.
- Then look at gas mileage. That should be your largest ongoing
expense after insurance, but the fewer miles your teen drives,
the smaller the impact of gas mileage.
- Then look at reliability records. Ultimately, after a certain
number of years, reliability records become, well, less reliable,
and what matters is how well the previous owner took care of the
car.
Adding a young driver to your policy, especially a male, can
cause your car insurance rates to go way up, even double in some
cases. I'd advise narrowing down your choices to a few
vehicles and then getting rate quotes on each one, to see if the
difference in auto premiums will make one car stand out as a better
buy.
It may be possible for your son to get a policy of his own, but
typically it's more expensive and it's more complicated than just
adding him and his car to your policy. First, you'd have to
contact your state's Department of Motor Vehicles to make sure your
son can put a car in his name as a minor. Not all states
allow this.
If he can title a car in his name, then your son will need to
see if he can find someone to insure him as a minor. Most car
insurance companies won't issue a car insurance policy to a minor
unless a parent signs on it as well.
If he is put on your policy, instead of his own, there are
discounts you both could take advantage of, such as multi-car (for
insuring more than one car on a policy) and multi-policy discounts
(if you have your home and auto policies bundled with the same
insurer).
Shopping around for the best deal on car insurance is a must
when adding a teenager to your policy, as is making sure you
receive all the available discounts, including a good student
discount, if he is eligible. (See "A parent's guide to insuring a
teen driver")