Back To School: The Car Connection Picks Eight For Your Teen
While you may be out new-car shopping for yourself this coming weekend, it's just as likely you'll be looking for something to give to your teen driver. It's a fact of modern life for many families: to get to all the day's duties--everything between work and school--sometimes, you need a second, or even a third, set of wheels.
Buying a car for your son or daughter to drive to and from high school takes some thought. You might pick something sporty for yourself--but you want something different for your kids. It has to be safe. It has to be great on gas, and easy on repairs. It has to be affordable in price and for insurance--and it needs some basic features that protect the passengers and resale value at the same time.
We've scanned the list of new 2013 cars and set a base price target of around $18,000, and mandated some standard features, including power features, an automatic transmission, air conditioning, Bluetooth, and a decent base sound system with a USB port. From all those choices, these new cars make the best case for teen drivers:
- Base price: about $19,000
- Standard safety features: 10 airbags, OnStar, tire pressure monitor, daytime running lights
- NHTSA safety ratings: five stars overall
- Best highway gas mileage: 38 mpg (with six-speed automatic transmission)
- Standout features: Available Chevrolet MyLink mobile-app connectivity
The Cruze is a smart pick for anyone wanting safety, comfort and practicality in a compact sedan, but it is missing the fun-to-drive edge of some other compact models in the market.
- Base price: about $16,000
- Standard safety features: 10 airbags, OnStar
- NHTSA safety ratings: five stars overall
- Best highway gas mileage: 35 mpg (Sonic LS manual or automatic)
- Standout features: Chevrolet MyLink system and mobile-app connectivity
With a quiet, smooth ride, well-weighted steering and comfortable seats, the Sonic subcompact offers a lot of safety and refinement in a sporty-looking and sporty-driving package.
- Base price: about $18,000
- Standard safety features: 10 airbags, hill-start assist
- NHTSA safety ratings: not yet available
- Best highway gas mileage: 34 mpg
- Standout features: available Uconnect 8.4 touchscreen with AM/FM/CD/MP3 and available Sirius XM satellite radio; 14 interior combinations, 12 exterior colors, six wheel choices, and the ability to add over 150 Mopar accessories
The new Dart is instantly distinctive on the road with its attitude and rakish design, and is one of the roomiest in the market. With all the personalization available, there probably won’t be two identical Darts in your neighborhood – sure to appeal to style-conscious young drivers.
- Base price: about $18,000
- Standard safety features: Seven airbags
- NHTSA safety ratings: four stars overall
- Best highway gas mileage: 39 mpg
- Standout features: AM/FM/CD/MP3 six-speaker audio system, voice-activated SYNC, available power moonroof, remote start, numerous accessories for customization
The Fiesta is a fun-to-drive small car with sharp styling (especially the five-door hatchback), with well-coordinated colors and textures inside.
- Base price: around $18,0000
- Standard safety features: Six airbags, torque vectoring control system
- NHTSA safety ratings: not yet rated for overall, frontal or side, but four stars in rollover testing
- Best highway gas mileage: 38 mpg
- Standout features: available SYNC with MyFord Touch, MyKey technology, active park assist, eight unique wheel styles, available graphic package
The Focus is stylish, tech-focused and fun to drive. It also feels more upmarket compared to some other compact models.
2013 Hyundai Accent GLS Premium
- Base price: around $16,000
- Standard safety features: Six airbags
- NHTSA safety ratings: four stars overall
- Best highway gas mileage: 40 mpg
- Standout features: 172-watt AM/FM/SiriusXM/CD/MP3 audio system with six speakers, with Premium package, includes Bluetooth, steering wheel audio controls, fog lights, cruise control, rear disc brakes and 16-inch wheels
The Accent offers good gas mileage (40 mpg highway across the board), loads of features and a roomy and comfortable interior – even if it’s no longer the least expensive car you can buy.
2013 Hyundai Elantra GLS Preferred
- Base price: about $18,000
- Standard safety features: 6 airbags, daytime running lights, and anti-theft system integrated with remote keyless entry, panic alert and trunk open
- NHTSA safety ratings: five stars overall
- Best highway gas mileage: 40 mpg (with either six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission)
- Standout features: standard iPod/USB and auxiliary input jacks, XM Satellite radio; GLS Preferred package adds Bluetooth, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, fog lights, 16-inch wheels, heated front seats and more
The Elantra is one of the best compact cars available today for a number of reasons, including its stunning design and details, great gas mileage, an interior that rivals that of mid-size cars, and a complete list of features on the base sedan that make it a tremendous value.
- Base price: about $17,000
- Standard safety features: Six airbags, tire pressure monitor
- NHTSA safety ratings: four stars overall
- Best highway gas mileage: 35 mpg (manual or automatic transmission)
- Standout features: more than 60 add-on accessories for a more custom look and feel to this teen driver’s Soul
With its crisp design, nimble driving feel, roomy interior and lots of features for the money, style doesn’t preclude value in the Soul.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
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