Gadgetory

when we talk about best and often first cars for teens very different images appear in one's mind's eye depending if you are the teen in question or the parent have said well the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety can broker this one with a new set of recommendations as of the end of 2015 they have good choices and best choices with four and five-star crash rating at both under 10k and under 20k price levels isay rode in on a sweet spot the few cars that are at the intersection of best choice and under 10 grand there are 20 vehicles that make that cut rather than run through them all here I've got a link to the list in the show notes for episode 80 at CNET on cars comm but let me summarize a few bullets first of all a lot of Volvo's are out there real safe and real cheap midsize cars like fusions and Jettas those are going to be the lion's share of your best choices and no pickup minivan or full-sized SUV makes the cut some chestnuts in terms of car type high horsepower doesn't make a lot of sense and frankly young driver the coolest drivers out there are the ones who get it done with the least machine anybody with cash or credit can buy performance sad but true bigger heavier vehicles remain safer that flies in the face of intelligent and efficient design but physics or physics as long as big cars and smaller cars collide you kind of want to be in the bigger car compact crossovers those are a nice compromise however and by nothing without electronic stability control after airbags and anti-lock brakes this is the third of the big three that have fundamentally changed auto safety ESC is mandatory since model year 2012 and that alone can quickly shorten your shopping list some market notes time is on your side every day you wait more used cars come on the market with later and better safety tech pushing down the price of that tech due to supply and the average teen car purchase price is a rather lofty ninety eight hundred dollars says IIHS the median more reasonable 5300 but be aware at that price point you might leave out some recent safety debt more realities of modern driving revealed now at CNET on cars comm click on smarter driving