What 2019 Car/SUV for teen drivers?

[4kids4karen]

What 2019 Car/SUV for teen drivers?

The title is a little misleading because it would be my primary vehicle but two teens allowed to drive it a couple days a week and weekends.

So my lease is coming to an end at the end of this year, so I have a little time. I am debating keeping the vehicle and it becoming DH primary vehicle, and then I would trade in his vehicle for a new one for me.

Note: I work in insurance, so I do not need any feedback on insurance.

My vehicle: Leased: 2016 Hyundai Sonata Limited with all the bells and whistles. My commute is less than 12 miles to work.

My DH vehicle: Loan: 2014 Hyundai Tuscon. Probably has high miles in comparison to average miles. I don't have the number. DH commutes 32 miles to work one way, five days a week. This vehicle has been on several road long road trips.

My preferred option: Keep the leased vehicle but give it to DH as his primary driver. Trade in DH veh for something else that I would like and that the kids could borrow.

Vehicles I am thinking about... for some reason, I want a small white SUV either a Hyundai, Kia, Honda, etc. Not any luxury brands. DD wants a Mazda as many of her friends drive a Mazda, I have never owned a Mazda. We were behind a white Kia Sportage the other day and DD said "I like that one." LOL. I would also consider a smaller car like a Honda Civic with the thought that in 3 years I would give it to one of my kids and get myself a new vehicle.

So, I am not a car person, but we have always bought new. The only used vehicle I have owned was a car I bought from my brother when he was going overseas and 4 years later, gave it back to him. My brother has also given my son a car Kia before (don't recall the model) when he was going overseas again and getting rid of cars.

What smaller SUV or Car would be a good 2019 or even 2018 model to look at. I would want it with all the bells and whistles as I like the newer features on vehicles. I no longer have any small kids that rid in my car so no child safety seats required.

 

[ceecee]

I love my Honda CR-V, when DD got her license and needed a car I gave her mine and bought a new one for myself. They have high safety ratings (at least the years I bought did) and are perfect for new drivers. On both, they have been very reliable and just regular maintenance.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

My DD's car just died this week. She is in college and planning to take a car next year, so we are about to replace it. We are going brand new so the warranty covers everything until she graduates, then maintence/repairs become her issue, unless we can find a 2017 or 2018 with under 10k miles that saves us a couple thousand bucks. I rely on consumer reports for everything. The April issue was all about cars.
We have narrowed it down to Toyota Yaris or Corolla. Both under $20k. Both will be very reliable for her. Both on consumer reports best new and used cars lists.

 

[cvjw]

My 18 year old drives a 2016 Toyota rav 4 sport with the technology package. Absolutely love this little suv. I drive a Honda Odyssey and would consider a rav 4 for myself when no longer needing a minivan. It is the perfect size, looks fantastic and drives like a dream. It is also super reliable, has a great resale value and gets great gas mileage.

My 22 year old son drives a Mazda 6, purchased new when he graduated high school. I would not recommend purchasing a Mazda, and I will never buy another one. It just seems like every few months, there is a new safety recall on it. We have owned lots of different vehicles, but this Mazda hands down has the most recalls. Right now, there is a recall on the braking system which could be a safety hazard. Such a pain having to take it to the dealership for the recalls.

 

[4kids4karen]

I just returned from the Hyundai dealership and am now considering just turning in my for the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. The Kona, Elantra, and Tuscon, I just didn't care for. The Kona makes sense for a college kid, but I have to consider that at times all four of us, or I could be driving two to three kids to events. The Kona and Elantra back seats are just too small.

DH says he is fine keeping his Tuscon. He rather keep it since it is almost paid for. I guess since I never drive it, I guess I shouldn't really care. LOL. HIs last vehicle he keep for a really long time as well.

I didn't have time to go to other dealerships today. The dealer said the 2019 body style was different so I just looked it up to see what changes the 2019 will have.

 

[4kids4karen]

My 18 year old drives a 2016 Toyota rav 4 sport with the technology package. Absolutely love this little suv. I drive a Honda Odyssey and would consider a rav 4 for myself when no longer needing a minivan. It is the perfect size, looks fantastic and drives like a dream. It is also super reliable, has a great resale value and gets great gas mileage.

My 22 year old son drives a Mazda 6, purchased new when he graduated high school. I would not recommend purchasing a Mazda, and I will never buy another one. It just seems like every few months, there is a new safety recall on it. We have owned lots of different vehicles, but this Mazda hands down has the most recalls. Right now, there is a recall on the braking system which could be a safety hazard. Such a pain having to take it to the dealership for the recalls.

I like the look of the Rav4. I will have to stop by and check it out.

 

[tiggerluver12]

I recently purchased a 2017 Hyundai Tuscan and love it. When looking I drove the 2018 Toyota Rav4 and hated it. The Rav4's ride is horrible - extremely bumpy. My husband was in the backseat and said it was like riding on bricks. The Hyundai's have a much smoother comfortable ride and you can't beat their warranty. Go with the Santa Fe!

 

[belle032]

I’ve had 2 Kia Sorrentos and I loved them. One was my first car and it never gave me an issue. Price isn’t bad for an SUV either and they really are nice looking.

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee now, but we test drove a Compass and liked it. Little to small for us though. When I trade in this Jeep, I’ll more than likely go back to a Kia.

 

[bananasplitkids]

I purchased a Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring 5 months ago and love it. Haven't had any problems. I really like how stylish they look and the grand touring comes with all the bells and whistles. When researching, I looked into consumer reports for each model I was interested in, did test drives of each, and I also frequented Reddit. Reddit was very valuable as I could talk to current owners and see what issues they currently have with their vehicles, I found there were subreddits for each brand I was interested in.

 

[Klayfish]

I work in insurance too, claims specifically. I'm also obsessed with cars in my personal life.

If you're going to let your kids drive, don't get an SUV. Get a car. SUVs roll over a lot easier and don't do anything better than a car (unless you're hauling stuff, in which case a minivan would do FAR better). Most of the new small SUVs share a platform with cars anyway. The RAV4 is related to the Corolla, the CR-V is related to the Civic, etc... SUVs are very fashionable and clearly that sells a ton of them. There's no denying that...heck, Ford is about to stop making most passenger cars and focus on SUVs in North America. But that's just because of market demand, most modern small to mid-size SUVs/CUVs really don't do anything particularly well...can't go offroad, have less room than a van, use more gas than a comparable car, don't handle well compared to the car they're based on, etc...)

If you must get an SUV, the Santa Fe, which is related to the Kia Sorento, is certainly a good choice. Honda and Toyota are also dead nuts reliable. Mazda is also very good. The Ford and GM stuff are sort of so-so. Stay away from Chrysler/Jeep, and anything German (VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedes)

 

[christineinvegas]

I process factory warranties for a Toyota dealership, but have worked at numerous other brands. I vote for Honda or Toyota.

Personally, I love the Toyota Venza, but they don't make it anymore and you'd have to buy used.

 

[Klayfish]

If you're a fan of Hyundai/Kia (they're very closely related to each other...siblings), I have one other suggestion. I'm a fan too, we've had several of them...we have a Kia Sedona as our family hauler. I wouldn't buy a car new, regardless of brand, because it's a huge money loss as soon as you drive it off the lot. This is especially true with Hyundai/Kia, they depreciate like they were on fire. But you can use this to your advantage. If you want a safe, reliable nice car with all the bells and whistles, look at a 2 or 3 year old Hyundai Azera or Kia Cadenza. They're based on the Sonata and Optima, but have more bells/whistles/luxury. Power everything, power rear sunshade, panoramic sunroof, heated and ventilated seats, all the electronic wizardry, etc... You can pick up a low mileage one with a nice warranty (look for a CPO car) for the same price you'd pay for a new Elantra...and far less than you'd pay for a new loaded Santa Fe. I was just looking at them. I could have bought a 2014 for somewhere around $16-$17k. If you want a newer one, say '15 or '16, you'll go into the mid-20's.

 

[pixiegoose]

I like the look of the Rav4. I will have to stop by and check it out.

If you even *think* you might need 3 passengers in the backseat, stay away from the Rav4. It can only safely seat 2 backseat passengers at a time due to overlapping seatbelts. Even its owners manual states that it can only safely seat 2 in the backseat.

 

[tvguy]

Drive a Ford Fusion Hybrid. We rented one for a week in March and were amazed. Got 40+ mpg in comfort. My daughter was so impressed she bought one 10 days ago. Got 50 MPG on her first tank of gas, and a friend has the plug in (Energi) version and he averages 80 mpg.
Just test drive one, you will be impressed.

 

[GZanta77]

Love our 2015 Mazda CX-5. 60,000 trouble free miles. There has been two recalls that I can remember and both were handled during routine service visits. The ride on the CX-5 is on the firmer side, but it is a fun drive for an SUV.

DS17 drives a 2015 Ford Escape. We were originally thinking of a Focus/Civic/Corolla for DS, but a friend showed us some statistics on teen driving fatalities - and it seemed they were far safer in SUV's or large sedans.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Which are the safest vehicles according to insurance statistics?

 

[Klayfish]

Which are the safest vehicles according to insurance statistics?

Those statistics really don't mean anything. The "safest" from insurance perspective has a ton to do with the people that drive them, not the car itself. Not only that, those statistics also stem from the damage the vehicle causes to others, not just the damage to the car (and people) the company insures. You're better off using IIHS crash data. Most modern cars are quite safe.

 

[kymom99]

I work in insurance too, claims specifically. I'm also obsessed with cars in my personal life.

If you're going to let your kids drive, don't get an SUV. Get a car. SUVs roll over a lot easier and don't do anything better than a car (unless you're hauling stuff, in which case a minivan would do FAR better). Most of the new small SUVs share a platform with cars anyway. The RAV4 is related to the Corolla, the CR-V is related to the Civic, etc... SUVs are very fashionable and clearly that sells a ton of them. There's no denying that...heck, Ford is about to stop making most passenger cars and focus on SUVs in North America. But that's just because of market demand, most modern small to mid-size SUVs/CUVs really don't do anything particularly well...can't go offroad, have less room than a van, use more gas than a comparable car, don't handle well compared to the car they're based on, etc...)

If you must get an SUV, the Santa Fe, which is related to the Kia Sorento, is certainly a good choice. Honda and Toyota are also dead nuts reliable. Mazda is also very good. The Ford and GM stuff are sort of so-so. Stay away from Chrysler/Jeep, and anything German (VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedes)

I know a lot of people will defend their SUVs, and I did love the one I had. But I remember one time driving on the highway and having to avoid something in the road. I swerved and felt the car feel like it was going to flip over. It was frightening. I'm like you. I wouldn't want an inexperienced driver to use one all the time if I could help it. But there are other good things about them so I can see both sides.

 

[amcnj]

Drive a Ford Fusion Hybrid. We rented one for a week in March and were amazed. Got 40+ mpg in comfort. My daughter was so impressed she bought one 10 days ago. Got 50 MPG on her first tank of gas, and a friend has the plug in (Energi) version and he averages 80 mpg.
Just test drive one, you will be impressed.

I drove my son's Fusion (non hybrid) across country for a move, and I have to say I agree, it was comfortable and I was impressed by the mileage. I never had an ache or pain during several long days of driving, something I was fearing as I have had some pain or stiffness from driving other vehicles for the 15 hour trip to WDW. In fact I drove just as long and far the first day as I do to WDW and never even felt the need to stop and stretch my legs. It must just have seats that work for me. I would have to check the figures, but believe the mileage averaged in the low to mid 30's, which impressed me as a lot of the driving was at high speeds. My car at the time definitely got much worse mileage whenever I went above say 70 mph. And I was often far above that speed!

 

[davper]

The best 2018 car for a teen driver is a 2008 or older vehicle. New drivers are going to ding and dent as they gain experience. Don't waste money on a new car.

Buy a cheap reliable vehicle in cash. Avoid collision insurance and get up your liability. For my new driver, I got them a 2002 Toyota Solara that runs excellent for $1200 with no collision option and increased the liability protection to 100,000/300,000. The one and only vehicle I will by buy them.