What Should be your Teen’s First Car?

by Ryan Hanley
Pin It

I am often asked by parents, “What is a good first car for my new teen driver?”  I’m assuming parents ask me this question because I help many families with young drivers insure their first car and somehow that experience has given me great insight into what a good first car for a teen would be.  Unfortunately, this experience only allows me the expertise of knowing which vehicles are more cost effective to insure for young drivers.  What I tell parents is this, when choosing a first car for your young driver there are three factors to consider: the initial cost, the vehicle’s safety features, and insurance premiums.

This is an excellent article posted on Leaseguide.com about the Best Cars for Teens. If you are in the process of purchasing a first car for your teen driver I highly recommend taking the time to read through the Leaseguide.com article.  From there you can create of list of potential vehicles for your search which have a low initial cost, good safety features, and affordable insurance premiums.

Insurance wise I would keep the following in mind when choosing a first car:

  • NO high performance vehicles, especially older high performance vehicles with limited safety features (You may end paying more in insurance premiums than you did for the car).
  • Airbags, Automatic seatbelts, Day-Time Running Lights, Anti-Lock Brakes, and Theft Deterent Systems all provide discounts.
  • Pickup Trucks & Mini-Vans often rate lower for insurance purposes than cars (Not that your teen is going to want to drive a Mini-Van).

Choosing a first car for your teen can be a stressful task. However, by doing a little homework you do not have to worry about second guessing your decision.  There are safe, inexpensive cars out there that you and/or your teen can afford to insure.  You just have to find them, Good Luck!

And always remember to have everyone in your family take Defensive Driving!  The savings are too big to procrastinate on.  For an approved online defensive driving course click the following link: American Safety Council.

Disclaimer:

This article is for informational purposely only. There is no legal advice being suggested or proffered and the author assumes no responsibility or liability for the actions take or not taken by the readers based upon such information.

Thank you,

Ryan H.

For more information on increasing your insurance acumen, subscribe to the RSS Feed or my Email Newsletter. Follow me on Twitter, connect to me on LinkedIn, or Like the Albany Insurance Professional on Facebook.

If you would like to discuss receiving a proposal for either your personal or business insurance program email me, or call me at (518) 456-6688.

Read my syndicated post on Health Insurance originally published to Under30CEO.com 4 Pieces of Advice on Health Insurance for Entrepreneurs.

Pin It
Subscribe Today!
Get Access to My Free Newsletter and Receive a Copy of:

"10 Social Tools Essential to Business Blogging Success"

About Ryan Hanley

I passionately believe learning to effectively communicate online will help each of us to become the best version of ourselves...

  • Snobord94

    when i got my license at age 16 my dad gave me his jaguar xj. My parents had alot of cars and i could use any of them. They let me use the porsches and some of the other cars they have. The jaguar breaks down alot so its expensive to fix it so make sure to get him a well working car.

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    Great advice! If the kid likes the car he/she may take a little more responsibility to not wreck it!

    Mine was a Rust White 1988 Ford Ranger named Charlene… ha!

  • http://insuranceinenglish.wordpress.com Melissa Cibelli

    Great tips, Ryan. I think too often teens don't realize how expensive they can be to insure and a safe car can go a long way in reducing rates, and protecting them too!

    On a personal note, I'd also say, give your kid a car with character, one you can look back on and tell stories about. I'm STILL telling stories about the adventures I had in my 1988 Pontiac Boat.. er.. Bonneville. :)

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    Great advice! If the kid likes the car he/she may take a little more responsibility to not wreck it!

    Mine was a Rust White 1988 Ford Ranger named Charlene… ha!

  • http://insuranceinenglish.wordpress.com Melissa Cibelli

    Great tips, Ryan. I think too often teens don't realize how expensive they can be to insure and a safe car can go a long way in reducing rates, and protecting them too!

    On a personal note, I'd also say, give your kid a car with character, one you can look back on and tell stories about. I'm STILL telling stories about the adventures I had in my 1988 Pontiac Boat.. er.. Bonneville. :)

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    Jason,

    That is a great idea. I've never thought about the fact that you can't text when you have to shift… Excellent idea… I will pass that along to my insured!

    Thanks

    Ryan H.

  • http://www.javerlin74.com/ Jason Verlinde

    Ryan:

    I recently had this discussion with one of my neighbors. He has three children in their late teens, early twenties. His philosophy with his kids was to get them a regular cab pickup with a manual transmission. Not because of the cost to insure but because they could only cart around one other person. Also with the manual transmission, it makes it extremely difficult to talk on the phone, text, eat, etc! The less distractions the better!!

    I thought he had some great ideas and have shared them with quite a few of my insureds.

    Jason
    @javerlin74

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    Thanks Cielito! In early years of driving safety and good line of sight are important for young drivers! like you said get a few years of accident/ticket fre under your belt and then make a move to a more intense vehicle if you like.

  • Cielito Villanueva

    Great idea for an article Ryan. I remember a few years back as a personal lines broker that parents would ask me all the time about which car to get for their child. While it's true that insurance is a big part of a car buyers decision, it becomes less crucial as they get more accident-free years under their belt. I just find it amazing how some are willing to pay over $10,000 a year on insurance for a sports car but to each their own.

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    I love that advice… ” take a poll of what their friends would like to have, and don't buy anything on the list.”

    I am probably going to steal that line for when I talk to parents from now on!

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    I love that advice… ” take a poll of what their friends would like to have, and don't buy anything on the list.”

    I am probably going to steal that line for when I talk to parents from now on!

  • mm242099

    Outside of no-fault states like NY and MI, full size pickups are the most expensive class of vehicle to have insurance on. They tend to be owned and driven by a high percentage of single, young, male drivers, henceforth the frequency of accidents and the cost to settle claims is higher compared to most other vehicles. Generally, vehicles with limited seating, i.e. trucks rate better in no-fault states where injuries in the vehicle make a big difference in premium.

    What I typically tell people shopping for a teenager's car, is to take a poll of what their friends would like to have, and don't buy anything on the list. Typically vehicles that are popular with kids cost more to insure.

  • Pingback: Vote on this article at blogengage.com