Reader question:

My fifteen year old has a birthday next week and I wanted to get her a car. Still, I intend to have her make her own car insurance payments, so I want to get something that is both good for a teenager to drive and good for getting safe teen car insurance policy rates. What kind of car should I get?

Charles

Thanks for asking, Charles.

Buying a car for a teenager is difficult, because not only do you want to make them happy, but you also want the best for them both financially and as concerns safety. For this reason, lots of thought should be put into such a choice, especially considering the high teen car insurance policy premiums that your daughter will be paying out of her own pocket. It is good to teach her responsibility for making payments, but it is also good to teach her how to get a deal. Here are some tips for buying your teen a good car.

• Keep it simple. There’s no need to get your teenage daughter a sports car, no matter how much she dreams about driving up to school in one. I think this is important, even if you have enough money to do it. Car accidents happen at a much higher rate in sports cars, the premiums are high, and this kind of vehicle might encourage a teenager to be less responsible.
• Pay attention to gravity. Everything that goes up must come down, but there also has to be a steady center of gravity in a vehicle so that it doesn’t roll over in bad conditions. Rollovers are more likely to happen among teens because new drivers panic more easily when they lose control of their vehicle. SUVs, for example, don’t have good centers of gravity and roll over more often.
• Safety features such as electronic stability control and traction control can help avoid accidents for teens who still don’t drive like experts.
• Keep it big, keep it small. What? The idea is to keep it in the middle. Small cars a might be cute and cheap on gas, but in a car accident with a bigger car they will get crushed and the fatality and injury rates are higher. Bigger cars may be safe, but in a car accident they will crush the other car, which means high car insurance coverage rates for collision. A mid sized vehicle is both economic and safe.
• Get something new, but not too new. Safety features by the dozen come equipped on most new cars, so it’s a good idea to get your teen something that protects them the most. However, newer cars also carry higher car insurance rates, so you can get a car that’s a few years old and get the same benefits.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.