Parents of newly licensed teen drivers often want to reward their children with an car of their very own. In most cases, that means shopping for a previously owned vehcile. If you’re going to shop for a previously owned car for a young motorist, there are a few things you should keep in mind.
Safety scores are something that should be in the forefront of your mind, for example. Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issue safety ratings for cars based on how they perform in crash tests. Before you buy a vehicle for your teen, research the model’s safety scores to ensure it performed well when tested.
When you contact our Allentown, PA automotive group, we’ll tell you that the size and weight of an automobile are also factors you should consider. In general, cars that are larger and heavier are wiser picks for teen drivers.
You should also consider how much horsepower a given vehicle has under its hood. If an engine produces too much horsepower, a new motorist may be tempted to push their limits, which can create a dangerous situation for your child and everyone else on the road.
Beginning in model-year 2012, automobiles with a gross vehicle weight under 10,000 pounds were required to have electronic stability control. ESC is a feature that helps drivers maintain control of their car when making turns or traversing slick streets. To ensure your teen’s automobile has ESC, you may want to limit your search to cars produced in 2012 and later.
If you’re shopping for a car for a teen driver, you can’t go wrong by looking for a used Mazda CX-5 for sale or a used Volvo XC90 from select model years, according to the IIHS. To learn more, get in touch with Scott Lot now!
