Who is a teen driver? Thirteen to nineteen-year-olds behind the wheel are teen drivers. This age group is particularly eager to learn to drive and, as the US Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration says, makes up 3.6% of licensed drivers in America. It’s a high percentage, and their immaturity, inexperience, and risk-taking tendencies are exactly why parents and guardians should carefully consider the kind of car they choose or recommend for their teens.
The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) found more 15–20-year-old drivers were speeding at the time of fatal accidents than any other age group. A similar report by the NHTSA showed the same age bracket made up 9% of all distracted drivers and 11% of drivers engaged with their cellphones at the time of fatal accidents.
Perhaps even more alarming is that teen drivers (aged 15 to 19), according to the NIH (National Institute of Health), have the highest rate of car crashes among all age groups in the United States. In fact, the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control says car crashes are the leading cause of death for 15–24-year-olds in America. We can, at least, choose more suitable cars that balance budget, safety, and practicality. The following, in our opinion, is the worst.
Jeep Wrangler
The Wrangler is hardly the right car for newbies, especially with its flat windshield and steering wheel positioned closer than in most vehicles. It comes into its own offroad but handles just as poorly on the regular roads, where we assume your teen would be driving it the most.
Responding to a teen who wanted to know what they thought about the Wrangler as a first car, Tom and Ray at CarTalk answered that the Wrangler “has only one thing going for it. It’s cute.” Despite its cuteness, the Jeep Wrangler has a strong appeal for a niche market that shouldn’t include young, inexperienced drivers.
The SUV’s short wheelbase, low gearing, poor aerodynamics, and high center of gravity heighten its rollover risk. You couldn’t have chosen a less safe car for teen drivers. Some models use plastic flaps and flimsy slabs of sheet metal for the windows and doors, and the interior is notoriously confining. Plus, the fuel economy is one of the lousiest.
Chevrolet Corvette
The Corvette is one of the worst choices for youngish drivers, even if you’re confident the teen in question drives responsibly. There are so many Corvettes on the road that people seem to forget it’s not a Camry.
You have to remember that even the cheapest base model has 460 hp on tap, and for a car that weighs around 3,600 lbs., that’s a lot of power to trust a teenager with. It doesn’t have to be a Z06 to be too much for teen drivers. Every Corvette model is a fast, high-performance car. Always keep that in mind when you hear people discuss the Corvette like some 4-cylinder Toyota Camry. It’s not.
Mini Cooper S
Don’t let the small size and sporty look fool you. The S is no ordinary Cooper. It’s a performance-oriented MINI, inadvertently worsening its stability risks on highways. The regular Cooper features BMW’s 1.5-liter TwinPower turbo 3-cylinder engine, producing 134 hp.
With the S variant, the output jumps to 189 hp thanks to a 2.0-liter TwinPower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. For a car that weighs less than 3,000 lbs., the Cooper S can be worrisomely tricky for the youngish. Some have said the car’s real power is underrated by at least 20 hp. It’s known to offer this false confidence where it feels like you’re doing 75 when you’re actually clocking 100 mph.
BMW 3 Series (Older Models)
Here’s the truth: we’d buy the 3 Series because we love it and are willing to overlook its drawbacks. The 4-door sedan is known to handle like a sports car, and the fact it’s so easy to drive makes it an excellent daily driver. Still, we don’t recommend getting it for your teen, particularly the older models, due to the notoriously high maintenance costs and reliability issues.
The oldies, specifically models from the early 2000s to around 2010, may lack modern safety features that come standard in today’s sporty cars. We agree with the Redditor who said, “BMWs are not great if you have other financial priorities (living, school, etc.) that are going to compete for your money.”
We’d particularly avoid the 2006–2011 models with their frequent engine, electrical, and mechanical troubles. The 2006 MY, for instance, got dragged to the NHTSA over a hundred engine-related complaints.
Nissan 350Z
We probably couldn’t have said it better than this Redditor on why the iconic 350Z isn’t the best car for a beginner: “When I was pulling wrenches, we called them midlife crisis cars and were replacing clutches on them at 50 to 80k km. The way the engine revs, like 700 to 5000 with an easy tap of the pedal, meant lots of people wrecked the clutch [by] not knowing how to use it well.”
“As a track car,” wrote another Redditor, “it’s heavy, doesn’t have amazing handling, and is quite easily beaten by almost any car in its class. As a daily [driver], it’s outdated, rides like doo-doo, and it’s ugly [sic] inside to top it off.” Remember, mixing a rear-wheel drivetrain with a potent engine is often a recipe for disaster in a teen’s hands.
Honda S2000
After kicking off and ending production from 1999 to 2009, the S2000 (fondly called S2K) is approaching classic status. Counting it among the worst cars for teens is by no means a slight on the car, even though it suffered from oversteer issues, which Honda tried to fix every two model years or so.
Besides the fact it’s a front-mid engine open-top sports car that delivers a little too much wind-in-my-hair experience, it handles differently than what teens would consider “normal” cars. “Normal” meaning FWDs, and the SK2 is RWD.
The debut models until 2003 used a high-revving 2.0-liter that revs to a glorious 9,000 rpm, while the AP2 (2004–2009) models featured a 2.2-liter unit that redlined at 8,200 rpm. Not exactly a loving gift for a teen. It’s a lightweight, high-revving sports car that might just be too much for inexperienced drivers.
Volkswagen Golf GTI
It’s small and fun to drive, but the GTI is no ordinary Golf. It’s a performance-oriented variant developed for drivers with a need for speed and enthusiastic driving. Its performance-oriented nature is more likely than not to encourage reckless driving behaviors. It can wake to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds, making it almost as quick as the 6-cylinder-powered Camaro base model, which made it to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds.
We grudgingly recommend the TDI if the Golf’s compact size and practical hatchback design are too much of an attraction. It makes 0-60 in a much safer 7.7 seconds and is relatively inexpensive to fix. The GTI is much quicker because it uses a turbocharger that, in a nutshell, puts more stress on the engine, especially if frequently driven with gusto.
Ford Mustang (Older Models)
Come closer so we can whisper it in your ear. We don’t want to be caught saying this: Be like Skyler White (Anna Gunn) and return the classic Mustang for a safer car your beloved teen won’t struggle to control. Older Mustangs aren’t that kind of “cool.”
They’re high-powered muscle cars with a rear-wheel drivetrain and missing the modern safety features you have in newer performance cars. Many older Mustangs are performance-oriented cars that are better left to experienced hands. We reckon it’s one of the worst cars to gift eager, inexperienced teens, as they can be difficult to handle.
Chevrolet Camaro
Newish drivers don’t need a car known for its limited visibility, like the Camaro, thanks to its unique sporty design. More so, the car has been subject to multiple recalls despite posting an average reliability rating. Mrs. White from Breaking Bad would not have it, and that’s not just for fear of the IRS.
Whatever fans thought of the so-called nagging wife, Skyler was a loving mother who feared for her son’s safety behind the wheels of a muscle car with 275 to 650 hp on tap. Like the Mustang, the Camaro pairs its potent engines with a rear-wheel drivetrain, making it one of the worst cars for teens who’ll inevitably struggle to resist the temptation to test the car’s limits.
Dodge Charger (Older Models)
Older Chargers, especially the V8-powered models, are perfect if you’re looking to fuel your teen’s fantasies or even encourage risky driving behaviors. Perhaps your kid is so good you’re worried for the car and not for the kid; he can handle himself, right? Let’s hope he can handle the gas money, too, because Chargers are notorious for their poor fuel economy.
Let’s also hope he can handle the Charger’s TCO (true cost of ownership), considering the car’s various reliability issues, from the suspension to the transmission to the engine, especially models from the early 2010s. That’s to be expected with a performance-oriented car, as is the markedly higher insurance premiums for older Chargers.