U.S. News Unveils the Best Cars for Teens

U.S. News & World Report, publisher of Best Cars for Families and Best Cars for the Money, today unveiled the Best Cars for Teens.

“The Best Cars for Teens awards highlight the cars and SUVs that can help teens hone their driving skills and lower the risk that they’ll be involved in an accident,” said Jim Sharifi, managing editor of U.S. News Best Cars. “Each winner offers active safety features and strong crash test ratings, so there’s a better chance of being protected if a collision occurs.”

Hyundai won the most awards in the Best New Cars for Teens categories, with four. Across the seven new-car categories, two of the winners are hybrids, which should appeal to climate- and budget-conscious teens. In the used-car categories, Toyota won two of the five awards.

All 2022 Best New Cars for Teens are available with forward collision warning and forward automatic emergency braking, as well as lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist. All winners also have teen driver controls or available smartphone apps that send parents alerts when the car goes over a set speed or is driven outside a set time period or geographic area. These features allow parents to set limits for teen drivers and have an ongoing conversation with their teens about responsible driving habits.

The 2022 Best New Cars for Teens

The 2022 Best Used Cars for Teens

To be named one of the Best New Cars for Teens, a vehicle has to have the best combination of predicted reliability ratings, crash test scores, available advanced driver-assistance features and top critics’ recommendations in the U.S. News Best Cars rankings in its price category. To be named a Best Used Car for Teens, a vehicle must be from the 2017 through 2019 model years and have the best combination of dependability and safety ratings, projected ownership costs, positive reviews from critics when it was new, and available tech that can help prevent crashes or lessen their severity.