Best/cheapest car to insure for a new teenage driver?

So, as a parent of a soon to be 16 year old, I was in sticker shock to see how much it would cost to add a car and her with have full coverage on a 2015 GSW. It was $180/month it $70/month for only liability. $70/month was ok, but not if it doesn’t cover collision or comprehensive.

So, now I am figuring out why some people get beater cars for their kids so they don’t worry so much about dings and dents. when I asked about a 2003 Golf, it came out to $80/month for just liability.

Maybe a minivan? A 2005 Ford Windstar minivan would run $100/month.

I am frustrated because I am passing up a great deal on a GSW because the cost of insurance.

As much as I want to get her a manual TDi, I should d also keep an open mind for other cars that are cheap to insure (just liability). So, what cars would you recommend for a new teenage driver, for insurance purposes?

https://www.carinsurance.com/best-cars-for-teens.aspx

https://www.netquote.com/auto-insurance/least-expensive-cars-to-insure-teen-driver

https://www.consumerreports.org/used-cars/best-used-cars-for-teens/

Can your daughter drive on a learners permit for
an extended period of time like a year? Where ever you go or the family goes she's driving. When she actually gets her license the object of the exercise is to have a skilled driver with good habits. Driving in all conditions. Daytime, nightime, rain, snow sleet. If you want to complain about insurance rates wait til there's an at fault claim or a ticket or two. The money you save in that year will lessen the bill by 180 x 12 or 80 x 12. Buy a beater that has a good safety record.

An '03 Golf manual trans. with the 2.slow 4 cylinder would be a great choice, imo. Besides the insurance cost, it would likely be one of the more reliable/economical options. Plus, I have to think most any normal teen would prefer a Golf to a Windstar. Lots of options really. Honda, Toyota, Mazda all made some decent economy cars.

GOOD LORD

buy a cheep clapped out sub $1000 car with a fairly decent engine. basics liability only. as long as your getting a decent beatermobile thats semi safe. you wont have to worry. make sure its a total eye sore too so that no one will want to ride with her, this is where most issues come in with teens is having another person in the car to distract them, as in another 16yo friend from school.

Case in point, i had a 1985 honda accord. cost me nothing to keep on the road other than a new windscreen, a can of blue spray paint, a set of barn find used tires. i spent $350 on that car when i got it, put another $200 in it other than fuel, drove it for 3 years, had historic plates and insurance was cheep as F. I ended up selling it for $500. LOL.

brownnugen said:

So, what cars would you recommend for a new teenage driver, for insurance purposes?

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insurance is calculated by the cars ability to do more damage. I had an s10 and it cost me LESS then a 85 honda accord, as it had less power and thus could do less damage. The safer and the less power the car, the cheaper the insurance.

We felt safety was the number one priority for our daughters first car.
1982 MB 240D. Slow and solid and here in Vermont inexpensive to insure.
Car #2 was a 2.slow Golf which she still drives today all these years later.

Tough to beat a Volvo 240, but they aren't so easy to find anymore in good shape. In fact I think I saw a clean wagon sell on BaT for $10k last month (which is nuts). That was my first car and it was slow and safe. A big steel toaster.

My first cars were Volvo 240's too. I had turbo models mostly though, so they weren't that slow. Even the na models had plenty of pep(well, the na diesels were sluggish). It blows my mind that my little golf weighs nearly the same as those big old bricks. It might make sense to get something from this millennia though. For safety, Volvo and Saab are near the top of the heap.

My housemates bought their son a 2000 Jetta 2.0, and he was paying ~$150/month for insurance.
Then they jumped from that to a 2012 Hyundai Tiburon V6, and were shocked when then insurance jumped to ~$300/month.

They're now looking to find another cheap car for him to drive, as a teen working a part time job is hard pressed to afford the insurance, gas, etc...


That all said, a MK4 2.0 powered car is relatively cheap to buy and insure, and if you have any experience with other MK4 cars, it crosses over in a lot of areas.

I am just shocked that even a 2000 Jetta would cost $150/month. It sucks whe. The cost of insurance each month cost a significant portion of the car. I know liability is for damage caused by the car, but still.

Cheaper to drive you're kid around until he's 24. He'll have a better rate at that point as well vs being an experienced driver with some dings and dents.
Pretty sure it's safer too.

If you want to feel better about the cost of insuring your teenager in a new & safe vehicle, compare it to the cost of health insurance. Auto insurance is hella cheap!
Once you look at it this way, you can relax and enjoy the 2015 GSW!

D-Cup said:

Cheaper to drive you're kid around until he's 24. He'll have a better rate at that point as well vs being an experienced driver with some dings and dents.
Pretty sure it's safer too.
If you want to feel better about the cost of insuring your teenager in a new & safe vehicle, compare it to the cost of health insurance. Auto insurance is hella cheap!
Once you look at it this way, you can relax and enjoy the 2015 GSW!

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This is generally true but some insurance companies offer some discounts to younger drivers:
My daughter took HS driver ed, had a good academic record and qualified for low cost premiums on my policy and listed as a separate driver.
Drove old cars, so only liability and comp maybe $35-40/ month... peanuts.
And girls usually get relatively lower rates than the same aged boy, go figure

When I was just out of school, my insurance was about half of what it turned out to be after I deployed with the Army, having stopped the insurance policy while I was overseas for a year.
Once I returned and re-insured the same car, I lost the good-student discount, as well as the driver's education course discount that I'd had as a new driver just coming out of high school.

Not related for your concerns, but the insurance company also tried to penalize me for being uninsured for a year as well, until I shoved the fact that I was deployed overseas at the direction of Uncle Sam down their throats, and therefor could not have been driving the vehicle while it was uninsured...


All that aside, send the kid to driver's ed, get them a somewhat reliable and common beater to drive.
It is easy to get parts if they're a common model that you can find in the wrecking yard, and gives you a chance to teach the minion basic vehicle maintenance as well, if/when something breaks.
This saves money on maintenance expenses, and gives them some self reliance in the future, instead of having to chance being fleeced by a shop or dealer any time something goes wrong, as well as being at least familiar enough with the vehicle to take care of basic things like fluids.
(I'm still amused at all the reports I see of someone ignoring basic things like checking oil, or changing it...)

hey_allen said:

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, but the insurance company also tried to penalize me for being uninsured for a year as well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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I've heard of that, years ago health insurers did the same thing. That's just Bull Stuff. I mean, what is the logic?
We had a good insurance rep back when my kids started, he recommended for personal financial piece of mind to get the car in the kids name. But in most states if you buy the car and add your child as a 3rd driver to your family plan, it costs less. So if they crashed into someones property, they could name you in the lawsuit.
IMO insurance is legalized criminal behavior.

fruitcakesa said:

We felt safety was the number one priority for our daughters first car.
1982 MB 240D. Slow and solid and here in Vermont inexpensive to insure.
Car #2 was a 2.slow Golf which she still drives today all these years later.

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excellent choice!

Those rates aren't that bad compared to some other parts of the country. It's not uncommon for drivers with fewer than 3 years experience here in Massachusetts (here they look at driving experience, not age) to pay north of $2,500/year for insurance on an older car. If you have a moving violation it just goes up from there.

Keep in mind that if 16 year old lives with you then you've got exposure in the event of a lawsuit resulting from an accident. Make sure the new driver's liability coverage limits match yours. May be worthwhile to investigate an umbrella policy for all your vehicles instead of purchasing liability separately for each one.

My rates dropped like a stone when the last of my kids moved out.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Those rates aren't that bad compared to some other parts of the country. It's not uncommon for drivers with fewer than 3 years experience here in Massachusetts (here they look at driving experience, not age) to pay north of $2,500/year for insurance on an older car. If you have a moving violation it just goes up from there.

Keep in mind that if 16 year old lives with you then you've got exposure in the event of a lawsuit resulting from an accident. Make sure the new driver's liability coverage limits match yours. May be worthwhile to investigate an umbrella policy for all your vehicles instead of purchasing liability separately for each one.

My rates dropped like a stone when the last of my kids moved out.

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30 years ago as a new driver in NYC my rate was about $4000/year. THIRTY years ago.

An old pick-up truck is the least expensive vehicle to insure.

pastduebill said:

An old pick-up truck is the least expensive vehicle to insure.

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and a horrible handling, fuel guzzling, tire eating, snow sacred POS. sorry but trucks have there place but a first driver is not one of them, although it teaches you have to drive in snow, if you can drive a s10 in the snow on cheep POS tires, you can drive anything in snow lol

Mongler98 said:

and a horrible handling, fuel guzzling, tire eating, snow sacred POS. sorry but trucks have there place but a first driver is not one of them, although it teaches you have to drive in snow, if you can drive a s10 in the snow on cheep POS tires, you can drive anything in snow lol

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So true, but a lot of fun for an experienced driver to horse around in the snow

I certainly cannot speak for US insurance rates. I think it would be impossible to peg the cost of insurance to one particular vehicle. There are too many other variables involved.

Where I live for instance it depends on where you live, in a big city, out in a rural area, even your neighbour across the street having the same car, identical driving history etc but having a different postal code (Zip) can or may be paying a different premium.
Strangely enough older cars may cost more to insure as well. Of course add a new inexperienced driver to the policy and it will cost more.

Jeep Wrangler is a popular first car where I live. The logic escapes me: Uncomfortable, prone to rolling over, and inefficient. But young women in particular like them. Maybe it's because they can drive them on the beach. And I doubt parents around here are too concerned about insurance rates if you're buying your child a new Jeep to drive in the ocean.

Insurance is supposedly mandatory in MO, yet I pay for uninsured and underinsured motorist protection.
I reduced my coverage on 3 vehicles because I thought I was getting ripped at 2200/yr.
I reduced that to about 1800 by dropping C&C on the 05 Passat and raised deductibles on the 08 R350 and 10 Forester to 500/1000 on C&C. Still seems like too much to me for two 65yo drivers and R350 is only used as an occasional long distance cruiser.

What do you guys consider “peanuts” for just liability insurance? Would $100/month be too much to pay? I am thinking that maybe I should set a limit on how much I am willing to pay (say$70/month) and then find a car that will come in under that.

I am not trying to be unreasonable here, but this teenage driver thing is all new to me. If my numbers are too low, please let me know so I can manage my own expectations.

Insurance costs vary a lot state-by-state, and even within states. Charleston may be more expensive than Columbia, for example. And there may be variations even within your area.

What do you pay for liability now? That should serve as a starting point. Often the collision portions of a new driver's insurance account for a lot of the differences in cost.