Best 2025 Cars for Teens

If there’s a new driver or new graduate in your family who needs to drive something other than the family car, consider these safe and affordable 2025 models on your back-to-school shopping list.

Hyundai models top the list of the annual Best Cars for Teens list features dependable, reliable models with crash prevention and safety features that include parental speed control settings, and include both sedans and small SUVs.

Those are the top considerations when buying or leasing a new or used car for a teen with minimum experience behind the wheel, and the top factors to get a vehicle onto the annual US News Best Cars for Teens list.

I would also add value for the money – since six of the top eight best cars for teens are under $35,000, and the top two are under $25,000 – as were the top two 2024 models.

For the second straight year, Hyundai has the most vehicles on the list – almost half of which are fuel efficient hybrids, which should appeal environmentally and financially conscious teens – and their parents.

The Hyundai Tucson is a Best SUV for Teens for the fourth year in a row, while the Toyota Camry wins a Best Car for Teens award for the third year running and seventh time overall.

The Civic Hybrid is a first-time Best Car for Teens winner.

Not a single American manufacturer is on the list – although many of the foreign-brand models on the list are built in US factories by US workers.

This year’s list also includes best recent used models for teens, some of which were on previous Best Cars for Teens lists as new models.

Also, look at 2024 Best Cars for Teens for last year’s new models, some of which may now be available as used.

Safety Features for Teen Drivers

Each winning vehicle includes such safety features as forward collision and lane-departure warnings, forward automatic emergency braking and lane-keep assist.

Select winners are also equipped with teen driver controls or available smartphone apps that send alerts when the car exceeds a set speed or is driven after designated curfews or outside of specified geographic areas.

These features enable parents and guardians to set limits for teen drivers while simultaneously guiding them toward responsible driving habits.

The 2025 Best New Cars for Teens

The 2025 Best Used Cars for Teens

Methodology

To be named a Best New Car for Teens, a vehicle must have the best combination of predicted reliability ratings, crash test scores, available advanced driver-assistance features and top critics’ recommendations in its price category.

Best Used Car for Teens winners must be from the 2020 through 2022 model years and have an outstanding blend of dependability and safety ratings, projected ownership costs, positive reviews from critics and available crash-prevention technology in its category.

Read more here.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is an award-winning journalist with 25+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is the Immediate Past President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA).

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter also is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) and the North American Snowsports Journalists Assn. (NASJA).

Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.

Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter

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