If you surf the world wide web with the search criteria “best cars for teen drivers” you’ll get a phone book of guides. But here’s the thing: Most will require you cough up $25,000 or more. That kind of scratch will score any number of new cars; if you’ve been squirreling away your hard-earned scratch for their future education—trade school, college, or otherwise—20-large could pay for half of a bachelor’s degree and then some.
Instead, we'd like to focus on cars for young drivers that fall into a more realistic budgets. Used car prices aren’t as wild as they were a few years ago, so it shouldn’t be hard finding good, safe, dependable fare for your teenager under the $8,000 mark.
It’s important to point out that it’ll be tough including the BMW X3, Honda CR-V, Volvo XC60, and Mazda CX-5 SUVs in your search under this dollar amount. Also, any pickup truck that’s in that area might be a bit older than you prefer. Have no fear, though: Many still provide safe transportation with a good number of automotive safety features like air bags, stability control, and possibly even automatic emergency braking and blind spot monitoring.
In our list, we’ll provide National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash test scores and—where available—Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash test data. It's important to be aware that safety ratings are a bit of a moving target, though, in terms of criteria being updated every year.
We’ll stay away from coupes and sports cars, and instead focus on sedans, crossovers, EVs, and even the wholesome hatchback. Minivans are actually great for teens, but teens themselves may not agree. Let’s run through some solid choices.
The Safest Used Cars Under $8,000 for Teens in 2025
- 2012 to 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage
- 2012 to 2017 Kia Rio
- 2011 to 2016 Nissan LEAF
- 2011 to 2016 Nissan Juke
- 2009 to 2014 Subaru Legacy
- 2007 to 2012 Toyota Highlander
- 2007 to 2008 Ford Edge
- 2010 to 2019 Ford Taurus
- 2009 to 2011 Ford Crown Victoria
- 2004 to 2010 Toyota Sienna
Subcompact Car: 2012 to 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage
NHTSA Crash Test Score: 4/5 Stars IIHS Overall Rating: Marginal IIHS Death Rate: 72/million miles traveled
Here is an immutable truth: Subcompact and compact cars are less safe than larger cars. It’s just physics. Nevertheless, there are small cars that perform better than their counterparts and have recorded a lower traffic death rate as a result. Furthermore, if you consider a compact car, the same price point will let you choose from later model years, meaning you'll get standard safety equipment that wasn't even available in older cars. The Mitsubishi Mirage isn’t what anyone would call a “nice car.” It’s fuel-efficient, basic transportation that’s better than riding a city bus. But it performed fairly well in both NHTSA and IIHS crash tests, providing a fair level of safety equipment for the era, and not completely failing either evaluation. In terms of tiny cars, this little hatchback has the lowest number of deaths per million miles of just about anything in its class. Not only that, but it could easily help teach new drivers a thing or two about car control and accident avoidance, thanks to its good handling and fun-to-drive attitude.
Subcompact Car: 2012 to 2017 Kia Rio
NHTSA Crash Test Score: 4/5 Stars IIHS Overall Rating: Marginal IIHS Death Rate: 87/million miles traveled
The Rio is a rung up the used vehicle ladder from the Mirage, for sure. It performed well when it was crash tested by the NHTSA upon its redesign in 2012, scoring a four-star rating. It achieved a “Marginal” score from the IIHS (which was one rating below the IIHS’s top rating of “Good” in 2014), mostly due to the fact that the dummy’s head barely made contact with the airbag before sliding to the left, though the IIHS did report that the side and torso airbags deployed and provided protection. Its death rate is significantly higher than the average rating of 36, but it was the second lowest among the small cars recorded by the IIHS. There are some choices from Kia’s sister brand Hyundai, too, but we think the most amount of value is found here.
Compact Car: 2011 to 2016 Nissan LEAF
NHTSA Crash Test: 5/5 Stars IIHS Overall Rating: Poor/Good IIHS Death Rate: 8/million miles travelled
If your teen can manage the 100-mile range of a first-generation LEAF (really closer to 78 miles if you use the heater), these cars have a lot going for them. They’re cheaper than a conventional gas-powered car of the same size, they've demonstrated above-average reliability, and they earn relatively good ratings on the safety front. We chose it over the hybrid Toyota Prius to keep maintenance and upkeep to an absolute minimum. The IIHS dinged the LEAF for poor frontal overlap crash tests, but it performed well in all their other evaluations, and it scored a five-star rating from the NHTSA. And compared to the Rio, the LEAF's occupants have experienced only 10 percent the number of deaths per million miles traveled. A pretty compelling argument all around.
Small SUV: 2011 to 2016 Nissan Juke
NHTSA Crash Test Score: 5/5 Stars IIHS Overall Rating: Poor/Good IIHS Death Rate: 15/million miles travelled
Just like the LEAF, the Nissan Juke scored five stars in NHTSA crash tests, got a demerit for the small overlap test from the IIHS, but scored well on the rest of their evaluations, and recorded a better-than-average 15 deaths per million miles traveled, according to the same agency. Full disclosure, the price can slightly edge out our $8,000 cap, though only by a double-sawbuck or two. Surely, there’s room for haggling. Plus, these things get great fuel economy, making them quite teen budget-friendly. The Toyota RAV4 is also a good option in this area, but it’s hard finding a clean example of the same vintage for under $8k.
Midsize Car: 2009 to 2014 Subaru Legacy
NHTSA Crash Test Score: 5/5 Stars IIHS Overall Rating: Good (Top Safety Pick) IIHS Death Rate: 0/million miles travelled
Now we’re starting to tick up into the best available safety you can purchase for the year. The fifth-generation Subaru Legacy earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick (the highest rating at the time), and the NHTSA awarded it five stars in its crash testing. In the IIHS’s database, no fatalities were recorded for this generation of Legacy, a fairly impressive statistic. If you’re sending your kid to a college where it snows, you could do a lot worse than the all-wheel drive (AWD) Legacy sedan. The only issue is that you’re going to have to choose the older years of Legacy, probably with close to 100,000 miles, to slip under the $8,000 wire. Note that all of this also applies to the Outback, but that may be more expensive than the $8,000 cap. We'd prefer to recommend a more modern sedan than an older wagon just to get under $8k.
Midsize SUV: 2007 to 2012 Toyota Highlander
NHTSA Crash Test Score: N/A IIHS Overall Rating: Good (Top Safety Pick) IIHS Death Rate: 14/million miles traveled
Once you climb up to midsize SUVs, you have to stretch pretty far back to find one that falls within our $8,000 price range. These second-generation Highlanders performed very well in IIHS crash tests, achieving a "Top Safety Pick" award in 2009. The NHTSA crash tested them, but didn’t provide an “overall” rating at the time. The Highlander scored five stars in the front driver’s side crash test and both side crash tests, and achieved four stars for the front passenger and rollover tests. Deaths are markedly higher than in the Legacy, though, which suggests that rollovers of the taller Highlander may be the issue.
Midsize SUV: 2007 to 2008 Ford Edge
NHTSA Crash Test Score: N/A IIHS Overall Rating: Good (Top Safety Pick) IIHS Death Rate: 0/million miles traveled
The 2007 and 2008 Ford Edge scored particularly well in IIHS crash-test ratings, enough to take home a "Top Safety Pick" award. It also did well in NHTSA crash-test ratings, picking up five-star ratings for driver’s side front and both side crash tests. It scored four stars for the passenger front crash test and rollover ratings. More importantly, in the IIHS database, there appear to be no deaths per million miles traveled for the Edge, making it one of the safest used cars available. And it's old enough now to be one of the few midsize SUVs that fall under our $8,000 price cap.
Large Car: 2010 to 2019 Ford Taurus
NHTSA Crash Test Score: 5/5 Stars IIHS Overall Rating: Good (Top Safety Pick) IIHS Death Rate: 20/million miles traveled
The fifth-generation Ford Taurus was nobody’s favorite. It's a behemoth of a car, with plenty of room inside and decent accoutrements. The 2011 model performed well with a five-star NHTSA crash test, and it scored the top “Good” rating and a "Top Safety Pick" from the IIHS. Its overall death rate is also lower than average. You can find a Taurus for under $8,000, but it's probably going to have over 100,000 miles. Finally, it looks so much better than its Chevrolet Malibu and Toyota Camry contemporaries.
Very Large Car: 2009 to 2011 Ford Crown Victoria
NHTSA Crash Test Score: 5/5 Stars IIHS Overall Rating: Marginal IIHS Death Rate: 4/million miles traveled
The ultimate teen cruiser; what a great first car. The Crown Vic never performed all that well in the IIHS’s ever-evolving crash tests. It was based on a car from the early 1990s, and while it consistently got five-star NHTSA crash test ratings, it would stumble with Marginal ratings from the IIHS for side crash test and its old-school head restraints and seats. Nevertheless, despite all the Crown Vics running around as taxi cabs and cop cars, the 2011-era Crown Victoria only saw 4 deaths per million miles traveled, a remarkable achievement. You can buy one in pretty much any price range, from nearly free to well over $15,000, depending on condition and mileage. If you’re really good, you may be able to score a Crown Vic LX Sport with a floor console and dual exhaust under our $8,000 cap. Or, extend your car buying reach to ex-police department examples for real values in high-performance—though, gas mileage may suffer.
Minivan: 2004 to 2010 Toyota Sienna
NHTSA Crash Test Score: N/A IIHS Overall Rating: Good/Poor IIHS Death Rate: 0/million miles traveled
If your teen is the adventurous type, a minivan might be just the ticket. Minivans are nearly as capable as many crossover SUVs, and with the seats out, they have room for the whole band to sleep inside along with amps and drum kits. The 2004 to 2010 generation Sienna performed well in individual NHTSA crash tests, scoring five stars in crash tests on both side and front passenger crash tests. It got four stars for the driver front crash test and the rollover test. The IIHS didn’t like it as much, criticizing its head restraints at the time. Nevertheless, these long-in-the-tooth vans have seen zero deaths per million miles traveled according to IIHS data.
