General

Here Are the Safest, Cheapest Cars for New Drivers

By 05/27/2026 12:01am
Dent on car.
  • The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Consumer Reports released a list of the safest used cars for under $20,000 and $10,000.
  • Safety and consumer advocacy groups recommend avoiding lightweight, high-horsepower cars for new drivers.
  • Avoid large SUVs and trucks that can be hard to handle and stop.

The time-honored tradition of passing on an old family car to a teenage driver is often the cheapest solution. But it’s rarely the safest one. The dilemma of safety and affordability is why the IIHS teams up with Consumer Reports every year to compile its list of the safest used cars for teen, or new, drivers.

“We curate this annual list specifically for teens because driving holds extra risk for them,” IIHS Senior Research Scientist Rebecca Weast said in a statement.

The list applies to anyone caught in the tension between safety and affordability.

For 2026, the safety and consumer advocacy groups identified 45 used vehicles starting for less than $10,000. (Go here to find the value of used cars for sale.) Making the list requires strong crash-test results from the IIHS and at least a 3 out of 5 rating from Consumer Reports for braking and handling. All listed vehicles have electronic stability control, which has been mandated in vehicles since 2012.

The partnership also identified another 29 vehicles that cost less than $20,000 on average. These “Best Choices” earned “Advanced” or “Superior” ratings in tests of certain standard automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems, which automatically slow or stop a car when an imminent crash is detected. These vehicles also have headlights that earned at least an “Acceptable” rating from the IIHS.

There is a third list for safe, affordable new cars. The 22 vehicles on this list earned at least a Top Safety Pick (TSP) from the IIHS and a “Best” safety rating from Consumer Reports.

Types of Cars To Avoid for New Drivers

The recommendations for cars to avoid for teen and new drivers rely on physics. New drivers should avoid performance cars, especially lightweight ones. But there are an increasing number of high-horsepower SUVs that can be difficult for new drivers to control and difficult to avoid temptation.

Minicars, or those vehicles weighing less than 2,750 pounds, were excluded from the list. Even with good safety systems, these small vehicles don’t hold up well to the proliferation of larger, heavier vehicles on the road, including many that double the weight of small cars.

The opposite is true, too, however. Large SUVs and full-size pickups might feel indomitable behind the wheel, but the larger proportions make them hard to stop and hard to handle. Most traffic fatalities occur in single-car crashes, such as roll-overs, and vehicles like these that are more difficult to maneuver could be more susceptible to such crashes.

Safest Used Cars Under $10,000

Small Cars

Midsize cars

Large Cars

Small SUVs

Midsize SUVs

Safest Used Cars Under $20,000

Small Cars

  • Mazda3(hatchback: 2019-25; sedan: 2020-25) $13,200
  • Subaru Crosstrek Plug-in Hybrid (2019-23) $13,600

Midsize Cars

Large Car

Small SUVS

Midsize SUVS

Safest Affordable New Cars Under $45,000

Small Cars

Midsize Cars

  • Hyundai Sonata (including hybrid)
  • Toyota Camry

Small SUVS

Midsize SUVS