Many teens don’t have big budgets for cars, or even parents to help them to purchase a car. I’ll be listing some reliable sources to look for cars on, as well as some reliable vehicles that will hopefully give you little to no trouble throughout ownership, simply based on personal experience, common knowledge, and owners from forums and such. Let me start off by listing at least 2 good car websites that I know are reliable and user-friendly.
Cargurus is a great website, good to interact with, and easy to read. Once you head onto the website you can see your choices of buying Used, New, or CPO (Certified Pre-Owned). You can select what choice of car you’d like to look at, set how many miles would be ideal for you, the price, and you can also see how many previous owners there were, dealer reviews, as well as accidents reported, if any.
Carfax is a similarly good website, it’s got most of the features Cargurus gives you, but there’s one thing you can get free of charge; Carfax. A Carfax basically lets you know everything you’d want to know. It tells you when a previous owner owned that vehicle, when they maintained it, which shops they completed maintenance at, accidents, how severe the accident was, how many miles the previous owner drove a year, and so much more. It’s so helpful, and it keeps you at ease so you know the car you’re about to look at isn’t a scam.
Alright, now that we’ve covered the two trustworthy and reliable websites, let’s jump into what cars I recommend you should take a look at. Most of this list is going to consist of cars less like Mercedes-Benz, and BMWs, and more Honda’s & Toyota’s.
- 2013-2017 Honda Accord
The 9th generation Honda Accord is an extremely good reliable car, that is really good on gas and also has great safety ratings as well as above-average safety features for the class. They have a really good price starting from around $8000 up to $15,000. While still being relatively stylish and affordable, it does not come with a huge cost at the pump or the service center.
MPG (Miles Per Gallon): 27 City/35 Highway/30 Combined driving; 4-cylinder engine
21 City/34 Highway/ 25 Combined driving; V6 engine
50 City/ 45 Highway/47 Combined driving; Hybrid
Tank size: 17.2 gallons 4cyl & V6 engines
15.8 gallons; Hybrid
2. 2012-2017 Toyota Camry
Just like the Honda Accord, the Toyota Camry is another relatively nice vehicle, with good safety ratings and features. For years, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry have been in a constant battle for the best commuter car. So why don’t you put them both on your list and see which one you’d like better! Toyota has a huge reputation for reliability and dependability, so you can’t go wrong with this car at all. Toyota is also known for making some of the best Hybrid vehicles on the market, with amazing MPG so you’ll never be worrying about gas. Albeit, these vehicles have slightly bland styling compared to some others in this class, but they’re amazing cars that will last longer than many of us will live. The prices on these Camry’s range from about $10,000-$15,000. A tad bit more expensive than the Accord and that’s all due to Toyota’s high resale value for being the #1 car to go to for reliability.
MPG (Miles Per Gallon): 24 City/ 34 Highway/28 Combined; 4 Cylinder Engine
21 City/30 Highway/ 24 Combined; V6
42 City/ 38 Highway/ 40 Combined; Hybrid
Tank size: 17 gallons for all variations
3. 2012-2014 Subaru Impreza 
The Subaru Impreza hasn’t been a class leader, but it definitely could be in reliability and dependability. With its somewhat attractive looks, decent material quality, and not an overload of tech features, I’d put this car on your radar if you’re looking for something affordable, easy to park, and get around town, with decent MPG, this car is just right for you. While not being as big as the other options listed, that could be a good or bad thing for you. In most cases, teens around our age usually don’t want such a big car, so maybe the Subaru Impreza is just right for you! Prices range from $4500-10,000. This could just be a perfect car for you with that great price for a good year as well.
MPG (Miles Per Gallon): 27 City/36 Highway/ 30 Combined
Tank size: 14.5 gallons for all variations
Honorable Mentions: 2013-2017 Subaru Legacy, 2014-2017 Mazda Mazda3, 2007-2013 Lexus IS
I hope I was able to give my readers some great recommendations, and hopefully I’ll see them around the parking lot!
