Help me find a car with active safety features for under $10K

Many newer cars are available with active safety features such as automatic emergency braking, blind spot alert, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, rear park assist, rear cross-traffic alert, and 360° view parking cameras.

My daughter will start commuting to college in a few weeks and will need her first car.  She is not a very experienced driver, so I would really like to get her a car with some of these active safety features.

Trouble is, these features are almost always optional extras -- so it has been a pain in the neck to try to determine whether the used cars coming up in my searches have any active safety features (listing filters are super unreliable).  I'm also trying to keep to a budget of about $10K, if possible.

Have any recommendations?  Let's hear them!

You can probably find a 2014-2018 model year Subaru with Eyesight in that price range.  The cameras on either side of the rearview mirror are easy to spot, and the system is fairly ubiquitous. 

Rear camera became law in 2018.  That doesn't mean rear cross traffic warning, just rear camera.  

Many cars offered rear camera before 2018 but as of 2018 model year all US cars were required to have one. 

Id recommend shopping used lux brands.  They are more likely to have these features and have the features earlier than a Nissan Versa, Toyota Corolla, etc 

Look into used Lincoln MKZs of a about 2013 and newer.  Lincoln depression is real!

Edit: long Wikipedia entry agrees mandated for 2018 but vaguely says about half the vehicles sold in 2012 had cameras.

The first offering in N American was 2002 Infiniti Q45. 

Wikipedia entry for Lane Departure Systems states 2004 Infiniti as the first offering in N American and then lists some other cars that offered it ( mostly lux brands)

Wikipedia entry of radar cruise control systems with some model history.

Putting on my DE instructors cap for a moment. It is better for your daughter to learn to drive without ADAS technology. These systems become enablers of bad habits. Not checking the blind spot because the car does. Not paying attention to lane position because the car does. Using adaptive cruise to maintain distance to the car in front so I don't have to. Until a new driver can show me they can do all these things (which comes with regular and competent driving instruction) I suggest these systems be turned off.  Even experienced drivers need to learn to not rely on the car to do the things they should be doing themselves. These are aids and not replacements for proper driving technique and habits. I would not worry about how much or what systems are present. If you are buying a newer car anyway it will have some. Insurance will care, but that's because it may decrease the number of small claims that occur from inattention. Remember, though, ya canna change the laws of physics, cap'n.

If you need to know what cars have what ADAS technology go to My Car Does What? for information and explanations.

Just keep driving with her. Be her eyes and ears. Use, as Andy Pilgrim promotes, commentary driving to highlight the things she should be looking for and paying attention to. Do it enough and eventually she'll be able to do the same for you. Then you'll know exactly where she is and is not looking.

I'm with vwcorvette. Develop the habits, then add the aids. I've found that I'm getting reliant on the ADAS on our Tesla when I drive one of our older cars, especially in parking lots. 

That said, you might be able to find a VW Golf or Jetta with the aids you want in that price range. I know they were available in 2019. 

Also, look into a car control clinic or one of those new driver defensive driving clinics 

Please get her more seat time and instruction and help her be prepared to handle the equipment well on a road full of other cars. If she's not quite ready there is no shame. The automated devices are not a substitute for experience. 

Mk7/7.5 golf? 

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

One of my friends is a driving instructor for a fairly high rated local company.  He sent me this pic after we had a discussion about ADAS systems and how they reduce peoples' attention.

After almost 30 years in auto insurance claims and decades of performance driving and instructing experience, I will respectfully disagree.  Those systems are terrific at doing what they were designed to do and prevent countless accidents.  

It is the responsibility of the instructor and then the driver to learn proper driving techniques.  If you become reliant on the tools and slack in your driving that is a you issue.  Doesn't matter if you are driving the Flintstones car or a new Volvo.  For a teenager, I will take a car with active safety all day long.  I teach proper driving along with proper mental focus.

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

That's the idealized version, and a laudable goal.  What is happening though is people lean on the systems to do the driving for them.  Radar cruise means they don't have to look ahead because the car will slow down for then.  Lane monitoring means that they can fiddle with their phone or whatever because the car will tell them if they are drifting out of lane.

Its great until it stops working because the roads or the sensors are covered with snow.  I see this every winter, people come in with an ADAS issue.  Problem is snow on the grille/bumper.  "Well what good is it then?"

I recall a study from the late 80s or early 90s when ABS was becoming mainstream, that single car accidents were higher in ABS equipped cars.  Obviously statistics can't tell you the reasons WHY something happened but it's an interesting correlation.

It's interesting that this thread is concurrent with the 737MAX thread, where there are safety-keeping processes that work great until they don't, and the only way to handle that is for an experienced pilot to start piloting.

Automatic braking systems, warts and all, have solid statistical evidence indicating they make things safer on aggregate. Modern ABS, stability control, air bags are all other positive things.

The reality is most people don't want to care much about driving. Just because Dad thinks one way, doesn't mean daughter will, so safety stuff makes sense.

Some time ago C&D had a quote from a driving behavioral engineering at Michelin. He said that given a choice between turning at 0.4g and hitting a tree, most people choose the tree.

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

You are correct. They ARE great at what they do. But they are no substitute for good driving skills and more importantly good habits. You will not develop those habits if the vehicle will save your bacon every time you screw up. And I get it, the world is an unsafe place and it makes sense to protect yourself and your loved ones at all costs. Risk is shared, it's both known and unknown, it's always present, it's perceived and actual, and finally it can be altered, sometimes managed, and not always eliminated. All the technology can't change the laws of physics. So, yes, you and I and Dad can use these systems because we've trained without them. The daughter on the other hand? 

One last thing. Most incidents are not accidents. Someone was at fault. Research shows that 94% of all crashes or collisions are the result of driver error. Improve the driver, improve the outcomes. Or just take the driver completely out of the equation.

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

I agree with everything you said.  I just look at it from a different perspective.  I know you weren't being literal, so we can agree that ADAS won't save your bacon every time you screw up.  It can't.  What it can do is save anyone's bacon (mine included) if a mistake is made that it can fix.  I consider myself one heck of a driver, but not dumb enough to think I'm perfect.  If I space out and miss a car next to me when I'm trying to change lanes, I'd rather have it beep at me than crash.  While I unquestionably agree a person CANNOT rely on these as a substitute for good driving habits, I see no reason why they can't coexist.  If daughter (or son) become lazy and reliant, that's an issue on them.  

It depends on how you define the word "accident".  Someone is almost always at fault in a crash.  However that doesn't mean they meant to do it, it was an accidental mistake.  POtato, PoTAto I suppose.  

I understand the advice in this thread (thanks!) but we just don't have the luxury of time.  My kid does not have her license yet, and has never driven solo.  She gets back from oversees just two or three weeks before she needs to begin commuting every day.  We will get as much practice time as possible, but a couple weeks of experience just isn't enough to develop good habits and instincts.

Something that could be useful are the VIN decoder sites that are out there. When I was shopping for my 911 I used https://vinanalytics.com/  It was able to give me all of the packages. If you are looking at BMW or MINI it should work for those as well. I can't really speak for any of the other sites that are out there however.

But I would agree that used luxury would be the way to go, or look at hyundai or kia, since it seems like they pile on all the options even at base levels. I think it just would come down to what sort of vehicle she wants to drive (or that you want her to drive). I'd be looking for something that doesn't have huge blind spots (honestly my wife's Forester is amazing for that, its a 2016, doesn't have those features but they were available).

Especially on an older and cheaper car, those driver aids require some additional experience and thought to use safely too.  Like knowing that when you are on the freeway in the right lane the lane assist may beep and tug on the steering wheel when you go by an offramp, or the emergency braking may get confused by a construction zone, etc.  Even older ABS car be scary in the rain if you get one tire on a painted road marking and one on pavement.  

Smaller cars are easier for less experienced drivers to drive, control and see out of, but the stats have started to show safety deficit to say a mid sized sedan, I suspect mostly due to the prevelance of brodozers and big SUVs. Taller vehicles get into rollovers have more single vehicle accidents and kill more pedestrians. My first through was Subaru legacy. I wonder if you might need to increase the price cap slightly..

nderwater said:

I understand the advice in this thread (thanks!) but we just don't have the luxury of time.  My kid does not have her license yet, and has never driven solo.  She gets back from oversees just two or three weeks before she needs to begin commuting every day.  We will get as much practice time as possible, but a couple weeks of experience just isn't enough to develop good habits and instincts.

I'm not sure how to respond to this. I'm trying to be positive and supportive, but this makes me uncomfortable. 
 

Do you have any unemployed friends who might be able to ride along with her for a couple weeks?  It might cost less than the cost of all the automatic driving aids. 
 

Best of luck. 

Yes, I will be doing so myself--but I can't babysit her forever.