Leases for first time drivers

I know this has been mentioned a few times before, but I’d like y’all’s opinions on something I’ve been considering. I have a younger sister who’s turning 15 (and driving age) soon and she needs a car to go to/from school. I’ve been pondering these three options:

  1. Drive an older 06 Camry my dad has lying around. Not the best option as it has no safety features other than airbags.
  2. Get a slightly used (<3 years) or CPO vehicle with good crash ratings (Toyota RAV4, CRV, etc preferably SUV). Not best option since I don’t want to finance a used vehicle with high interest. Also, it doesn’t seem much less expensive than option 3.
  3. Lease a Toyota RAV4, CRV, etc for somewhere <$300/month. Not best option since she’s a new driver and may scuff everything.

What are y’all’s thoughts?

With a 15 year old inexperienced driver, your insurance will also be 300 a month :slight_smile:

4… Get a used safe car for cash.

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What Ursus said. This list is helpful:
http://m.iihs.org/mobile/ratings/teen-vehicles

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Get a used 2007 Mercedes C class.

Has amazing crash test ratings and competes with entry-level cars that are 2015+ in safety.

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Nope. For 100 300 100 coverage for me when I was 16 was only around $1k per year. Obviously depends on where you live but South Carolina is cheap as dirt.

Consider yourself very lucky. Here is Jersey it would be at least double that. Everyone complains about property taxes here, but I always complain about car insurance.

mine was 2.4k a year in NY

Isn’t the 07 the last w203? What’s so special about it? I’m also pretty leery of older German cars as repair bills aren’t too nice. Also, I’d really prefer an SUV