America's Top Ten Gen Why Cars: Eight Are Not American

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Edmunds compiled a list of the ten best cars “for teen drivers.” Edmunds did not pick the cars according to driftability or their magnetic force on chicks. Edmunds used criteria that should be on the minds of the people who usually buy those cars: Parents. As a parent, says Edmunds, “you’ll need to consider three factors above all others: safety, reliability and true cost to own.”

Once Edmunds was done with the list, it looked like a fresh arrival of exchange students. Except for a lone Malibu, all cars have foreign nameplates.

Four cars on the list are Japanese, two Korean, two German. Much-maligned blandmobiles, the 2009 Honda Accord and the likewise 2009 Toyota Camry, take top billing. The whole menu does not look anywhere close to Gran Turismo dreams. At closer inspection however … We’ll get to that.

For safety, Edmunds recommends midsize cars with five star crash ratings and not too much power. Edmunds is against SUVs and follows the AAA advice that SUVs are”more prone to roll over in extreme driving conditions.”

For reliability, Edmunds scoured CarMD’s yearly Vehicle Health Index. For true cost to own, Edmunds had to look no further than its own True Cost to Own tool.

And these are Edmunds’ top ten picks for generation why drivers:

What parents should buy for their kids

Number one: 2009 Honda Accord

Number two: 2009 Toyota Camry

Number three: 2010 Chevrolet Malibu

Number four: 2010 Volkswagen Jetta

Number five: 2011 Hyundai Sonata

Number six: 2012 Honda Accord

Number seven: 2012 Hyundai Sonata

Number eight: 2012 Toyota Camry

Number nine: 2012 Volkswagen Jetta

Number ten: 2013 Chevrolet Malibu

The list might jibe with the desire to sell new or late model used car off dealer lots, but it does not jibe with reality. Fiscal factors usually dictate something older as the youngster’s first car.

Also, the list will elicit groans from the intended target group: “Maaaaaaaaamoooom! A Camry?” As an indicator of what the Generation Why demographic really wants, let’s consult “Gran Turismo 5 – the best key cars to own” as compiled by Onlineracedriver.com:

What kids want from their parents

1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo2. Nissan GTR ‘073. Corvette ZR1 (C6) ‘094. Toyota Minolta 88CV5. Formula Gran Turismo

Now isn’t that interesting: Three out of five cars on the dream list are Japanese. One is purely fictional, but has a Fiat sticker. Only one dream car, the Corvette ZR1, is American. Since when do kids agree with their parents?



Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Nikita Nikita on Jun 22, 2012

    My wealthy next door neighbor just got a stick shift Honda Fit for his son to take to college. If he handed down the Magnum, the insurance would be much higher. A friend at work go a new, loaded Honda Odyssey for his wife, but put his newly licensed son as the primary driver. No way could they afford the insurance for a hand-me-down Scion Tc. My mother didnt drive, so dad couldnt wait to get me a car so I could take over as driver for my mom and younger siblings. '67 VW he paid for and I paid operating expenses, fair deal. Insurance on a 4-cylinder car back then was cheap. If I got his 'vette-powered Impala it would have been prohibitive.

  • INeon INeon on Aug 28, 2012

    My Niece is turning 16 next year-- her mother drives a Town & Country. My parents are giving her a 2006 Stratus. When we were younger, my parents got us a 'bomb' to drive for a while, then got us a new car when we graduated. Really, we don't do bombs, they were all actually very nice cars. Except the aries. It was stomach-bile yellow inside and out. Nice vinylette bench in front! He kept it shiny, too. So much armor all on that bench, you'd slide around if you didn't wear your seatbelt. My Brother got an 85 Aries in 92 and a 96 Dakota in 95-- Sis a 89 Tempo in 92, and a 97 Intrepid in 96, and I got an 87 Taurus in 96, and a 98 neon in 97. Mine was early(11th grade) because the Taurus was on it's *third* HSC 2.5 and ATX by then. Those two Fords were so similar, it's disgusting the difference in reliability. We tried one more, but it was dead by 130k. 3.0 Vulcan that would lose complete dash lighting at night.

    • Joeaverage Joeaverage on Aug 28, 2012

      My sister and her husband bought identical used Tauruses and they both had the transmission let go at the same mileage - a little north of 100K. Didn't go back to Fords after that. Two identical Buick Centuries after that. His did okay and he sold it to buy himself a minivan (WTF?) and my grandmother took over the second Buick Century. By 65K despite being a good car prior - it needed shocks, intake manifold, a/c compressor, and she'd dinged every corner on something at the market. She offered it to me but I politely declined. We can't do a sedan. They are useless to us. Need a small wagon or CUV. Neither of our cars have needed those items despite having three times and more the mileage.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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