Civic Duty: Survey Says Honda Top Teen Choice For New/Used Car
According to a new survey by the Quality Planning Corporation (an information tracking firm that works with insurance companies), Honda’s Civic is America’s most popular car among teen drivers. The survey, which questioned teens about both new and used vehicles, concluded that the Civic was respondents’ top choice in both categories.
Other interesting findings in the survey included the fact that the average teen drives 9,307 miles per year, and that the average used car or truck driven by teens is some nine years old.
Worth noting is that SUVs and trucks appear to have fallen out of favor fairly quickly on the survey. The highest ranking new truck/SUV in the survey is Ford’s Ranger (#5), and in the used category, the Blue Oval’s Explorer (also #5). Performance cars fail to make the list altogether.
What do you think about this survey? For those of you with children old enough to drive, what are their primary modes of transportation? Click on the link below for the complete list of new and used vehicles, and then have your say in ‘Comments.’
Editor's Note: We hunted around for more details about the survey (what specific questions were answered, how many were surveyed, and so on), but came up dry. For our part, we'd like to know more about their methodology before we put much stock in their results, and we'd like to know why the 'new car' list includes a number of vehicles that have been out of production for some time.
Comments
AC
For the money, I'd go with a Cobalt SS Supercharged. You can buy one for less than a Civic Si.
Steven J Ewing
My first car was an electric blue '92 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS-T which I loved dearly.
When I picture my high school parking lot from the early 2000s, I remember seeing a lot of used Civics, Rangers, Probes, and Buicks, along with the occasional Mustang or Camaro.
bil
Better get that SS fast. They are going to not make any in 2008.
Don
How the times have changed: Camaros and Firebirds were the rage while I was in high school (mid-eighties).
BigRed
Im still in highschool and my first car was/is a 1999 SLK230K, which i got a great deal on, and with the convertible hardtop, i can't see myself getting anything else anytime soon.. :)
Wes
I was still a teenager when I got my current car, a 1996 Honda Accord, which at the time (2001) was a five year old car. So I think I fit in the demographic. But my first car which I loved very much was an 86 Ford Crown Victoria. That was a sweet ride. Of course I was given the job to be chauffeur at my school for the various teams as well as some of my foreign exchange buddies.
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Alexander Lopez
I really envy of one fella who haves very pleasing parents. He got his dream car long before he could drive it.
The story goes as this: when he was 14, his dad offered to buy him an used car they could repair in their garage, so it would be in excellent running condition when he get his driver's license. Of course the kid agreed, and can you guess which car he wanted?
A DeLorean!! I learned the story because we are in the same DeLorean forum.
Well, they brought the car, spent two years working hard on it, and when the kid was 16 years old and his folks were driving 'junkyard specials' to go to the high school, he was driving a sharp-looking, gull-winged, stainless steel DeLorean. Now, if that's not the very definition of cool, I don't know what else is!
LandCrusher
Like Don, for me it was all about muscle in High School. Camaro's and Firebirds. One kid had a cool old T-Bird, another had a neat old pick up. One rich kid had an Audi. Me, I had a civic (in Houston, with no air conditioning).
At the time it was anything but cool (sorry about the pun). However, I was a master of the hand brake slide, and though I didn't get a pilots license for another decade and a half - I flew that little car so much it cost me a months work each year to replace all the worn out bits (being young and stupid I only connected the cause and effect years later).
Lot's of fond memories are now even better because I was twenty years ahead of the trend! That's cool.
Mark Arnold
How old is this data? I'm wondering because #9 on the NEW car list is the Pontiac Grand Am, which has been dead since 2006.
"New Survey"... hah.
Andrew
Funny I drive a 80s Lincoln Towncar. At my school there may be only one Honda. For new cars the Yaris is quite popular.
Steve K.
There's a shocker........no never mind....it's not.
Who can afford a new car these days anyway?
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