Fuel economy is not a factor, it's merely a nice bonus.

Airbags, anti-lock brakes, and electronic stability control are HUGE safety gains.

With due respect to the poster above (and I mean that, I'm not trying to be personally critical), the SUV may not be the safest choice. I understand the argument for bulk, but SUVs sit high off the ground and have a much greater propensity to roll than a vehicle with a lower CG.

Couple that with the fact that SUVs have very wide tires (like the one I drive). Wide tires have a much, much greater tendency to hydroplane than small, skinny tires.

It has also been my personal observation that long-wheelbase, tall SUVs are inherently unstable in a skid--very difficult to recover by steering into the skid like you can in a car.

So...you've got a rear-wheel drive vehicle that wants to hydroplane and then skid because it's being pushed by the driving wheels, is unstable when it gets into a skid, and wants to roll when it's sliding sideways. Not good.

I know all this stuff because it happened to me.

For a teenager, especially a teenage boy, I would buy (and indeed did buy) a small car (fewer passengers) with a weak-ass 4-cylinder. It is not cool and you couldn't hot rod in it if you wanted to. It has anti lock brakes and electronic stability control.

Preach smart behavior to your child: No texting, no drinking, drive defensively.

Don't scrimp on tires! Worn tires hydroplane and skid. Bite the bullet and replace your tires as soon as they get close to flunking the penny test.

That is all.