Backseat Drivers Only: A kid's top car picks

“Kids have lots of important opinions when it comes to their vehicles”

I am Benicio Quinones, I am 12, and I believe that being in a car with different people can be hard. I would know because I have a 4 year old sister, and it is not fun to be in a small car with her when she is in a bad mood. That’s why I like cars and SUVs that have plenty of space inside, so I can keep my distance.

Lots of factors come with riding in a car to decide if you like it. There’s how you feel in the car. What your general mood is can change what you want. But being in a car is more than just being in an object. Who you have in your car and which car you want to be in is what I am going to focus on. No one ever talks about what kids want their parents to drive. I can’t speak for everyone, but these are some of the things that I would want in a car that I’d ride in with my parents.

Many things factor into a car that is comfortable for a family, and every family is different. First, let me tell you about my family. Besides my 4 year old sister, there’s my father and my mother. The car can become madness and sometimes very dirty if my sister is on board. It can be tough to manage if the backseat is too small and she is near me.

I would want an SUV that has four-wheel drive and has the durability to go off-roading on mountain trails and to exit onto rough roads. If we need to make a family getaway where we need to be out of the house for the day, an SUV would be good for that. Maybe I would want it to have three rows in case any of my friends need a ride home from a sleepover. On road trips I would want it to have quite a bit of trunk space and capacity if we would need to put supplies for a beach visit or for a camping trip. Also I would want it to be fairly easy to clean messes my sister makes, but it is not just her. Sometimes everyone in my family can be sloppy in the car if we are on a long road trip or if we have lots of stuff in the car where it is hard to get comfortable.

One of the cars I would probably go for is the Toyota Highlander. Since my mother is an automotive journalist I have been in many cars that we have test driven, and the Toyota Highlander was a relaxing car to be in, even though Toyota is sometimes considered boring. I don’t consider this car boring. Cars like this that are considered average and are definitely underrated. A car that has space and is reliable for driving on a regular basis, I consider more than just average. If you are on a budget when going to purchase a new car, the Highlander is not the most expensive car compared to a big Mercedes or a Lamborghini.

We first test drove the Highlander sometime in 2018, so I was 9 years old. It had exceptional seating quality which I love and strong tech that is easy to use. Also having USB ports is very important because we need to charge our devices on the go (the 2020 Highlander has 5 USB ports). Driving was smooth and the car was durable and stable for my family. I also love the space it has for sports equipment and room to relax in. If my sister was in need of a nap, we know she will not be cramped up in this car.

“Knowing what car is best for your family will lead to happy memories”

But since we live in New York City we do not have the opportunity to go everywhere in an SUV considering how everything is bunched up. Maybe we would go for something smaller, like a four seater that is much easier to park based off of the size of the car. A good example for this is, like I said, the Jeep Wrangler. I am going to go into personal experience when I say this, because we were able to test drive the Jeep Wrangler. I remember it was blue on the exterior and beige on the interior. I know this can be considered a stiff car by some people, but I loved it. I like the bouncy feeling, because it feels like you’re jumping off a landing strip in an airplane, easy to manage with technology, and also easy and fun to ride in. I think this car was most fun because of the way it drove around a rough city and let you stay in your own space and mindset. Noises that were annoying like a car honking wildly is drowned out by the wind noises, especially when the radio is on. Even though sometimes it is considered a SUV it is on the small which is easy to park on the city streets. It’s even better for off roading.

How about I give you another example of a good car for kids? This time it is the Tesla Model X. The Tesla Model X was one of my favorite SUVS we’ve ever test driven for many reasons. It was very comfortable and it was smooth driving. But it felt a lot better with having the satisfaction that if you own one of these cars, and you know that you are doing your part in climate change. Something very cool about this car is that you can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about 2 and a half seconds. It was so much fun to feel my head jerk back and my adrenaline rush and excitement racing through my veins. This car is so much fun and it can go unbelievably fast. I had the chance to get to be in this car because I was asked to write an article for The Verge. The Tesla was comfortable while having the capabilities to make passengers cower with fear when your head jerks back and the adrenaline starts pumping. It’s a good ride in the backseat, too. While on a bumpy Red Hook street, which is a very rough ride, it felt smooth on the surface, as if the earth was flat and we were living in 1800.

Now that I’ve shown some examples, let’s move on to how we can get so many of these cars to test drive. Since my mother (Le Car is her website) is an automotive journalist we test drive lots of cars and we do different things with them. We take them for drives, we see if they are reliable and we see if they suit a family like us. What I mean by that is if the car has to have durability standards, if it is going to protect us in car accidents and if it easy to use on the inside. While on the road durability is important, a car also has to be strong on the inside. We need a car that can take kicking on the back of the front seat. It should be able to take spills that can be cleaned up with ease and many other things messy families do. What I'm saying is that we need a car that can meet our standards and when we find that, we should not have too many issues with the environment in the car itself.

Knowing what car is best for your family will lead to happy memories. You think about how many miles you have in your car, and that leads back to the time in the dealership where you were purchasing your vehicle where you picked the car you wanted. Then you think about the car you have gotten, and you wonder if it was a good decision. Love at first sight is hard with a car, because you might not think about the other people in your car and what they want, and you might rush your decision. If you take your time buying a car, you should ask your kids what they think. Kids have lots of important opinions when it comes to their vehicle. But I feel like generally adults don’t think about kids’ opinions on the cars they will be driving, when they should be considering their ideas. Kids are always in the car with their parents, and their preferences matter. When you find a car that suits you and your family you will not regret your decision.