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Car shopping for your kid? Parents magazine gives the nod to Subaru Impreza for teen drivers

Parents magazine has endorsed the Subaru Impreza for teen drivers. A red five-door hatchback model is shown here in a heavily-snowed winter scene. — **While your teen driver’s winter commuting needs might not be quite this rough, standard all-wheel drive in all Subaru Impreza models could be reassuring in snow-prone climates.**

I’m a car guy, for sure. But I also happen to be a dad. And I have two kids headed off to college this fall, with a commute of about 30 miles each way in a climate that gets its share of wintry weather. As I’ve been thinking ahead to what sort of car our family should look for to support this next step in their lives, the Subaru marque, with a nice offering of small, fuel-efficient cars that happen to be all-wheel-drive throughout the lineup, was the first to cross my mind. So the timing was fortuitous when a Google Alert showed up in my inbox about a Subaru press release announcing that Parents magazine endorsed the 2020 Subaru Impreza for teen drivers.

Granted, the Subaru press release isn’t new, so this particular Google Alert email was one of those “better late than never” cases.

The Google Alert system, which is supposed to notify users when websites add new content containing specified keywords, is understandably imperfect. And frequently, it mistakes old content that has moved to a new location on a website for new content.

While I originally missed it, Subaru’s April 2020 press release about the Parents magazine endorsement of the Subaru Impreza for teen drivers showed up as an alert in my inbox on December 29. But, given my current car-shopping situation, I’m glad it did.

When I mentioned to one of my kids that I thought a Subaru might be a good fit as the daily driver for the college commute, her eyes lit up—understandably because she has become a big fan of the Fast and Furious franchise. Nevertheless, rest assured that I won’t be going shopping for a modded Subaru WRX equipped with NOS and a fartcan exhaust.

I know better than to put something like that in the hands of new drivers. And I also won’t be buying the specific 2020 model that Parents magazine is endorsing.

But a nice, used stock Impreza?

Yeah, that might be just the thing for a daily commuter that is nimble, reasonably fun, reliable, and equipped to deal with the occasional drive home from campus on snowy roads.

Here are some of the strengths Parents magazine points to in their endorsement of the Subaru Impreza for teen drivers:

Five-star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Standard Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive, which, according to Subaru, provides “better stability, efficiency, and a quicker response to slippery conditions” by helping to “provide a seamless transfer of power to all four wheels”
Fuel economy up to 36 mpg during highway driving (which, by the way, will likely be the primary setting for my kids’ daily college commute)
Ample cargo space with sedan and 5-door body styles

According to the automaker, Parents magazine also noted that “97 percent of the Imprezas sold in the last 10 years are still on the road today,” which is a welcome statistic for a buyer like me who is likely to be shopping “the well-used market” for my soon-to-be college students.

Yeah, scholarships help. But they definitely don’t cover everything.

About The Author

Bill Hayward

Bill Hayward, a writer, marketer, and car enthusiast, is editor and publisher of AutoNewsblaster. Originally a native of the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., he currently resides in South Central Pennsylvania. Contact: auto.enthusiasts.news@gmail.com or 717-968-0883.

6 Cool Things About the 2020 Subaru Outback

2020 Subaru Outback Onyx Edition XT in Abyss Blue Pearl

Excluding the Jeep Wrangler, few passenger vehicles better sum up their maker’s brand identity better than the Outback does for Subaru. The popular SUV-styled midsize wagon was redesigned for 2020, kicking off its sixth generation and gaining improved cargo room and rear-seat space, as well as a host of new available features.

We at Consumer Guide were impressed enough with the redesigned Outback that we added to our Best Buy list for 2020, and it retains its spot on the roster for the 2021 model year. The Outback sees no significant changes for 2021–just a higher level of standard equipment. You can read our Best Buy review of the 2021 Outback here, and our full review coverage of the 2020 Outback below:

First Spin: 2020 Subaru Outback

Test Drive: 2020 Subaru Outback Onyx Edition XT

Quick Spin: 2020 Subaru Outback Touring XT

We’ve covered the Outback’s virtues in detail in the above articles–in fact, the Abyss Blue Pearl Outback seen here is equipped with the exact same options as our previous Onyx Edition XT test vehicle, and came to the same as-tested price: $37,995. Listed below are a few of the finer points we like about the Outback.