Today hip-hop, not Elvis, is king. But teenagers still get excited about their first car, and parents, with reason, still worry. If you're giving a lucky kid a car as a graduation gift--or just trying to exercise some control over what your child buys with his or her own money--your primary concern will likely be safety, with cost a close second. So to come up with my five suggestions for great wheels for teens, I explored their tastes but concentrated on safety and price.

As a general rule, "when it comes to safety, the bigger the vehicle the better," advises Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice president of the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), a nonprofit that compiles accident statistics for the insurance industry. I know you're not likely to buy your kid a costly, tank-size sport utility vehicle, but you may be able to talk your new motorist into a crashworthy mid-size sedan or large pickup. If "small and cheap" is the goal, look for the benchmarks I used: a rating of at least three out of five stars in federal tests of driver and front-seat passenger protection in crashes, plus a below-average record of injuries. You can check out crash-test results online at www.nhtsa.dot.gov and real-world accident and injury statistics from HLDI at www.hldi.org.

Your two goals--safety and reasonable cost--can work together as far as insurance is concerned. Adding another car and a teenage driver to your auto policy can boost your annual premium by up to $1,000; opting for a car with a low injury and collision-damage record can cut that premium hike by as much as 50%. If you buy a used or inexpensive new car with cash, instead of taking out a loan, you can cut your insurance bill even more by opting only for liability, not the full collision coverage lenders require. Finally, ask if your insurer offers discounts for teens who have taken driving classes or have good grades--many companies do.

As a parent, you care about such practicalities. Your trend-obsessed teen, on the other hand, wants a car that's cutting edge. To find out what's hot today, I talked to market researchers who specialize in young consumers. What surprised me is that today's teens aren't that interested in sleek, low-slung sports cars. What rocks, I'm told, is a ride that can carry not only friends but also gear such as skis or mountain bikes. "Baby boomers loved sports cars, but kids today are more interested in small sport utilities," says J. Walker Smith, who follows the youth market for research firm Yankelovich Partners.

My five suggestions--a mix of used and new cars and trucks--all have better than average safety ratings, and even the new ones cost less than $16,500, well below the $20,000 average new-car price. For more details, see the table below.

A teen favorite that parents can love
JEEP WRANGLER SE
Since teenagers hardly ever like anything that's good for them, I was surprised to discover that their favorite sport utility, the Jeep Wrangler, sports pretty good safety statistics. Like most SUVs, the Wrangler has a bigger risk of rollovers than sedans do. But its sturdy roll bar helps protect passengers, and the Wrangler scored four out of five stars in government crash tests. In real-world accident experience, the Wrangler's rating of 76 is significantly better than the average of 100 for all vehicles. You should be able to get a fully equipped SE model for $16,213. Because this SUV is a favorite of car thieves as well as teens, however, your annual car insurance bill in a typical suburb will total about $2,000 if your teenage driver is a boy and about $1,700 for a girl.

A car you'll both want to drive
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
The aura of the New Beetle and an ad campaign featuring extreme sports such as mountain biking have helped make Volkswagens cool with teens as well as their parents. The least expensive VW--and therefore the likeliest choice for kids--is the newly redesigned Golf, a stylish two-door hatchback with a back seat that folds down to make room for gear. On the safety front, the Golf's crash-test rating is average, but its 109 injury-index rating is well below the small-car average of 132. Good bargainers should be able to get a typically equipped Golf for $15,689.

Most safety for the money
SATURN SL
Young drivers often favor small cars simply because most models are inexpensive. With Saturns, you can save money without sacrificing safety. The Saturn SL four-door sedan, with a no-haggle price of $11,845, boasts the government's top five-star crash-test rating and a below-average real-world injury index of 97. Saturn may have a low glamour quotient, but it "has a reputation with young drivers for reliability and low hassle," says Liz DiPilli of Project X, a New York City consulting firm that advises advertisers on the youth market.

Top truck choice
1996 CHEVROLET C1500 FLEETSIDE WT
Truck chic may escape city dwellers, but in more rural and suburban precincts trucks rule, even among girls. Pickups, with truck beds that can carry lots of bikes, surfboards and other gear, offer many of the same attractions as sport utilities. If your kid wants a truck, go for a full-size pickup; almost all models have superior safety statistics. And get four-wheel drive for safer winter driving. The way to find an affordable full-size pickup is to buy used. A 1996 Chevrolet C1500 Fleetside WT sells for an average price of $11,250. This Chevy truck has a four-star crash-test rating and a very low injury-index rating of 49.

Best mid-size value
1996 TAURUS GL
Another strategy for getting maximum safety for your money is to step up to a mid-size car, but buy used. A 1996 Ford Taurus GL is new enough to have air bags--which can be dangerous for small children but are a definite plus for teens--yet sells for an average price of $10,425 vs. $18,217 for the 1999 model. The Taurus boasts the same five-star crash-test rating as the Saturn SL but has an even lower real-world injury index of 84--in part because the 3,290-pound Taurus is nearly 1,000 pounds heavier. Notes Julie Boucher, a Liberty Mutual insurance agent in Lewiston, Maine who conducts safe-driving seminars: "You'll probably get an argument from teen-agers by recommending a mid-size sedan, but it can make a big safety difference." Argument over.

Here's how our teen picks stack up in price and safety, plus an example of the yearly tab for adding the vehicle and a teenage driver to your auto insurance policy. Crash-test ratings are out of a possible five stars. The average car's injury index, which is a measurement of real-world accident results, is 100; the typical small car's is 132. The lower the number, the better.

Model	Target price	Crash test rating	Injury index (avg.=100)	Insurance cost [1]
Jeep Wrangler SE	$16,213	* * * *	76	$2,003
Volkswagen Golf	$15,689	* * *	109	$1,679
Saturn SL	$11,845	* * * * *	97	$1,395
1996 Chevrolet C1500 Pickup	$11,250	* * * *	49	$1,342
1996 Taurus GL	$10,425	* * * * *	84	$1,239
NOTE: [1] Rate for adding a 16-year-old male in an Atlanta suburb; insuring a daughter will cost $200 to $300 less. SOURCES: National Auto Dealers Association, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Highway Loss Data Institute, Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Parents who worry about their teenage children taking to the road have good reason to do so. Drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times as likely to have an accident as older motorists. While teenagers make up only 10% of the population, they account for 15% of traffic-related deaths.

Even with a sturdy car or truck, the best safety measure is helping your teen avoid accidents in the first place. Lack of experience is a major cause of teen accidents, so a safe-driving class is a good idea. Late-night driving and socializing can also be dangerous. Some 40% of teen traffic fatalities happen after 9 p.m., and more than half occur in vehicles with a teen driver and teen passenger.

To combat these hazards, states are changing the rules of the road. Since 1996, 25 states have adopted so-called graduated licenses for 16-year-olds; most other states are considering similar programs. With a graduated license, young drivers typically are barred from night driving and carrying teen passengers until they log a certain amount of driving time accompanied by a parent or other adult driver. Says Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice president of the Highway Loss Data Institute: "Even if your state doesn't have a graduated license, these are good rules to adopt that could save your teenager's life." --J.E.