5 affordable used vehicles with advanced driver safety features

Buying a used car is never easy, especially in today’s topsy-turvy world of dealer markups and tariffs. However, luckily for you, I have spent most of my career writing buyer’s guides for this exact thing.

As someone with a young nephew of his own who is entering the stage of life where he can begin thinking about a family, driver safety is always at the forefront of my mind these days. Luckily, there are no shortage of options today that have advanced driver-safety features, and if you look hard enough, you can even find them at a decent price point.

1

2021 Honda Accord

Keeping families safe since 1976

Honda

Arguably the end-all-be-all of the used car market, the Honda Accord first went on sale in 1976, and has been a staple of the Japanese manufacturing titan’s lineup ever since. The sweet spot here is the 2021 model, as they’re not only the best-looking of the bunch since the Accord’s facelift in 2023, but also modern enough to come packed to the gills with Honda’s advanced set of driver-safety features.

The standard kit is all there — collision braking system, lane-keep assistance, adaptive cruise control, and even traffic sign recognition on certain trims. That last one is especially handy, especially if you’ve ever been driving in direct sunlight and almost missed a stop sign. The Accord will display a message for the driver on the dash letting them know exactly what sign they can or can’t see. Used 2021 Accords can be found from $21,155 to $26,334 depending on the trim level, according to Kelley Blue Book.

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2

2021 Toyota Camry

A better buy than the Accord, depending on who you ask

Toyota

The Toyota Camry has stood tall with the Accord in terms of the everyday car. Don’t get me wrong, if it’s excitement on four wheels you’re looking for, this is not the place, but if it’s safety, reliability, and affordability you’re after with your money, you can’t go wrong with the Camry.

With its numerous recent facelifts, you can actually find them cheaper than the Accord, too. KBB says a used 2021 Camry can be found from $17,476 – $23,377. I don’t think the safety features quite stack up to the Honda’s, but they’re as close as you can get without going up to the Camry’s upbadged Lexus twin. Complete with ten airbags, the 2021 Camry was an IIHS Top Safety Pick in 2021, crash-testing better than just about every other car in its class. Whether you’re after a first car for your child or one to put your children in, the Camry is a popular pick for all the right reasons.

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3

2020 Subaru Outback

Subaru has prided itself on safety for decades now

Subaru

One look can tell you the advantages of the Outback over all the other vehicles on this list. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of a good wagon, and the Outback is one of the last remaining affordable ones on the market. Now, when I say affordable, I mean in comparison to other wagons, because used Outbacks don’t come cheap, as in a 2020 Outback starts at an average used price of $17,381 and shoots up to well over $26,000 for a higher trim level.

However, there are more standard safety features on the base model Outback than any other base model on the list, which earns it the nod. If you don’t need the fancy leather seats and movie-theater-sized touchscreens, the Outback is as smart of a choice as any.

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4

2021 Mazda CX-5

This underdog delivers on every promise

Oftentimes, when I’m asked about a used SUV or car, I’ll steer a friend towards Mazda, and they’ll say “Huh, I didn’t even think about them.” My answer is always the same.

“Why not?”

Mazda has been pumping out some of the best budget-friendly cars on the market for quite some time now, and doing it with their own sense of style in the process. That’s rare these days, and as good as their cars look and perform on the road, they keep the drivers inside them just as safe. They can also be bought for anywhere from $14,668 to $25,838, with as dense of a set of standard safety features as any across the range, including Mazda’s adaptive cruise control system complete with stop-and-go technology, which is as close to autonomous driving as one can get at these prices, really.

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5

2022 Honda Civic

Honda gets the last laugh with its other great sedan

Honda

There aren’t many companies left making quality four-door sedans these days. Most have transitioned into compact or mid-sized SUVs, and who could blame them? It’s what the market is clamoring for right now. Even this company, Honda, makes its own set of wonderful SUVs at just about every price point, but there is still the Accord, and you best believe there’s still the Civic.

What makes the Civic such an everyone’s car is that it can be, quite literally, whatever you want it to be, from a mundane a-to-b daily driver to a spunky sports car, all while being one of the safest platforms on the road, and it can be bought at any price point from $17,630 to $28,998 for the 2022 model year. The Civic comes with all the same safety equipment as the Accord, but you can buy certain trims, like the Type R, with the greatest anti-theft system of all – a manual transmission.

That kind of versatility deserves its flowers 7 days a week.

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