The 10 Best Cars for Senior Drivers

Whether you're 50, 60 or 70, you may start thinking about a vehicle that conforms to your chassis, instead of the other way around.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Older drivers shopping for new cars have one trend going for them and one that’s a problem. In their favor: The increasing popularity of small SUVs means far more vehicles have a seat that’s at just the right height to get in and out, without being too big overall. Against older drivers: In the quest for greater passenger safety, vehicles’ roof pillars have grown very thick, compromising your ability to see out.

We’ve picked our best cars for seniors by considering their accessibility, visibility, active safety features, headlight performance and controls—in particular, whether the vehicle has a traditional Park-Reverse-Neutral-Drive-Low (PRNDL) shift lever rather than a dial, pushbuttons or some kind of inscrutable toggle switch. We didn’t forget factors that matter to everyone, though: price, performance and reliability.

Check out our 10 picks.

Disclaimer

If a vehicle earned a Top Safety Pick (TSP) or Top Safety Pick Plus (TSP+) designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, it’s noted. Because those ratings include the results of tests of vehicles’ active safety features and headlight performance, the trim level or options needed to get that rating are listed, when applicable. MSRPs include delivery and shipping costs.

David Muhlbaum
Former Senior Online Editor

In his former role as Senior Online Editor, David edited and wrote a wide range of content for Kiplinger.com. With more than 20 years of experience with Kiplinger, David worked on numerous Kiplinger publications, including The Kiplinger Letter and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. He co-hosted  Your Money's Worth, Kiplinger's podcast and helped develop the Economic Forecasts feature.