While most people start learning how to drive with a hand-me-down car from parents or relatives, there comes a time when they want to get their first new car. With hundreds of models to choose from, narrowing it down to just one can seem overwhelming.
To help them start, Edmunds’ experts compiled a list of four new vehicles that excel in the areas first-time owners would be wise to prioritize. These include a low starting price and high safety scores. Specifically, each model earns a Top Safety Pick recommendation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. These are also vehicles that Edmunds has tested and consider to be among the best in their respective classes. All listed prices include destination and handling charges.
STYLISH SMALL SUV: 2021 KIA SOUL
This photo from Hyundai shows the 2021 Veloster, a compact hatchback with three doors suitable for scampering around town. (Bruce BenedictCourtesy of Hyundai Motor America via AP)
Saying a car looks like a box on wheels would not normally be a compliment. But in the case of the Kia Soul, it somehow works. This small SUV has a distinctive upright profile that stands out compared to more traditionally styled rivals. Kia also offers the Soul in different looks; GT-Line and Turbo trim levels offer red exterior accents and a mesh grille for a sporty theme, while the X-Line has gray fender cladding for more of an off-road vibe.
The Soul is easy to get in and out of and has plenty of room for passengers. The Soul also comes with a pleasing number of features for the money. For example, every Soul except the base LX comes with advanced driver safety aids that can help reduce driver distraction and mitigate imminent collisions. Another bonus is Kia’s excellent five-year limited warranty. Negatives are few but include a bit too much wind and road noise on the highway. Our pick: Soul S, $21,710
SPORTY SMALL HATCHBACK: 2021 HYUNDAI VELOSTER
This photo provided by Kia shows the 2021 Soul. Its boxy-yet-distinctive styling opens up plenty of space for passengers. (Courtesy of Kia Motors America via AP)
Small but fun, the Hyundai Veloster is a unique pick because of its three-door layout. It has a single door on its driver’s side and two doors on its passenger side. This configuration creates a sporty, coupe-like appearance with the added benefit of an extra rear door to make it easier for rear passengers to get in and out. The Veloster is also a hatchback, which makes it easier to load luggage and cargo than in a sedan.
The Veloster’s standard 147-horsepower engine is fine, but consider getting the available turbocharged engine. It makes a stout 201 horsepower and gives the Veloster quick acceleration. The extra power is also a pleasing complement to the Veloster’s sharp handling. Just like Kia, Hyundai offers a five-year limited warranty. On the downside, the Veloster’s ride quality is a little stiff, and the cabin can get noisy at highway speeds, especially when the car is equipped with high-performance tires. Our pick: Veloster Turbo R-Spec, $24,445
SENSIBLE MIDSIZE SEDAN: 2021 HONDA ACCORD
This photo provided by Toyota shows the Venza. All-new for 2021, the Venza comes standard with a hybrid powertrain that provides up to an EPA-estimated 39 mpg combined. (Courtesy of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. via AP)
Few vehicles get closer to “no-brainer” pick status than the Accord. It’s consistently one of the top-selling cars in America, and the latest-generation Accord is one of Edmunds’ favorite midsize sedans. It’s roomy, upscale and enjoyable to drive. The Accord’s standard turbocharged engine provides pleasing power and above-average fuel economy. The Accord Hybrid is even more efficient, sipping fuel to the tune of 48 mpg in the EPA’s combined city/highway estimate.
Honda’s smaller Civic is a smart alternative to the Accord if you’re looking for a lower price. Going with the Accord, however, gets you a slightly bigger back seat and trunk. The interior is nicer, too, with more upscale materials. Infotainment and safety features on the Accord are abundant, though they’re not as simple to operate as those in some rival sedans. Our pick: Accord LX, $25,725
EFFICIENT MIDSIZE SUV: 2021 TOYOTA VENZA
Hybrids have a somewhat justified reputation for being a little dorky. Yet there’s nothing dorky about the new Venza. After a five-year hiatus, Toyota has taken this nameplate off the shelf for a 2021 midsize SUV fitted exclusively by a hybrid powertrain. This Venza has a sharp-looking exterior and a well-equipped cabin that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Lexus.
The Venza is good for an EPA-estimated 39 mpg in combined city/highway driving. This is among the highest estimates you can get from a hybrid SUV. All-wheel drive comes standard, too. As for negatives, the Venza’s cargo area isn’t as big as those in some other rival SUVs, such as the Ford Edge or Honda Passport. But if you want comfort, versatility and high fuel economy from your first vehicle, the Venza will work out great. Our pick: Venza LE, $33,645
EDMUNDS SAYS: Your first new car should be sensible, but there’s no rule saying it can’t be memorable, too. Start with one of these four vehicles and then do some research and comparison shopping to find the best deal.
This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. Brent Romans is a senior editor of written content at Edmunds. Instagram: brent.romans.
RELATED LINKS:
—2021 Honda Accord review: https://edmu.in/3lkCHQ1
—2021 Hyundai Veloster review: https://edmu.in/2GNdkXV
—2021 Kia Soul review: https://edmu.in/32xJG0s
—2021 Toyota Venza review: https://edmu.in/3eTmizx
MIAMI (AP) — Good Friday is a unique — and uniquely solemn — day in the Christian calendar.
It commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus, ahead of what’s a central tenet of faith for believers — his resurrection two days later on Easter Sunday, according to the Gospels.
This year, it falls on April 3 for Catholics and Protestants, and April 10 for Orthodox Christians.
Across Christian denominations, Good Friday services are unlike those on most other days. They often include centuries-old, once-a-year traditions both during the liturgy and out in the streets, where elaborate processions and other rituals of fervent popular piety are held.
While Catholics gather, it’s the only day without an actual Mass, because there's no sacrament of the Eucharist, which is the transformation of bread and wine into Jesus' body and blood according to the church. Orthodox Christians don’t celebrate the Eucharist either on what they call Great and Holy Friday.
Most mainline Protestant denominations and Evangelicals also hold unique services, like the Lutheran devotion focused on the biblical accounts of Jesus' last words on the cross, though they are not as strict on fasting as Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
Church services tend to last more than an hour, usually starting at 3 p.m., when tradition says Jesus died. But even though it’s not a day of obligation, and it’s a workday in the United States, churches tend to be packed.
“The time leading up to Good Friday is a big reflection on sacrifice — what he did for me and what I am doing in return,” said Manuel León, 22.
A member of Miami’s Corpus Christi Catholic Church youth group, he will carry a grimly realistic statue of Jesus crucified in procession through a hip central neighborhood on Good Friday.
“Pushing that statue from the back and seeing how torn up he is, what he did for us really becomes real,” León added.
Some of the most ancient liturgical practices define Good Friday service for Catholics, said the Rev. John Baldovin, a professor of historical and liturgical theology at Boston College.
“The most solemn days tend to retain the oldest ceremonies,” he added, including as example the fact that the priests and ministers prostrate themselves in front of the altar at the beginning of the service.
Another ancient tradition is the extensive prayers of the faithful, interspersed with genuflections, which today include intentions as varied as praying for the pope, for the Jewish people, and for those who do not believe in God.
Up until Holy Week reforms introduced by the Vatican in the 1950s, Communion wasn’t distributed on Good Friday, though now it is with hosts consecrated a day earlier on Holy Thursday, Baldovin said.
But the highlight of the ceremony is the adoration of the cross, which in many cases is held up near the altar as the faithful line up to kiss it or touch it in reverence.
Among the earliest documents of this practice is the diary of pilgrim who in the 4th century went from what’s today Spain to Jerusalem, Baldovin said. There, at the present-day Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a bishop held up the cross for several hours as the faithful venerated it.
Life-sized statues of Jesus crucified, the weeping Virgin Mary, and representations of scenes from the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus' torture and death on a cross are carried in large processions in different parts of the world.
Some of the oldest and most awe-inspiring are in southern Spain’s Seville, where tens of thousands of people watch much-venerated images of Jesus and Mary being carried in hourslong processions throughout Holy Week.
“Not all of us have the ability to look at the sky and feel fulfilled. Others like me need the images,” said Manolo Gobea.
He moved from Seville to Miami three decades ago and now heads the brotherhood that organizes the Good Friday procession starting from Corpus Christi church and winding its way through the graffiti-splashed neighborhood of Wynwood.
As the main, Seville-made statues exit the palm-fringed church, they’re carried over intricate carpets made of colored sawdust and flowers. That’s a nod to another tradition that’s perhaps most exuberantly followed in the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala, where miles of these carpets are created for Holy Week — twice on Good Friday.
“On Good Friday, we feel the pain of Mary, Jesus’ pain, his surrender for love,” said Silvia Armira, as she prepared the carpet drawings for the procession in Miami, where she arrived from Guatemala in the 1990s. “It’s the great love of God, who gave up his only son for us.”
Solemn and popular rituals on Good Friday vary from the pope’s traditional “way of the cross” in Rome to a trek to the adobe sanctuary of Chimayo in New Mexico to self-flagellation and even crucifixion in the Philippines.
For many priests, they are all opportunities to take faith out of church and into streets to evangelize — and to point out that the gruesome death on the cross isn’t the end of the story.
“Our procession is a cry to the world — ‘get out, look at what is the way, the truth, the life,’” said the Rev. José Luis Menéndez.
“May your entire attitude be a living prayer,” the Cuban-born, Spanish-raised pastor at Corpus Christi in Miami told more than 100 faithful at the last rehearsal for this year’s procession.
Carefully watching over the SUV-sized float covered in silver-plated ornaments, flower vases and candlesticks, Gobea said the main appeal of Good Friday celebrations is that they lead from death to Easter joy.
“To the weeping Mary, we put flowers, we sing hymns, and that’s because we know how it ends — which is the resurrection,” he said.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Diane De Leon, left, and her mother, Victoria Trujillo, right, make the Good Friday pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó in Chimayó, New Mexico, on Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
A penitent of the "Hermandad de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno" participates during a Holy Week procession in Puente Genil, southern Spain, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A penitent of the "Hermandad de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno" yawns during a Holy Week procession in Puente Genil, southern Spain, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
An amateur actor performing as Jesus carries the cross during the traditional Good Friday procession organised by the Italian community in Bensheim, Germany, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Performers bring down Heron Aquino after he was nailed to the cross during a reenactment of Jesus Christ's sufferings as part of Good Friday rituals in the San Pedro Cutud village, Pampanga province, northern Philippines April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Corpus Christi Catholic Church members participate in a rehearsal for their Good Friday procession Monday, March 23, 2026, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Corpus Christi Catholic Church youth members look up at a statue of Jesus crucified during a rehearsal for their Good Friday procession, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Members of the Corpus Christi Catholic Church push a large float that will carry the Lady of Hope Macarena during a rehearsal of their Good Friday procession Monday, March 23, 2026, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Corpus Christi Catholic Church members push a large float that will carry the Lady of Hope Macarena during a rehearsal for their Good Friday procession, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Corpus Christi Catholic Church youth group members push a float with Jesus during a rehearsal for their Good Friday procession Monday, March 23, 2026, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
