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All of the standard features are awesome. ESC would help control the vehicle in case of an over/understeer. While it may be a good option, unless your daughter plans to be driving rather aggressively, I don't think it's necessary.

Personally, I do not care or want that option on any of my cars.

Good luck!

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Well as you would expect, here's the other side of the argument....

The last Toyota Camry I bought, which a teenager driver is learning on and will ultimately become her's over the years.....I paid the 600 bucks and got it. Hopefully it will never get used, but with her inexperience (heck, I would get it for myself anyhow), I don't know how you rationalize to yourself after an accident why it wasn't worth 600 bucks.

Heck, it's going to be mandated in future years (isn't it 2009/2010?), so if you don't get it now for safety reasons, it should help some in resale.

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I think this feature is great for the inexperienced driver and annoying to the experienced one--so in your case, I'd give it a "yes". Also it will improve resale value somewhat down the road. I don't like ESC myself but until someone learns vehicle dynamics it might not be a bad idea.

As devil's advocate, some people insist that with ESC you'll never learn to control a car properly, but they used to say that with manual transmissions, too.

Another nice present for your daughter some day is a defensive driving course, usually a one-day affair done at a local race track. Lots of fun and she'll learn a lot about how to control a car.

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ITS PROBABLY IN THE TOP 10 OF GREATAST INVENTION OF THE 20 TH CENTURY, YOU PASS ON THAT, DON'T SLIDE IN THE RAIN. YES IT'S WORTH IT!!! SHELBY6

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You usually have to drive pretty aggressivley before any sort of electronic intervention kicks in. The resale value down the road is questionable since most people will never even know their cars have electronic stability control at all. some sort of performance driving school where they teach car control is much more likely to help.

It's not a bad idea, I just think there are better ones.

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Have to say with all the safety optoins hse is getting I don't think it is necesary. As it was siad before she has to be driving pretty aggresive for it work. Also if you live in a area of the country where it snows alot than I would suggest not to get it. You really need to know how to work stability controls. Also stability controls are better for vehicles like SUV'd that are more prone to roll overs. She should be fine a car. Besides didn't you learn how to drive with out ESC? It will be fine with the safety features it has.

gP

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VSC or vehicle stability control with traction control is one of the most misunderstood safety features available on Toyota/Lexus/Scion brands. Personally I would spend the extra 600 bucks to make sure my child was protected while driving this vehicle. Teenage drivers have not developed their driving skills and are more prone to accidents. Another thing, VSC is transparent to the driver. The only way you'll know it's activated is by a beep and a dash light that will flash. I have a good way of demonstrating this feature to customers. I go to an circle by one of our buildings and there is no traffic there. I tell customers what I'm about to do. "Ok folks, grab onto your hand assists. We're going to have some fun." "What I'm going to do is drive the car/suv in a complete circle while I floor the accelerator. This is to demonstrate to you how and when the VSC works." I then step on the gas while turning the wheel and as the car speeds up the computer senses that it's going out of control and activates the VSC/TRAC tHIS IS DONE by reducing the input to the engine and applying brakes to the wheels that are spinning out of control. It happens in an instanta buy you get the point. All Toyota SUV's have VSC standard and it's optional on most cars and Tacoma trucks. Standard on Tundra also.

Source: I sell them and drive them.

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You certainly don't need to be driving very aggressively in the snow for it to turn on. The VSC in our Highlander comes on at least once on my eight mile drive to work any time there is more than 3 inches of snow on the road.

Definately get it. You won't regret it and it will help resale in five years when every car is required to have it (would you buy a car without abs now?)

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Yes. Stability control is worth every penny--especially with a teenage driver still figuring out her limits. Passive safety (airbags, etc.) is all well and good, but those features assume the accident has already occurred. ESC is there to prevent loss-of-control accidents in the first place. Even if you live in a snow-free area, this technology is worth having. If it does snow or rain a lot where you live, the case for ESC is even more compelling.

And since ESC will be standard in a couple of years, not having it might hurt your resale value later on. Would you buy a used car today for your kids that didn't have airbags? Substitute "ESC" for "airbag" in that question in a few years time to estimate what parents will be thinking then.

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ESC is great. How is works on Jeeps is (think Pyramid) the Abs is the foundation on top of your ABS, You got a Roll Stability Program, on top of that is ESC, on Jeeps Its ESP. What happens is lets say your going around a corner and the car's rear starts to swing around the program detects this applies the breaks, adjust the throttle to correct the problem automatically you can let go of the wheel scream like a little school girl and the program with prevent and accident. It will also do a few other things, like program its self to the drivers habits and if it detects hard breaking it will engage the program to help stop the car. I sell Jeeps I been through all the training so it really is kind of cool. The only problem is that its not Jeep you might look at Jeep Patriot they start about 16,000-24,000

Source: Jeep Salesman

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ESC is one the biggest advances in safety since the seat belt. it will be mandated on all new vehicles in 2011. stability control greatly reduces the amount of single vehicle accidents. don't put a price on safety.

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Electronic stability control is a great thing and at $600, there is no question that it's worth it. ESC basically takes every motion of the car into account and keeps the vehicle on the road in situations such as a slide, or otherwise abrupt maneuver. The greatest thing is that the computer does all of its thinking in nanoseconds and reacts before the driver can even have a first thought. Further, an inexperienced driver's inputs can often be the wrong ones, making their situation worse, but with ESC all your daughter would have to do is manage the accelerator, brakes, and steering wheel in a reasonably normal way, and the ESC would take care of the rest. No figuring out how to counter steer, or pump brakes, or when to let off of the gas pedal. Simply put, ESC can think and react to situations before they get scary, the human brain often can't. ESC is worth the money, even at a cost substantially more than Scion's $600. I'd say buy it.

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