The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has updated its recommendations for used vehicles for teens — and this insight may come in handy for dealers serving newly licensed young people and their often concerned parents.

Interestingly, IIHS said the list of recommended vehicles has grown by more than 50 percent, perhaps a result of the ever-improving quality of vehicles on the road.

The list includes models ranging from the Dodge Grand Caravan (2012 and newer) to the Honda Accord sedan (2012 and newer), covering large cars, midsize cars, small SUVs, midsize SUVs, large SUVs, minvans and pickups.

"Time is on the consumer's side," says Anne McCartt, the institute's senior vice president for research. "It's easier than ever to find a used vehicle with must-have safety features and decent crash test performance without spending a fortune."

IIHS compiled the list of recommended used vehicles in light of finding that the majority of parents who bought a vehicle for their teen driver brought a used car.

The survey also found that the mean purchase price for a teen's vehicle was $9,800, while the median was just $5,300, but the Institute noted it recommends parents pay a little more for their teen’s first car.

"The prices for most of the vehicles we recommend for young, novice drivers are still higher than what a lot of people are used to spending," McCartt says. "We would encourage parents to consider paying a little more for safety if they can."

For dealers working to put parents’ mind at ease while marketing safe vehicles for teens might want to keep these three recommendations from the IIHS in mind:

• High horsepower should be avoided.
• Bigger, heavier vehicles are safer.
• Electronic stability control is a must.

And if rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, vehicles on either list must earn four or five stars overall, or five or five stars in the front and side tests under the old rating scheme, IIHS reported.

Something to keep in mind for dealers is a few pickups made the recommendation list this year, after being excluded last year for exceeding the IIHS $20,000 price limit.

"We found in our survey last year that 14 percent of teenagers are driving pickups, so we're happy to be able to recommend a few models," McCartt says. The country's most popular pickup, the Ford F-150 crew cab, will set families back $16,800 for a 2011 model. A 2007 Toyota Tundra crew cab, a best choice like the F-150, costs $12,200, while the 2006 Honda Ridgeline, a good choice, can be had for $7,700.

For the full list of IIHS used-vehicle recommendations for teens, see here.