Car's accomplished performance for one that teaches itself (10)
I believe the answer is:
autodidact
'one that teaches itself' is the definition.
'car's accomplished performance' is the wordplay.
'car' becomes 'auto' ('auto' can be a synonym of 'car').
'accomplished' becomes 'did' (doing is a kind of accomplishing).
'performance' becomes 'act' (act is a kind of performance).
'auto'+'did'+'act'='AUTODIDACT'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for autodidact that I've seen before include "Self-taught person" , "Someone self-taught" , "I skipped school" , "Self-educator" , "person who taught himself" .)