The Safest New and Used Cars of Our Time

There are hundreds of car models on the market, each offering differing safety features, legroom, prices, features, mpg, etc. Narrowing that list can be incredibly challenging, and time consuming – especially if you are open to buying new and used cars.

While the IIHS tries to compile a list of their recommended safest cars each year, they end up recommending about 150 cars. For anyone searching for a car, that number is overwhelming. On top of that, the IIHS doesn’t seem to take their own driver death rate into account when adding vehicles. Many have driver death rates that are above average.

Frustrated, I created a list of all the cars 2003 and newer that have both excelled in safety tests (cars that have a score of 55 or lower on informedforlife.org) and a driver fatality rate lower than the average of 28 people per 1 million cars sold (using data from informedforlife.org and iihs.org).

For the fatality rate, if the car had data for previous model years, I used that data – assuming that the car will only improve with time. For models that are new, newly redesigned, or if there wasn’t any recent data, I wrote “No Data.”

Hopefully this helps someone at least narrow their list a bit!

With new cars coming out each year, this post is going to be outdated right when it’s published. Hopefully, it will help used car buyers find cheap but safe cars in the future: Published 9/27/2015.

Year Type Model Fatality Rate
2007+ SUV Acura MDX (Later Release) Below Average
2015+ Car Acura RLX Model Too New
2009+ Car Acura TL Below Average
2009+ Car Acura TSX Below Average
2009+ Car Audi A4 Below Average
2016+ Car Audi A6 Below Average
2010+ SUV Audi Q5 No Data
2015+ SUV Buick Encore Model Too New
2008+ Car Cadillac CTS Below Average
2015+ SUV Chevy Trax Model Too New
2015+ Car Chrysler 200 Model Too New
2010+ Car Chrysler Sebring No Data
2015+ Truck Ford F150 Super Crew Below Average
2009+ SUV Ford Flex Below Average
2010+ Car Ford Mustang (Later Release) No Data
2008+ Car Ford Taurus Below Average
2015+ Car Honda Accord Below Average
2008+ Van Honda Odyssey Below Average
2007+ Van Hyundai Entourage Below Average
2009+ Car Hyundai Genesis (Later Release) No Data
2016+ SUV Hyundai Tucson Model Too New
2006+ Van Kia Sedona Below Average
2016+ Van Kia Sorrrento Below Average
2010+ SUV Lexus RX350 Below Average
2009+ Car Lincoln MKS Below Average
2014+ SUV Mazda CX-5 Model Too New
2016+ Car Mazda Mazda6 Model Too New
2014+ SUV Mercedes Benz ML Class Model Too New
2009+ Car Mercedes-Benz C-Class Below Average
2010+ Car Mercedes-Benz E-Class Below Average
2006+ Car Mercury Montego Below Average
2009+ Car Mercury Sable Below Average
2009+ Car Subaru Impreza Below Average
2010+ Car Subaru Legacy Below Average
2015+ SUV Subaru Outback Below Average
2010+ SUV Toyota 4Runner Below Average
2009+ SUV Toyota Venza Below Average
2005+ SUV Volvo XC90 Below Average

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