Car Safety Ratings

Auto Safety Ratings & Crash Test Results

Car safety ratings should be an important part of the car buying process. Whether you are purchasing a vehicle for yourself or for your family, it is wise to look into auto safety reports before you decide which car to choose.

There are a variety of resources online where you can check car safety ratings of most vehicles. Government agencies and independent companies perform crash tests which subject the tested vehicles to various impact trials, and these results are made available to the public.

In addition to the car safety rating you should be aware of manufacturer recalls, which put simply are problem areas that have been brought to the manufacturers attention and have warranted the manufacturer to recall or take back these vehicles.

Vehicles can be recalled for many reasons, some of which could be dangerous if not attended to. A few years back there was a Firestone tire recall...tires were actually exploding while the cars were being driven...and thousands of vehicles had to be recalled.

Other issues you want to consider are trouble spots, which are problem areas that may or may not have been covered by a recall. These usually fall under the category of Technical Service Bulletins, or TSBs.

Finally, owner complaints can give you a significant impression of vehicle safety that you might not be able to glean from car the safety rating or trouble spots. These are actual comments and concerns from people who own the particular vehicles. Owners can tell you a lot about a vehicle's safety since they know first-hand.

Car Safety Ratings - Car Safety Rating Info

We have found some interesting sources online for car safety ratings and related information. Between all of them you can definitely find what you are looking for:

Car Detective - Car Detective offers comprehensive information on new and used vehicles, with tutorials to guide you through the buying and selling process. They offer a Used Car Ratings & Research Report on most used vehicles, with crash test results, factory & government recalls, actual owner complaints and more. They also offer a Custom Report where you can choose what you information you need.

NHTSA - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers valuable vehicle information, up-to-date news articles and forums to submit problems.

Crashtest.com -Crashtest.com offers crash test results from a variety of U.S. and foreign agency crash tests, with a weighted average applied for each.

IIHS/HLDI - The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute work to prevent vehicle crashes and reduce injuries by investigating safety issues.

We are continually updating our Safety Ratings section with new resources for auto safety as we discover them. If you come across any auto safety ratings resources that we have not covered, please let us know so we can share them with our visitors.

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