german cars are safer?

[spp]

It's a general conception that German cars are safer than Japanese cars.... but does anyone know if there's proof for this (crash rating comparison? consumption report)?

 

[Kelvrick]

What gave you that idea.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx

 

[spp]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
What gave you that idea.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx

hey i was just reading that.

i went to http://www.safercar.gov/ too... and interestingly the 3-series got 4 star but acura TL and RL got 5......

 

[0roo0roo]

german cars are mostly coasting on their name brand these days.
quality is down.

 

[Tommouse]

The new Audi A4 is getting terrific ratings in safety. I don't think it has gone through American testing, so I'm not sure of exactly how many stars, but I'm sure there will be some 5's.

Here is some data from the European testing

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/Audi_A4_2008/320.aspx

 

[BurnItDwn]

I always heard Volvo's were the safest (at least in the 80s and early 90s), but they are Swedish. (or at least were since I think they were bought out)

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
I always heard Volvo's were the safest (at least in the 80s and early 90s), but they are Swedish. (or at least were since I think they were bought out)

Volvo has been the gold standard of safety for decades. Can't go wrong with a Volvo IMO.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
I always heard Volvo's were the safest (at least in the 80s and early 90s), but they are Swedish. (or at least were since I think they were bought out)

Volvo has been the gold standard of safety for decades. Can't go wrong with a Volvo IMO.

You can't go wrong with Volvo...but there are cars that you can do better with. The Saab 9-3 has been tops in it's class for a while. Every Audi has been tops in its class for a while now. BMW is a hit and miss....so good...some not as good (5-Series comes to mind).

There are certainly some Japanese cars that do well...you just have to look it up. You should never shop cars purely on brand alone.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: spp
It's a general conception that German cars are safer than Japanese cars.... but does anyone know if there's proof for this (crash rating comparison? consumption report)?

I think general "impression" is what you meant?


Conception?

 

[PingSpike]

I don't know what the general conception about german cars is...my personal perception is that they're overpriced, break just as often as american cars and cost more to repair when they do.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: feralkid

Originally posted by: spp
It's a general conception that German cars are safer than Japanese cars.... but does anyone know if there's proof for this (crash rating comparison? consumption report)?

I think general "impression" is what you meant?


Conception?

Perception?

 

[cherrytwist]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: feralkid

Originally posted by: spp
It's a general conception that German cars are safer than Japanese cars.... but does anyone know if there's proof for this (crash rating comparison? consumption report)?

I think general "impression" is what you meant?


Conception?

Perception?

Erection?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I thought Toyota was the safest?

Anyways ... I'll state a simple fact. Compared to 20 years ago, cars are much safer today regardless of brand (most brands). Wif you buy a brand of vehicle for safety reasons, you might as well state that Coke as safer than Pepsi because it has less sugar :roll:

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
I thought Toyota was the safest?

Anyways ... I'll state a simple fact. Compared to 20 years ago, cars are much safer today regardless of brand (most brands). Wif you buy a brand of vehicle for safety reasons, you might as well state that Coke as safer than Pepsi because it has less sugar :roll:

Its true they are safer on average, but there is still a large difference in safety among vehicles. I'll give you the fact you shouldn't look at brands, but there is still a lot of variances between specific models and how well they will protect the occupants.

When looking at a car, safety isn't the top factor, but an important one for me.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I don't know what the general conception about german cars is...my personal perception is that they're overpriced, break just as often as american cars and cost more to repair when they do.

ding ding ding!

 

[CorCentral]

Looks like my '04 Mazda6i Hatchback does pretty decent in the frontal Offset Test
....But poor in the Side Impact Test

Link

 

[Arkaign]

Generalities do not make a good judgment basis AT ALL.

There are safe and unsafe vehicles coming from almost every corner of the globe, with insufficient trending to support a generality as being significant enough to go by.

Best start is to find what kind of car you're after, then research the competitors in that market space.

 

[bigdog1218]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
german cars are mostly coasting on their name brand these days.
quality is down.

Actually, its the exact opposite. German companies are making great strides in improving their cars, while Japanese car makers are living off their brand names.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Generalities do not make a good judgment basis AT ALL.

There are safe and unsafe vehicles coming from almost every corner of the globe, with insufficient trending to support a generality as being significant enough to go by.

Best start is to find what kind of car you're after, then research the competitors in that market space.

Surely if you averaged out the safety ratings of every model of every German car and compared it to the average of every model of every Japanese/American/British/etc, you could come up with some kind of comparison.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Generalities do not make a good judgment basis AT ALL.

There are safe and unsafe vehicles coming from almost every corner of the globe, with insufficient trending to support a generality as being significant enough to go by.

Best start is to find what kind of car you're after, then research the competitors in that market space.

Surely if you averaged out the safety ratings of every model of every German car and compared it to the average of every model of every Japanese/American/British/etc, you could come up with some kind of comparison.

But what's the point? For every safe American car, I can show you a safe German, Swedish, Japanese, or even Korean one. Vice versa with unsafe. These kinds of generalities don't have any useful purpose, when the average is so close.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Generalities do not make a good judgment basis AT ALL.

There are safe and unsafe vehicles coming from almost every corner of the globe, with insufficient trending to support a generality as being significant enough to go by.

Best start is to find what kind of car you're after, then research the competitors in that market space.

Surely if you averaged out the safety ratings of every model of every German car and compared it to the average of every model of every Japanese/American/British/etc, you could come up with some kind of comparison.

But what's the point? For every safe American car, I can show you a safe German, Swedish, Japanese, or even Korean one. Vice versa with unsafe. These kinds of generalities don't have any useful purpose, when the average is so close.

But is the average really that close? I know in reliability tests the average isn't very close. On average, the Asian makes are far and away more reliable than European makes.

 

[vi edit]

I've done a little reading on European crash testing standards and they are a bit more comprehensive than ours. So a car built for Europe and the US is going to carry over that extra safety to our market.

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: vi edit
I've done a little reading on European crash testing standards and they are a bit more comprehensive than ours. So a car built for Europe and the US is going to carry over that extra safety to our market.

Sometimes the auto industry makes parts for only a few countries to meet their requirements, like the 8 km/h bumper tests that Canada's had for a few years. I'm not sure what the US bumper standards are, but I'm pretty sure that they aren't the same... but I have no proof.

 

[f1r3s1d3]

American cars are generally.. no wait, Fords are generally the safest.

 

[NutBucket]

Thanks spammer, IIHS issued that statement 6 years ago. A lot has changed since then and lots of cars ace the updated, more rigorous safety tests.