FG Falcon among safest used vehicles on the road
Article from carsguide.com.au
Budget buys that can save our life.
Choosing the right used car could save your life.
No matter how much you have to spend, or what class you're shopping in, there are winners and losers on the safety front. And the difference between good and bad could be the difference between walking away from a crash, riding away in an ambulance - or worse.
No one should risk their life in a 1996 Daihatsu Mira - currently the bottom on the pile when it coems to second-hand safety.
The Mira is an ordinary little buzzbox that's suitable only for two small people and not much luggage.
The Daihatsu earns this dubious honour thanks to the latest and most comprehensive assessment of second-hand safety in Australia, complied by the Monash University Accident Research Centre in Melbourne.
It gives a big tick to a range of used-car favourites, from te FG Ford Falcon to the Honda Civic and rates the best safety choices in every class on the basis of real-world crash information compiled over more than a decade.
The Monash results are very different to the Australian Car Assessment Program, which delivers its verdict from the results of one-off laboratory crash tests.
ANCAP works well enough for comparative shopping in new-car showrooms and has helped drive a growing number of five-star success stories. The Mpnash survey, however, spreads far wider and gives a much broader result covering almost everything on the used-car front.
No one buys a second-hand car just because of a safety score - purchase price always rates No.1 - but brands such as Subaru prove that a five-star ANCAP result and the security of all-wheel drive are also important to the second, third and fourth owners of its cars.
Monash has based its survey on results from real-world crashes around Australia and New Zealand, from 1987 to 2009, and assessed more than 5.6 million individual tow-away incidents.
The raw results are focused on deaths and injuries but the MUARC team also looks into secondary crash results for injuries in other vehicles involved, how the size and weight of vehicles affect their safety, and the impact on pedestrians and cyclists.
Some very safe cars don't look too good in the Monash results, and that could be because they are involved in fewer crashes. A car with effective ABS and ESP stability control can help its driver avoid a crash that could catch someone in a car with less sophisticated technology.
Instead of merely listing Monash's big picks, we're providing the ANCAP rating, feedback on the best cars in the most popular size classes - and w're adding Carsguide's opinion as to the best buy.
Call now on 1800 732 019 to buy your next used car!
