http://www.thedenverchannel.com/auto...67/detail.html

View the slideshow for the full list.

Seems like everyone got hit in this report - GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.

 

Seems kind of silly to me. Is there a sub-compact that isn't on the list?

 

This is just pure obvious logic.

The cheapest cars are driven by the youngest people which are the least experienced and typically the most aggressive drivers.

These same cheap cars also tend to be the smallest and lightest vehicles on the road, making them often times on the losing end of crashes with heavier objects.

The cheaper cars also very often don't have nearly the same number of safety features... stability control, side curtain and side impact airbags, electronic brake force distribution... heck some of them still don't even have ABS.

It's really inevitable for the cheapest cars not to be on that list for those three significant reasons.

 

Basically don't buy a small car or small SUV with out side airbags.

 

So Mazda truck = death, but Ford Ranger is ok?

 

When I think foremost authority on cars, I think forbes.

 

In the slide show it had the Ranger/B series trucks.

 

haha this is just more crap pushed at the americans by big oil in order to keep them buying gas guzzlers and filling big oils pockets.

of course smaller cars are more dangerous....

 

Interesting that they used the catch-all "SUVs" when what they really are talking about are small SUVs and crossovers.

 

It seemed like the list was mostly based on lack of side airbags and rollover potential. Kind of stupid, but what can you do.

 

I got the same impression. I doubt it was based on any real world data... just speculation based on the fore mentioned.

 

kind of like how you can get full marks on a certain independant company's safety checklist unless you have stability control.

 

I think you've got the right idea. However, a lot of these vehicles when similarly equipped with safety features of more expensive cars still don't hold up as well. As entry level vehicles, they're just not made that well.

I didn't see a Honda Civic up there, and I'm not surprised. It's a very well made vehicle. Neither is the Corolla. Those are very safe little cars.

I don't wanna rub it in all the naysayers' faces, but Volkswagen didn't make the list. Pure and simple -- they don't cut corners on structural safety. The MKIV Golf (pre 2006) wasn't exactly a good car in a lot of respects for engine problems and Mexican assembly plant issues. But it's a safe car--it was designed by Europeans, made to crash hard on the Autobahn or get hit by a double-decker bus.

My GTI got hit the other day. It was hit by a 2002 Sentra, and both cars did their job in what I consider a low-impact collision. Scuff on my bumper, broken license plate holder on the Sentra. No biggie.

I had the pleasure of driving a 2006 Cobalt for 3 days, and needless to say the difference in build quality between it and my Volkswagen became very clear. For fair comparison, even the VW Rabbit (gay as it is) is a better car at a similar price point ($14k). Aesthetics, fit, finish all aside, I literally felt unsafe in the Cobalt.

The seat is not fully adjustable--putting a bigger driver too close to the dash in a high speed impact (adjusting for steering grip and arm length) or too far removed from the steering wheel (adjust for leg comfort). It didn't help that the steering wheel was non-telescoping.

The door is very close to the driver's side. The seatbelt goes through a loop in the side of the seat and is NOT adjustable, cutting me in the shoulder (clavicle injury, anyone?).

The car also did not have side airbags, ABS, stability control, head curtain airbags or any other modern safety feature other than side airbags. I understand some of those are options, but on a car that floats, rolls, and handles that poorly (LS model) the federal government should require them.

Flame on...I know you hate my honking my horn about expensive, tiny european cars, but I like them for what I think are fairly obvious reason--you have a better chance of surviving if you wreck one.[/B]

 

Why is Pontiac G5 (8th) so much higher on the list than Cobalt (17th)?

 

My guess is that the G5 is only a coupe and the Cobalt can also be a sedan.