The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released crash test scores for the newest convertibles. The tests are pretty surprising since the new BMW 3-Series only received a marginal score, while the new Chrysler Sebring received good ratings in the crash tests. Apparently a higher price does not always mean you are getting a better car.
The new Volvo C70 and the Saab 9-3 earned the "Top Safety Pick" award among all of the convertibles that were tested. These two convertibles earned high scores in rear, side and frontal impacts.
The lowest rated convertible was the Pontiac G6, which received a marginal rating for side and rear impacts. The G6 did receive an acceptable rating in the frontal crash tests.
The BMW 3-Series and Audi A4 also performed poorly in the tests due to poor results in the side and rear impact tests.
The Chrysler Sebring and Mitsubishi Eclipse received good ratings in side and frontal impact tests. This shows that spending twice as much for a convertible Sebring vs BMW 3-Series does not always mean that you will have a safer car. Both of these "cheaper" convertibles performed better than the BMW 3-Series and the Audi A4.
Full Story: Leftlane News
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Comments (6)
Strange again only cars brands owned by American companies as Volvo, Saab ... Have great scores ;-)
Posted by Zoldemberg | June 1, 2007 6:13 AM
Posted on June 1, 2007 06:13
Don't forget that both Volvo and Saab where always very good at passenger safety, long before they were acquired by American companies.
Posted by John | June 1, 2007 8:58 AM
Posted on June 1, 2007 08:58
This "safety marketing war" was originally started by the germans at the beginning of the 90 's, then the rest followed, even if swedish traditionally seemed to pay more attention to this matter. In my opinion the japanese and the americans (yes you read right the americans) are now ahead of the rest. How would you feel if you paid twice as much but the cheaper car performs better? Nothing is absolute in our days, there's not a bad car out there in the sense of a bad car twenty years ago, but I hate to pay for an overpriced overestimated so called luxury brand either this is german, japanese, or what ever. Is there really a car today that is not luxurious? A high trim Honda, Mazda, Toyota or even Huanday can be as luxurious, as safe, occasionally handling better and on my opinion by far more reliable than any of the so called luxury brands, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Saab, Jaguar.
I just wonder what sort of car would BMW make for the same amount of money like the aforementioned brands?
Posted by MARIOS KONTEMENIOTIS | June 1, 2007 11:29 AM
Posted on June 1, 2007 11:29
"I just wonder what sort of car would BMW make for the same amount of money like the aforementioned brands?"
They do make them for (vaguely) the same amount - it's just that once they bring them here they get marked up significantly. Plus, they sell maybe half of their models in the US. They have lots of good cars (diesels, 4 cylinders, the 1 series) that, for the time being, aren't sold in the US. The diesels should start showing up here in the next year and we should be getting a coupe version of the 1 series in a year or two.
Posted by Remy LeBeau | June 1, 2007 8:24 PM
Posted on June 1, 2007 20:24
Hehehe... In adrenaline rush... especially the speed addict... doesnt care bout the safety that much... right guys?
Posted by Loudy Azimada | August 19, 2007 12:02 PM
Posted on August 19, 2007 12:02
"Loudy Azimada:
Hehehe... In adrenaline rush... especially the speed addict... doesnt care bout the safety that much... right guys? "
Well...At least you will be a happy corpse!!!
Posted by Blah? | September 25, 2007 9:11 PM
Posted on September 25, 2007 21:11