Are German cars safer than Japanese or American cars?
- Thread starter JamesBond
- Start date
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Germans were always big in active safety, trying not to get in accident in the first place.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Kestas
Staff member
I bought my BMW X2 a few years ago. When talking to my insurance agent I asked why the insurance was so cheap, he told me that this car was one of the safest on the market.
Safety tech and ideas makes it to mainstream along with car building. They don’t sell any less safe vehicles.
I would shop all vehicles and hone into what appeals/works for you balanced what can afford.
I would shop all vehicles and hone into what appeals/works for you balanced what can afford.
You’re right. Wondering if a 5-10 year old 5 series or ML/GLE is safer than a 4 yr old Sonata or Equinox, assuming similar purchase prices. Used German cars are often close in price to used Hondas and Toyotas, so if I were to buy Japanese I would probably buy new but still wonder how a new CRV would compare to a new x2/3 even though new German cars are outside my budget. It seems that manufacturers can design for specific crash test but does better scores on test translate to safer?
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Do you have good German car independent mechanics in your area? Counting on a dealership can be expensive without warranty …
How do you draw conclusions like this only looking at the result of the crash and not any of the details that produced the result? This could easily be down to ... Volvo and Mercedes drivers may be driven by older people who tend to be slower drivers. For example, one site I found said the average of a MB buyer/owner is 54.
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On my recent trip to PA, I saw plenty of Mercedes vehicles, as well as a few Rivians in NC, but none of them were driving slowly.
Maybe more carefully, maybe, but when the general traffic is about 85 mph, nobody is going slow in the right lane. I even saw regular traffic holding about 75 in a constuction zone, OTR trucks included.
Now THAT surprised me!
The 1971 Chrysler Imperial was the first production vehicle with computer operated ABS, Toyota followed with the Crown the same year. Granted those were 3 channel 4 sensor systems.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
That is why I said MB is the one that introduced system that was widely adopted.
More fun to drive too. I haven't driven a VW in nearly 10 years but I miss the on center "dead spot" that the steering had. Took a while to stop wandering like a drunken monkey in my Toyota's (and probably still do).
20 years ago hands down I would vote for Mercedes, BMW and Volvo. But now I’d take a survey from EMTs with High Consideration against NHTSA scores. Automakers design their vehicles to pass the specific tests, since that’s what they are scored against. But before the tests were the big deal, I do recall where volvo sent their engineers to crash sites for real world data collection. I believe that was active at least until they were purchased by Ford, and don’t know if it carried on after. Of course then, Ford started using the Volvo chassis in several of their vehicles, blurring the lines between manufacturers.
In the 80s, a friend of mine in a full size Ford wagon had a frontal offset collision with a 3 series bimmer. The bimmer driver walked away, completely unharmed. She has suffered brain injury and seizures for the past 30 years. The ford weighed at least twice as much.
But … that was all 20 years ago and beyond. I think the NHTSA also has some interesting stats on death rates per vehicle, which are very interesting to study.
P2 Volvos FTW!
In the 80s, a friend of mine in a full size Ford wagon had a frontal offset collision with a 3 series bimmer. The bimmer driver walked away, completely unharmed. She has suffered brain injury and seizures for the past 30 years. The ford weighed at least twice as much.
But … that was all 20 years ago and beyond. I think the NHTSA also has some interesting stats on death rates per vehicle, which are very interesting to study.
P2 Volvos FTW!
Although looking at stats can drive one bonkers... the Chevy Astrovan, where the driver is about the first thing on the scene of an accident, had pretty low deaths per mile. Attributed to the kind of drivers who would own a RWD minivan it seems.
My motorcycles (and active perception paired with lots of training/practice alongside a defensive mindset) have gotten me out of situations I wouldn’t have been able to avoid on 4 wheels. The agility (if you train and practice) of a motorcycle is nothing short of a traffic miracle. I’m also an MSF RiderCoach so I practice what I preach to my students.
I’m glad your wife survived! Events like that make you certainly evaluate what’s important in your life.
~2012 I had a similar experience in my 328xi (s). Crazy totally unexpected 911 accident avoidance maneuver payed off
~2009 brand new Audi A4: got side swiped, pit maneuvered, then hit head on by a full size 80's Cadillac. The only reason I am alive is because of that Audi
BLUF: There are just so many variables, impossible to say for sure and "Safety systems" and such are a factor. I would say given average equipment levels the average German or European would be safer in a crash
FWIW: My widowed mother is higher risk than most. I really wish she would get a full self [supervised] driving Tesla. I rode in one of those and I would say 9/10 they are safer than the average driver
Full disclosure, my lifestyle and circumstances I drive a Tacoma 95% of the time...
Id look at what brands did good when the minor overlap test was first introduced.
Toyota did awful, Subaru and Infiniti did good.
Merc did good, BMW ok, Audi not so good.
Volvo did good
Toyota did awful, Subaru and Infiniti did good.
Merc did good, BMW ok, Audi not so good.
Volvo did good
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