Safest New & Used Vehicles [That You Can Buy Today]
John Goreham is a life-long car nut and recovering engineer. John’s focus areas are technology, safety, and green vehicles. In the 1990s, he was part of an academic team that built a solar-electric vehicle from scratch. His was the role of the battery thermal control designer. After earning his engineering degree, John also completed a marketing program at Northeastern University. For 20 years, he applied his engineering and sales talents in the worlds of semiconductor manufacturing, biopharmaceutical production, and automotive electronics supply chain. Always a writer, John has published numerous articles in technical journals such as Chemical Processing Magazine. In 2008 he retired from that career and dedicated himself to chasing his dream of being an auto writer. In addition to online publications such as Car Talk, John’s work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers, and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites.
Each of these vehicles on our list has the very best safety test scores for 2021, and each also has an excellent (low) driver death rate from the 2017 model year.
All of these vehicles are great choices whether you buy one new today or are shopping for a used vehicle four years old or so.
Here is our list of the five safest new and used vehicles you can buy.
Check out our top picks for:
Table of Contents
Who Provided the Data for This List?
Vehicle safety is a tricky thing to gauge. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS), and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) all do hard work to try to bring consumers useful information on which vehicles are the safest choices.
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First, we rely heavily on the safety testing done by IIHS. That includes both crash testing and their evaluation of other safety systems such as headlights and driver-assist technology. Next, we look at the list that HLDI teases out of endless NHTSA data on real-world driver death rates.
Although many small vehicles earn great safety scores, they are not as safe in multi-vehicle crashes as larger vehicles. Safety data from many years of real-world police fatality reports prove that midsize and large SUVs along with larger sedans and wagons are the safest vehicles one can purchase. For this reason, we exclude pickup trucks, sport coupes, small SUVs, crossovers, and sedans from our list.
You may also notice that we ignore the NHTSA “Five-Star” safety testing in our rankings. We do so because IIHS tests its vehicles more rigorously and at higher speeds than does NHTSA. We consider the individual IIHS model ratings better.
Last, we have excluded some models with excellent ratings because they are pricey for their segment and made in low volumes.
Safest Cars Comparison
| Model | IIHS 2021 Rating | Size Category | 2017 Real-World Driver Death Rate* |
| Toyota Highlander | |||
| Subaru Outback | |||
| Subaru Legacy | |||
| Ford Explorer | |||
| Honda Odyssey |
*What does real-world driver death rate mean?
1. Toyota Highlander (SUV)
Toyota’s Highlander is unique on our list. Not only does the Highlander earn the highest possible IIHS score of Top Safety Pick Plus, but it has also been ranked among the vehicles with the lowest real-world drive death rates in many past reports, not just the report that looked at the 2017 model year.
The Highlander is a midsize/large three-row crossover SUV with every modern active safety system available in the marketplace.
Current Toyota Highlander Deals & Incentives
| Year | Make | Model | Cash Incentives (up to) | Best Avail. APR | Lease Offers | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Toyota | Highlander | ||||
| 2023 | Toyota | Highlander | 4.29% | $479/month for 36 months, $3,999 due at signing | 12/5/23 | |
| 2022 | Toyota | Highlander Hybrid | ||||
| 2023 | Toyota | Highlander Hybrid | $549/month for 36 months, $2,999 due at signing | 12/5/23 |
You may qualify for additional deals and incentives, check out this month's Toyota deals and average prices paid.
2. Subaru Outback (Wagon)
The Outback is arguably the best-selling wagon in America. Its added ground clearance gives it an advantage in some types of crashes, and Subaru’s EyeSight has long been an industry leader with regard to optical automatic emergency braking.
Since availability matters on our list, Subaru supplants some worthy Volvo wagon models and the Mercedes C-Class wagon. If you can’t find the vehicle, its safety rating is moot.
Current Subaru Outback Deals & Incentives
| Year | Make | Model | Cash Incentives (up to) | Best Avail. APR | Lease Offers | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Subaru | Outback | ||||
| 2024 | Subaru | Outback | 4.90% | $319/month for 36 months, $3,069 due at signing | 11/30/23 |
You may qualify for additional deals and incentives, check out this month's Subaru deals and average prices paid.
3. Subaru Legacy (Sedan)
The midsize Legacy sedan outscores the Camry and Accord on real-world driver death rates and can match or beat them in IIHS safety test rankings. The Legacy has earned the very best IIHS score possible for more than a decade, and the Top Safety Pick Plus score for as long as IIHS has used that rating.
You might say that this Subaru model has a legacy of safety. Look closely at real-world driver death rates, and you will see that models with all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive consistently score better than models that drive just two wheels.
Current Subaru Legacy Deals & Incentives
| Year | Make | Model | Cash Incentives (up to) | Best Avail. APR | Lease Offers | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Subaru | Legacy | ||||
| 2024 | Subaru | Legacy | 4.90% | $269/month for 36 months, $3,269 due at signing | 11/30/23 |
You may qualify for additional deals and incentives, check out this month's Subaru deals and average prices paid.
4. Ford Explorer (SUV)
The Explorer is a large SUV that started as a body-on-frame design, moved to a unit-body design, and is now sort of a hybrid of the two styles. Size matters in safety, and the Explorer is a vehicle that is large but not massive. It’s also a perennial top-selling vehicle, something that can’t be said about any large SUV.
Shoppers should note that the Explorer had some less than perfect IIHS safety test scores in past years. However, we feel that its size, Top Safety Pick Plus score for 2021 and 2020, plus its outstanding driver death rate score in past years earns it a spot on our list of safest vehicles.
Current Ford Explorer Deals & Incentives
| Year | Make | Model | Cash Incentives (up to) | Best Avail. APR | Lease Offers | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Ford | Explorer | ||||
| 2023 | Ford | Explorer | $475/month for 48 months, $4,311 due at signing | 1/2/24 |
You may qualify for additional deals and incentives, check out this month's Ford deals and average prices paid.
5. Honda Odyssey (Minivan)
Like the Highlander, the Odyssey is a model that has had one of the lowest driver death rates of any vehicle for generations. For a decade, the Odyssey has also earned great IIHS scores on crash tests and other types of evaluations.
Honda takes safety seriously on all of its vehicle lines, so this is no surprise. However, we will add that those looking for an all-wheel drive minivan should not hesitate to purchase a Toyota Sienna. It was a close matchup with the Odyssey, and both earn top scores new.
Current Honda Odyssey Deals & Incentives
| Year | Make | Model | Cash Incentives (up to) | Best Avail. APR | Lease Offers | Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Honda | Odyssey | 3.90% | 1/2/24 |
You may qualify for additional deals and incentives, check out this month's Honda deals and average prices paid.
What Is the Safest Vehicle?
Which is the safest vehicle to own overall depends on your needs. We feel that IIHS is the best resource to use when shopping new.
Also, don’t forget the value of size and mass when it comes to safety. It’s easy to forget that small cars and SUVs are not as safe in crashes of many common types as larger vehicles are.
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