Prius Safety & Crash Test Ratings
IIHS crash tested the Prius and obtained marginal results.
Very surprising.
The report dinged the Toyota Prius, awarding it a marginal safety rating in rear-crash tests.
Very surprising.
The report dinged the Toyota Prius, awarding it a marginal safety rating in rear-crash tests.
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This confirms what has been said all along that the performance will replicate the European testing results ( with all the airbags ).
The 'Marginal' rear collision result is a 'generational' item. This new IIHS test was stipulated last year after all the preceeding models, Accord, Camry, Taurus, Coroola, Civic, Prius et. al. were designed back in 1999-2000. The new generations of these models, like the new Civic, are designed to meet or exceed this new test. But again you knew that as well.
The new Camry, Altima, Corolla & Accord ( next year ) etc, etc all should get Good/Good/Good ratings. What will be surprising is if any vehicle like the new Fusion/Milan fails any of the three tests. With all the technology and testing criteria known now no new model should get anything less than Good/Good/Good.
Why does Toyota continue to be Cheap Charlie's? I would think they would include the side airbags as standard like the competition.
If the EU testing for crash worthiness is good enough? Why isn't the Euro4 emissions acceptable?
Did Toyota/Lexus get caught off guard on the rear crash tests? Their whole lineup got an overall poor to marginal rating. As did many automakers.
Funny you should mention the Civic passing the rear crash test. The test looks to be designed to test the seat & headrest. The headrest being uncomfortable is one of the big complaints with the 2006 Civic. So much that some drivers take them out. Sorry to go off topic.
If the EU testing for crash worthiness is good enough? Why isn't the Euro4 emissions acceptable?
Did Toyota/Lexus get caught off guard on the rear crash tests? Their whole lineup got an overall poor to marginal rating. As did many automakers
It's a 'generational design' situation. The prior generations of all vehicles ( those conceived in the late 90's ) had SAC Airbags as options-only in nearly all cases. All automakers normally keep the same standard equipment throughout a whole generation of a vehicle. Accords, Camry's, Altima's, Fusions, Corolla's, Civics, Avalons, Prius', etc all designed in the late 90's were built this way.
All the new models beginning in 2005 and later will likely have SAC Airbags as standard equipment.
All the automakers I'm sure were notified by the IIHS that it was going to add a new testing criteria to it's program. It's a courtesy offered in business all the time. I'm also sure that the automakers knew that their existing models would do poorly in comparison when the IIHS published it's new ratings. In fact the two top performers one year, the Camry and the Accord with SAC Airbags, dropped to the bottom of the pack with all others when the Active head restraint criteria was added. The Ford 500 happened to be propitiously timed in that it was the first 'new' vehicle to be able to take into account the new testing criteria.... so it's now at the top.
Subaru and Volvo and Saab have always been at the forefront and it may be that the IIHS used these 3 manufacturers additional safety equipment ( active head restraints ) as a model for it's new testing. Only supposition here.
One of the IIHS's primary purposes is to continue to push the envelope in the matter of vehicle safety. Notice on their last press release they stated that they've achieved what they wanted in terms of frontal crash results so from now forward they have 'declared victory' and it's time to move on to another criteria.... minimizing whiplash injuries and probably VSC.
No, I did not know that.
But again you knew that as well.
Nope, you are making assumptions that are completely incorrect.
And, why do you use cite EURO NCAP testing results for Prius. They are not relevant.
The Subaru Impreza is smaller and older than the Prius and it received a good.
The question had been posed many times what were the crashtest results for the Prius and the answer was that they were likely to be the same as the EURO / NCAP's since the tests are the same.
IIHS spokesperson on MS/NBS this hour..
The Prius did very well on both frontal and side impact tests and 'could improve' it's rear collision test performance, It remains the third ranked vehicle in it's class according to him.
Thank you,
Jennifer
The button needs a cover.
This is no different than any other car on the road. You can put any automatic into "park" while moving. Most will not engage the pawl until stopped. Some older vehicles will try and can lock up the wheels or damage the pawl once they slow enough for it to drop in.
You can also turn off the keyswitch on any vehicle when moving. Not a good idea as it can lock the steering.
I have done research on the Prius and have over 6 hours of driving and testing. Everything is good (NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE PRICE) but, SAFETY.
I did a image search on Google about "Prius accidents" looking for pictures and stories about how the Prius stand up to reality.
In my inconclusive search I found a constant, the Prius is junk in a over 40mph crash. So, I said "have that Gap Insurance ready" but, what about people's injury? and how serious they were?
ANy iminput
Raf.
I think there is a crash test video on the Prius somewhere on the net. It was posted on Priuschat.
As far as the price, it's about the same as a Camry. The Prius has about the same passenger and cargo room as the Camry, so I think it's a fair comparison. The Prius has more usable space, due to the hatchback. In hybrid form, the Camry has less room than the Prius. The Camry hybrid is more comfortable on long trips but gets worse mileage than the Prius. There is a comparison thread over on Priuschat.
:confuse:
- luggage rm leg room head room shoulder room
Camry 15 cu ft F41.6" R38.3" F39" R37" F57.8" R56.7"
Prius 16.1 cu ft F42" R38.6" F42" R38.6" F55.3" R53"
Cam Hy 10.6 cu ft F42.5" R35.7" F39" R37" F57.8" R56.7"
You can see the Prius has slightly more cargo room, but it's more usable because the hatchback gives a larger opening to load oversize objects.
I used the Camry without moonroof as the Prius doesn't have one.
Note the Camry weights 300-600 lbs more than the Prius (600 lbs in Hybrid form).
All numbers from the Toyota.ca website.
I tested at 5MPH in both Drive and Backup mode that pushing Parking button HALTS the car. I wonder what will happen if the car is at higher speeds.
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click on the links:
But first this is VERY INTERESTING, Read
http://members.greenpeace.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=536
http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/stories/stories.php?id=148&vt=Hybrid&topic=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?s=3428e05fd1286b676564e579febb5b14&showtopic=2357- 8
Safety Measures:
http://www.autointell.com/News-2004/May-2004/May-2004-1/May-05-04-p3.htm
Hope this help a lil.
http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/safety.aspx?year=2006&make=Toyota&model=Prius
I always wondered where all those old Communist bosses went to...
The 2007 Camry has about the same interior space as the prior generation (2002-06), but the trunk size has been reduced somewhat (gas engine models). With the Camry Hybrid, the battery reduces even more the available space and intrudes greatly into the opening when you fold down the rear seats.
One more thing, for the poster with a "heavy foot," I'd highly advise lightening up when you're carrying your loved ones.
Sincerely,
Ted
Are you worried that a Prius might catch on fire because it's a hybrid?
Did you hear of a Prius fire and are doing more research?
Please let us know more specifically what your informational requirement is.....
I can honestly say that in almost 3 years of being a fan of hybrids and keeping up almost daily with hybrid news articles, the only Prius fire I have ever even heard about was one caused by a Prius crashing into a convenience store and catching on fire from the result of the crash.
And that story was from a reliable news source.
Feffer37, sorry to hear about your fire. :sick:
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If it would have been parked in our garage, I am certain our house would have been destroyed.
If you want to see pictures, then I can e-mail them to you.
Good luck.
Both our car, and the other prius fire pictures are posted on a prius yahoo group.
Can you please please please email pictures? We would appreciate it. happy1number1 at aol dot com.
If you need any help with your CarSpace page, just click on my username and pop me an email, and I'd be happy to get you pointed in the right direction!
Here's a link to one of the pictures.
http://www.carspace.com/suzikn/Albums/priusfire/Suzi 252.jpg/page/photo.html#pic
Not quite sure how to post the link to the first picture in it.
Let me know if you can get the pictures.
Suzi
I've never heard of a Prius catching fire. I've heard of cars catching fire for various reasons, but never a Prius. Is it the batteries you are worried about?
Our insurance (AAA) has been wonderful. They towed the car to the dealership, they got us a rental, and they are going to pay for the car.
Toyota has done nothing. We just got a certified letter from Toyota legal saying that they are not covering the fire (warranty void) because we did not take it is for this procdure during a service campaing (SSC-40G). They said they sent us letters about it. The letters they sent to us were around the time my brother died, so I think I probably just threw the letters away thinking they were just Toyota junk mail.
We routinely check for recalls, but this was not a recall so we didn't know about this one.
Anyway, the Special Service Campaign just said the batteries could leak and it could cause your engine to stall. (We've searched on the web and read the notices since the fire.) The notices do not mention the Prius' can catch on fire when they are not in use. The notices do not mention that your warranty is void if you do not take it in to have this done.
Our attitude right now is that it is not worth it to battle Toyota.
However, we are trying to get out the word about the fire.
We've contacted the NHTSA and made a complaint. My husband posted pictures of the fire on a Prius yahoo group. I've contacted a newspaper reporter.
My husband and I are also going to change how we service our cars. It will cost us more money in the short run, but hopefully we'll end up saving money.
We are going to start taking our cars into the dealers to have them serviced, regularly. I think only dealers know what the problems are with the car, and can do any recalls or special service campaigns.
Cars catch on fire.
There is nothing about the Prius that makes it more flammable than any other car.
I know you don't like it but the Hybrids attract media attention. Who would care if a 2005 Focus caught fire? Unless it burnt down half the county it would not get any write-ups.
Let's stop this before it gets any legs please.
I know I would be blown away if my (non-hybrid) car caught fire.
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A car fire is a big deal whether or not it is a hybrid or not.
My sister-in-law's car caught on fire when my niece was a tiny baby strapped into the carseat next to her. My sister-in-law barely caught my niece out of the car alive.
If our Prius had been parked in the garage, I don't know what would have happened to our house. My son's room is right above the garage. It's a scary thought. Thank God, our garage is a total mess right now and we didn't park it.
Car fires (hybrid or not) are a serious matter, and you want to find out what started them in order to prevent them.
I would hate for another Prius to catch on fire and someone be killed.
But my point is that there is nothing inherent to the Prius that makes it more flammable than other cars.
I did this research a couple of years ago and there are TONS of incidents of cars catching on fire that were not hybrid cars, and VERY VERY few incidents of hybrid fires.
Anyone trying to say that the Prius is a dangerous, flammable, self-combustible vehicle, well that is just not a true statement.
A Google search of "Prius fire" returns 16 hits, and 5 of those are Suzikn's. Only one of them refers to anyone's Prius catching on fire - there was one 2005 story about a guy whose Prius caught on fire overnite at the dealership, but who knows what could have caused that. There was another story I remember about a Prius which crashed into a convenience store and the gas leaked and it caused a fire.
A Google News search of Prius fire returns no news stories of Prius fires.
At the NTHSA complaint website, there are 2 instances of Prius fires, both in the 2001 model year. There was a recall for a leakage problem on those vehicles which might have caused those fires.
There are about 500,000 or slightly more Priuses in the world on the roads right now, and if there was an issue with the traction battery being self-flammable and/or a fire danger, that information would be ALL OVER THE PLACE and would be constantly used by the
Anti-Prius
Anti-Hybrid
Anti-Toyota
crowds to forward their own interests. And believe me because I know this is a fact: There are A LOT of people who want to see the Prius fail. And they would be using this like a Golden Hammer if it was a real problem.
I am very sorry about your Prius fire, but it was not because the Prius is a hybrid. Car fires happen.
Well, the one thing that is inherent to our Prius is that we got it the first year. Whenever you have new technology there is a higher chance that there could be problems. The fire did start in the battery which is the newest technology in the car.
Just because there haven't been many Prius fires (thank God), doesn't mean there isn't still a problem that is just coming out in these later years of use.
You said "There was a recall for a leakage problem on those vehicles which might have caused those fires."
It was not a recall with the leakage problem. That's one of my issues that I have with Toyota. It was a Special Service Campaign, and it was not supposed to cause a fire. The most it was supposed to do if you didn't get it fixed was cause the engine to stall.
If a leakage could cause a fire (which according to the letter that we got from Toyota is the case), then Prius for that model should be recalled. A recall is a much larger and more publicized action.
I know when we've had recalls, the envelopes that are sent out usually say in large letters RECALL. I immediately open those and find out what is going on.
Also, recall information goes on many websites and it's easy to find out if a car has a recall. You can't do the same with a "Special Service Campaign".
If you have any of the particulars, like a newspaper article or pictures, be sure and post them for us all to see.
"prius car fire" does not turn up any images of burning Prius cars.
I do feel sorry for the people who have Prius fires, but it's such a rare event.