Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options

2010 Elantras safer if made after 11/09?

blebnevusblebnevus Member Posts: 13
edited July 2014 in Hyundai
Not sure if this was raised on another thread, but I wanted to make sure potential Elantra purchasers were aware of this item from Consumer Reports' car blog: http://bit.ly/9W1BQK. It seems that Hyundai updated the design of 2010 Elantras in November to provide additional side-impact protection. On this basis I shopped several dealers until I found one that had cars manufactured since then. (All dealers I spoke to professed ignorance about this update.)

A question, though: Window stickers with federal safety ratings give both versions of the car (pre- and post-November) the same rating for side-impact protection: 4 stars out of 5. Why would that be?
Tagged:

Comments

  • Options
    backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    Window stickers show the NHTSA crash test scores, not the IIHS crash test scores. It's possible that either 1) the NHTSA has not re-tested the Elantra since the design changes were made, or 2) the changes didn't change the "star" ratings from the NHTSA, although the IIHS crash test ratings were affected.

    And yes, this was mentioned in the 2010 Elantra discussion and I think one other Elantra discussion (Prices Paid maybe). ;)
  • Options
    blebnevusblebnevus Member Posts: 13
    Thanks. I guess that's what I'm trying to discover: whether the changes didn't affect the rating on subsequent tests or the rating stayed the same because the car hasn't been retested.
  • Options
    backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    That is pretty easy to determine by just looking at the NHTSA test results on safercar.gov. From what's shown there, it's clear the car they tested was a 2007 Elantra, not 2010.
  • Options
    blebnevusblebnevus Member Posts: 13
    I drilled down into the site, and it appears you're right -- which is amazing. Surely most consumers assume, as I did, that the ratings featured on the window sticker of a 2010 car apply to a 2010 car, not to a car made three or four years ago that may or may not have the same design as the current one!
  • Options
    backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    It's even worse than that, for the NHTSA. It's clear they never tested the Elantra Touring, which is considerably different than the Elantra sedan, and instead simply (and misleadingly) posted the crash test results for the sedan as if they applied to the Touring. :sick:

    That's one reason I don't put much store in the NHTSA crash test scores, but prefer the IIHS scores. Also, the IIHS tests are more severe than the NHTSAs.
This discussion has been closed.

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles