2006 Corolla rated as one of the least-safe cars!

[marysanchez]

I was going through Forbes.com and found this article. I was suprised to see the Corolla, a car that I drive, getting rated as one of the least-safe cars for 2006. So what if it got poor on the side-impact rating test? Nobody cares.

http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/vehi...24feat_ls.html



"Toyota Corolla
Base Price: $14,545

We were surprised to find such poor ratings for the Corolla, a car we had thought was in fact one of the market's safest. But the low scores come with caveats. For one thing, since model-year 2004, the Corolla's rear crash-test score has dropped to "poor" from "acceptable," two grades higher. But more importantly, the Corolla on the list is the one tested without optional side airbags. Tested with optional front and rear head curtain airbags and optional front seat-mounted torso airbags, the Corolla's side rating is not "poor," but "acceptable"--the second-highest possible score."

What do you guys think about this? Do people who buy compact cars really care about side-impact ratings? What are the chances that you'll get hit on the side anyway?

[ToyotaMan1281]

BULLSHIT, my corolla is the best car and safest car I have ever driven

[357wheelgunner]

Yeah I don't believe that this one time I drove over a big SUV and the SUV guy died and I was fine. My corolla is the shiznit and don't let me catch anyone say that it is unsafe, even though it only weighs 2600lbs!

[Corollacrazy42]

oo the chances are still likely but look at the reading.. it says that the side impacts are at an acceptable level for this car.. acceptable seems good enough to me. And besides corollas have been high rated cars since they were like first created. But you could easily get t boned.. but i would imagine it wouldnt be that hard in most cases unless you happen to be in the middle of a high speed chase and get hammered.. then its not good.. but then, if you were in any car and got hit from the side directly in the drivers door you would die.. plus it also says the the corolla have high ratings for front and rear. All depends on wether you find yourself in alot of crashes i suppose.. never been in one here.. and dont plan to.. south dakota is not very populated and people dont have to make daring moves to get places. but then people here have the tendancy to drive fast cuz the roads are always open. But there arent much accidents here so i wouldnt be worried about it.. I was acctually gonna get the 06 corolla as a senior graduation resent from my parents ( paying half myself) because i love the new ones. oo btw.. i think forbes expects a little to much out of a car that is affordable for every person in the us practically.. id say it is a damn good car at its price.

[89molavi]

Originally Posted by ToyotaMan1281

BULLSHIT, my corolla is the best car and safest car I have ever driven

Now thats what I call a logical approach to things!
Corolla used to be better, but nowadays any compact car without side airbags gets a poor rating. It is a combination of most cars improving their quality and some just stagnating-like it or not. I did pretty well when my 89 was T-boned by a thunderbird but that is not a standard that anyone buying a new car can go with.

[REN69]

When you think about it.. its FORBES magazine.. to them "SAFEST" would be a Mercedes Benz S-Class or a BWM M5 or a 7 Series with all the bells and whistles.. so yeah, its not bad to get their second highest score.

[rolla-XRS]

Since when does FORBES care about cars? The only scores that should matter are those that are produced by government agencies like the NHTSA in the US, or the Insurance Bureau's...the one's with standards and actually crash cars in to walls.

[iBran]

Too bad you guys can't read...

In matters of automotive safety, we typically consult the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)--and we recommend car shoppers do too. But for a list of the least-safe cars, we felt the IIHS would be a better source, because it seems less sparing of its worst marks than NHTSA.

The IIHS recently changed their side-impact test method to better reflect real-world collisions, which is one reason cars have scored better in the past.

Originally Posted by ToyotaMan1281

BULLSHIT, my corolla is the best car and safest car I have ever driven

which testing agency do you work for?

Originally Posted by 357wheelgunner

Yeah I don't believe that this one time I drove over a big SUV and the SUV guy died and I was fine. My corolla is the shiznit and don't let me catch anyone say that it is unsafe, even though it only weighs 2600lbs!

So, you "drove over a big SUV"... uh-huh...

If Toyota made safety a priority, side airbags would be STANDARD like they are on the Civic. Perhaps they'll make those changes for 2007.