How Safe are Volvo's

[pgill]

I originally posted this as part of another thread but the topic deserves its own thread


All,

When I bought my S80 for my son to drive I made the decision because the Volvo makes a safe car.

My casual research indicated that the S80 is a very safe car.

Which is not surprising because almost anything safety related that has been added to the automobile for the last 100 years has been developed by Volvo or Mercedes. (ABS, traction control, stability control, Air Bags, crumple zones, safety cell passenger compartment, seat belts, laminated glass in the windshield, roof strength (roll over protection), collapsible steering column, whiplash protection, autonomous braking, etc. etc.)

With that in mind I came across an article from IIHS that I thought might be interesting to discuss.

Note: IIHS's research was significantly more through than my own.

They create actual objective criteria for what makes a car safe.

https://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicles-for-teens

In the article IIHS is recommending two groups of cars as a good first car for a new driver.

The safer (and more expensive) group must meet higher safety requirements.

IIHS put a maximum cost for the more expensive group at $20,000

For the safer group with the $20,000 limit here are the Cars/SUVs by model year

From IIHS: Vehicles with substantially higher than average claim frequency under medical payment or personal injury protection coverage are excluded from this list.

2005 XC90
2006 XC90
2007 XC90 S80
2008 XC90 S80
2009 XC90 S80
2010 XC90 S80
2011 XC90 S80 S60 Ford Flex
2012 XC90 S80 S60 Ford Flex
2013 XC90 S80 S60 XC60 Ford Flex Acura TL VW Passat Ford Fusion Subaru Legacy Honda Accord Subaru Outback Lincoln MKZ Ford Taurus etc. etc. etc

It looks like after 2013 the other automotive manufactures decided that they should make safe cars as well.

Just my $.02

Take care

Paul

[oragex]

One of the more overlooked and little discussed aspects of the safety on any car, is the setup and the quality of the safety equipment such as the SRS system. Besides the known recalls (interestingly, Volvo was not on this list), there are often times situations when the airbag does deploy too late or not at all. This is where I think Volvo (and perhaps other car makers) stands out of the crowd: it may be just an impression, but I feel they really choose carefully the manufacturers for their safety equipment, and they also implement these equipment with more care into their cars.

As for the structural integrity, I think the XC90 really stands out of all Volvo models. If I remember well, this model did stand out as a car that never had a single fatality in the UK since 2002. That is something.

The 2001-2009 (2007 for the V70) P2 models where very safe in frontal offset impacts, good at side impacts, and perhaps in advance on their time on the small overlap impact because Volvo was already testing by then for these small overlap crashes that the NHTSA started testing only a few years later (and many cars were not prepared for this test). However, from some accident pictures and from the moose test, I had the feeling the P2 models (except perhaps the XC90) had a rather poor roof strength. I've seen a few S60 rolled over and it seems the A pillar bends quite easily. The moose test also doesn't look that good to me (granted a moose is not a deer)

The P3 models got better. Volvo wants to build safe cars, I hope Geely has the same objectives

[abscate]

That last one looks like someone's final ride....ouch.

[RickHaleParker]

The P3 models got better. Volvo wants to build safe cars, I hope Geely has the same objectives

Geely has not abandoned safety, they embrace it. See Volvo Vision 2020.

[oragex]

That last one looks like someone's final ride....ouch.

It seems so indeed, I've edited out that photo

[June]

You forgot this one old lady in XC90 only minor injuries, all in Chevrolet dead. June

[pgill]

One of the more overlooked and little discussed aspects of the safety on any car, is the setup and the quality of the safety equipment such as the SRS system.

That is a very important point, very well said.

It does seem that some manufacturers add the "Latest safety equipment" as a marketing tool, where Volvo does see safety as a core value of the company.

Thanks

Paul