Safest used cars rated in latest expert safety report – WhichCar
Driving safe in a secondhand car can be surprisingly affordable, the latest Used Car Safety rankings show.
The Mazda3 and similar compact cars are highlighted as a smart choice for bargain buyers in the latest Used Car Safety Ratings. The annual scoring of secondhand safety is done by the Accident Research Centre at Monash University (MUARC) and, like the new-car rankings compiled by the Australasian New-Car Assessment Program, gives a star rating.
But the MUARC results are a sharp contrast to the laboratory-based safety scores from ANCAP because, as well as scoring how a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash, they also include how it avoids potential crashes and its impact on other road users in the real world.
The 2025 ratings cover 546 vehicles produced from 1983 to 2023 using real-world research from more than 9.5 million vehicles and 2.6 million injured road users in police-reported crashes between 1987 and 2025. A 5-Star score was awarded to 130 vehicles and 72 earned the coveted ’Safer Pick’ status from MUARC. But buying safe doesn’t have to be a budget breaker, according to the program director at MUARC, Professor Stuart Newstead.
The cost of safety continues to fall, as almost all Safer Pick vehicles are available for less than $25,000 and more than half have a secondhand price below $10,000.
“It shows a secondhand Mazda3 for under twenty grand will perform really well for you. And that’s what people need to know,” he told Wheels.
He said the latest year-on-year results showed widespread improvements in vehicle safety, as well as the gap between the best and worst performers in the MUARC research.
“The difference between the best and worst is about 15 times. It (the ratings) absolutely shows you what to stay away from,” he said.
He also highlighted the value of ESP – electronic stability control – in road safety, particularly for young and old drivers.
“Stability control should be a must for every novice driver,” he said.
For the first time the MUARC ratings include a 5-Star score for an electric vehicle, while large SUVs and utes continue to under-perform again old-school passenger cars.
“It is the Tesla Model 3,” he said. “It’s a good example of a medium-style car where the basic geometry is good. And it’s not too heavy as an electric car. It manages to score quite well – five stars across the board. It’s a good thing.”
The overall improvement in the safety of Australia’s secondhand fleet shows a jump of more than 50 per cent since it began, as the risk of death or serious injury is 43 per cent lower in 2023 models than in vehicles manufactured in 2001. Even so, Professor Newstead warned about emerging concerns about increasing vehicle sizes and mass and their effect on overall secondhand safety.
Full details of the 2025 Used Car Safety Ratings are available here.
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