Negotiate prices or enlist the help of a buying service. Investigate financing options at the dealer and your bank or credit union. Scrutinize service contracts. During the crash test, dummies are placed in driver and front passenger seats. Instruments measure the force of impact to each dummy's head, chest and legs.
Tests use all available restraints.
Federal safety standards require all passenger cars meet injury criteria measured in a 30 mph frontal crash. NCAP tests are conducted at 35 mph to make the difference between vehicles more apparent. Tests simulate damage equivalent to a head-on collision between two identical vehicles, each moving at 35 mph. This is the same as a vehicle moving at 70 mph striking an identical parked vehicle. A five-star rating indicates the best protection and one star the least.