Question Safety of Sedan/Wagon/SUV? Kia Soul?

Hello,

I’m a long time reader and new poster; your site is very helpful and informative. After reviewing many posts, I have a few questions and I’m sorry if these were answered elsewhere that I didn’t see.

I’m looking to replace a 2000 Corolla with something that will allow me to keep my 26 month old DD rear facing in the center position for as long as possible. She is now 35-36 inches tall (torso somewhat longer than legs), and weighs 30-31 pounds. Usually we will be the only 2 in the vehicle, and I’m 5’5” so no worries about how far back the front seats go.

1. In general, does a sedan offer more protection than a flat-backed vehicle (wagon/SUV) in terms of rear end crashes? Is a sedan or wagon as safe as an SUV in any type of crash? I often feel I have bumpers aimed at my head in the Corolla, and there are a lot of large SUVs and trucks on the road in my area.

2. I don’t want to spend more than 20K, new or used is fine, and decent gas mileage is important. I spoke to the local car seat organization, and the rep suggested looking at a Kia Soul and said a rear-facing seat can go in the center position of the Soul. I have no problem with the design, but the cargo area is so small it would not seem to offer much protection in a rear end crash. Is the Soul good? Other options? I don’t want a minivan or larger SUV, and would prefer a wagon style vehicle.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Melinda

MM-WA said:

1. In general, does a sedan offer more protection than a flat-backed vehicle (wagon/SUV) in terms of rear end crashes? Is a sedan or wagon as safe as an SUV in any type of crash? I often feel I have bumpers aimed at my head in the Corolla, and there are a lot of large SUVs and trucks on the road in my area.

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Hi, and welcome!

I am not familiar with the Soul, but I'll try to address your first question.

Unfortunately, there is no crash testing to compare rear impact safety. So, we don't really know how vehicles compare. Unlike frontal and side impacts, severe rear-enders are relatively rare. Most rear-enders are at lower speeds and most injuries are due to whiplash from improperly adjusted vehicle seat backs and head restraints.

The IIHS does an evaluation for rear impact safety, but it is not actually a crash test. For the reasons above, they do an evaluation of vehicle seats and head restraints and assign a rating based on how they feel the fit is on a typical male dummy. This is somewhat important for an adult, but not so meaningful for kids in a child seat or high back booster, where the carseat provides head support.

Keep in mind that even a small sedan has more distance between the rear seat to the bumper than many large SUVs and vans. That doesn't necessarily make it safer, but that could be a factor in a very severe (but very rare) rear end crash.

So, we just have no way to tell. SUVs are not necessarily safer than wagons or sedans in general. While some SUVs and trucks ride higher, that same height tends to make them inferior in terms of handling and rollover avoidance. Really, you can find models of all types that are quite safe, but you do need to check out the crash test ratings from the IIHS and NHTSA. Unfortunately, a lot of newer 2011 models are not yet tested by the NHTSA in their updated crash testing program.

While I can't comment about the Kia Soul in terms of carseats, I do note that it received very respectable crash test results overall from both the IIHS and NHTSA.

I happen to be reviewing a Chevy Cruze ECO sedan right now. It also gets relatively high mileage even though it is bigger than sub-compact cars and is not a hybrid. Plus it has top crash test scores all around. I don't know how it compares otherwise to the Soul, but it is another option.

We own a Toyota Prius sedan as well. It was just over $20,000 for the base model that is a hatchback with great fuel economy and also has good crash test results. I know some dealers are gouging now because of the disaster in Japan, so they may be overpriced at the present time.

Any compact car is going to have some issues with child seats based on limited legroom and limited width. Unfortunately, the only way to be sure any specific model of carseat will fit in a specific seating position of a particular vehicle is to try it!

Thank you, CPSDarren. I've been looking for a year and seem unable to make a decision! I'm glad to hear you like your Prius - I see they have a wagon style coming out this summer, and I'm interested in test driving one of those. I think I'm also going to check out some larger sedans (LaCrosse, Taurus), which I hadn't done before.