The April 2004 Consumer Reports issue has a nice section on family friendly vehicles. They judge vehicles based on a number of criteria, many related to safety. The report is here, but CR links don't always work:
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/content/display_report.jsp?FOLDER<>folder_id=402501
The top rated vehicle was the 2004 Toyota Sienna. Other top scorers were the 2004 Honda Odyssey, 2004 Honda Pilot, 2004 Subaru Forester, 2004 Honda Accord, 2004 VW Passat and 2004 Toyota Camry.
CR also has a separate Safety Assessment rating, that only factors in crash test scores and accident avoidance ratings. Excellent rated models include the Mazda6, VW Passat, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Honda Odyssey, Ford Freestar, Mercury Monterey, Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna, Mazda MPV, Honda Civic, VW Golf, VW Jetta, Ford Focus, Mini Cooper, Lexus IS300, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4, Saab 9-5, BMW 3-series, Lincold LS, Lexus ES330, Jaguar X-Type, Cadillac CTS, Subaru Forester, Saturn Vue, Honda Element, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, Lexus RX330, Chrysler Pacifica, Nissan Murano, Acura MDX, Toyota 4Runner (2004), Honda Pilit and BMW X5.
Many of these same models are incldued in our recommendations at http://www.suvsafety.info . This is not surprising, since the majority of the ratings are based on the same crash tests and safety features.
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/content/display_report.jsp?FOLDER<>folder_id=402501
The top rated vehicle was the 2004 Toyota Sienna. Other top scorers were the 2004 Honda Odyssey, 2004 Honda Pilot, 2004 Subaru Forester, 2004 Honda Accord, 2004 VW Passat and 2004 Toyota Camry.
CR also has a separate Safety Assessment rating, that only factors in crash test scores and accident avoidance ratings. Excellent rated models include the Mazda6, VW Passat, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Honda Odyssey, Ford Freestar, Mercury Monterey, Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna, Mazda MPV, Honda Civic, VW Golf, VW Jetta, Ford Focus, Mini Cooper, Lexus IS300, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4, Saab 9-5, BMW 3-series, Lincold LS, Lexus ES330, Jaguar X-Type, Cadillac CTS, Subaru Forester, Saturn Vue, Honda Element, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, Lexus RX330, Chrysler Pacifica, Nissan Murano, Acura MDX, Toyota 4Runner (2004), Honda Pilit and BMW X5.
Many of these same models are incldued in our recommendations at http://www.suvsafety.info . This is not surprising, since the majority of the ratings are based on the same crash tests and safety features.
