What car to buy? Which is the safest?

My mom, daughter and myself were recently in a car accident which totalled my Chevy Trailblazer, so we're looking for a new car. We hit a deer and I lost control - we rolled several times and ended up upside down. Thanks to God, we all walked away from the crash with only minor scrapes, bruises, etc.

So now that we're looking for another car, my first concern is buying the safest car we possibly can. My husband and I have researched so much on the internet, but the more I look, the more confused I get. We're not even sure if we want another SUV or a car or van. Since we rolled, I don't know if another SUV is a good idea or if because we were in a larger vehicle we were safer.

So far, I've learned for sure that side or side curtain airbags, Electronic Stability Control, and a car weight over 4,000 pounds is important. All of the websites I found for safety ratings give only ratings for brand new cars and we're not buying new. It depends on the sytle of car we're getting, but as for year we'll probably get a 2004 if it's an SUV or a 2005 or 2006 for a car because of price.

Does anyone know of a website where I can research safety ratings on older models of cars? Or, does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thank you so much in advance!!!
Scarlett - Mom to Wynter 4 1/2

Wow, that's a scary sounding car-deer crash. Glad you're all unharmed.

Definitely check out www.informedforlife.org which assigns numerical safety scores to vehicles by model and model year using a unique formula based on IIHS and NHTSA crash test results, as well as vehicle weight, equipment such as side curtain airbags and stability control, fatality rates, and vehicle weight. It's good for comparing apples to oranges when vehicle shopping with a safety focus, and I believe you can look at past model years back to about 2003.

Jean -
Thank you so much for your reply! I'll definitely check out that website, it sounds like just what I was looking for.

We're very blessed to all be safe after that wreck. We definitely have a LOT to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Thanks again and have a wonderful day,
Scarlett
Mom to Wynter 4 1/2, 39 lbs. Britax Decathalon

Thanks for that web site! We are considering a new vehicle and so glad I saw this before we bought!

You're welcome and happy Thanksgiving. It was a useful site for us while narrowing down vehicle replacement choices for DH, and I'm grateful to this board's host, who clued me in about the Informed for Life site last year. Happy car shopping.