The Mazda CX-5 is judged the safest used car for new parents to buy.
The Volkswagen Touran and BMW 2 Series Active Tourer follow in second and third place as UK’s Safest Used Cars for new parents using data from Thatcham Research.
The Safest Used Car Award for new parents, is the UK first in the used car market, and is based on a formula ranking devised by the Co-op and Thatcham Research.
The criteria meant that all cars needed to have a 5 Star Euro NCAP star rating and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) fitted, and a specific focus was made on the Euro NCAP child occupant scores that included front and side protection and how easy and safe it is to fit child restraints in the rear seats.
| Co-op Insurance Top 5 Safest Used Cars for new parents | |
| 1 | Mazda CX-5 |
| 2 | Volkswagen Touran |
| 3 | BMW 2 series Active Tourer |
| 4 | Nissan Qashqai |
| 5 | Toyota RAV-4 |
Furthermore, following the ongoing success of the Safest Used Car Awards which was launched three years ago in 2016, today Co-op has also launched the top 10 Safest Used Cars for families for with the Volvo V40 (with safety pack) being crowned as the winner for the third year running.
Highly commended in second and third place are the Honda Civic and Hyundai i30.
The award, which was a UK first in the used car market when Co-op launched it in 2016, is based on a formula ranking devised by the Co-op and Thatcham Research.
The criteria meant all cars needed to have a five-star EURO NCAP rating, have CO2 emissions of 120g/km or less and be available to purchase on the second hand market for £15.000 or less.
The cars were then evaluated further on crash worthiness that included ratings for adult, child and pedestrian protection and the availability of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB).
| Co-op Insurance’s Top 10 Safest Used Cars 2018 | Compared to Co-op’s 2017 Awards | |
| 1 | Volvo V40 with safety pack | Non-mover |
| 2 | Honda Civic | New entry |
| 3 | Hyundai i30 | New entry |
| 4 | BMW 2 Series Active Tourer | Up one place |
| 5 | Mazda 3 | New entry |
| 6 | Volkswagen Golf | Up one place |
| 7 | Kia Rio | New entry |
| 8 | Nissan Qashqai | Dropped 5 places |
| 9 | Nissan Pulsar | New entry |
| 10 | Vauxhall Astra | New entry |
This announcement from Co-op Insurance highlights that the majority of parents (60%) chose to change their car before their child was born with one of their key reasons being to ensure their vehicle had improved safety features (47%).
The ability to fit a car seat and have ISOFIX mountings (44%) was the main safety consideration and catalyst for a vehicle change followed by having a bigger vehicle as they feel safer (40%) and more airbags (27%).
Over two fifths (41%) of parents class driving their baby home from hospital as the most stressful driving experience of their lives, ahead of their driving test and the journey to their wedding so safety is high on their agenda.
| Nick Ansley, Head of Motor Insurance at Co-op said, “The safety of a vehicle is clearly important to new parents who, despite the amount of information given to them on a plethora of things related to babies, are often left wondering when it comes to what car to buy and drive.
“Parents clearly want to be better informed when it comes to the safety of the vehicles they are buying and driving, especially when they have precious cargo in tow. “Becoming a ‘parent driver’ shouldn’t be the guessing game that it all too often is which is why we have worked with Thatcham Research to come up with a definitive list of vehicles for new parents which may suit their safety needs.” Matthew Avery, Director of Research, Thatcham Research added,“Our advice to potential car buyers is do your research, identify what is important to you and what safety features you want. And what is non-negotiable such as whether your child car seats fit, and can be safely secured. If not, then walk away. Child safety is too important to compromise.” |
When looking in more detail at the safety features or considerations that new parents make, the top five safety features or characteristics they look for are:
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