I'm reading up on used cars, which are considered new in this mag i'm in, but the stats are scary... it's a consumer reports " '95 cars" issue, with stats on new cars, and on the 4runner, driver crash protection for a solid black dot meaning;

"Severe or fatal injury virtually certain" and then on the passenger safety dot it's a full RED meaning;

"Probably no injury or minor injury"....what gives, and is this correct? I've been looking for a 4runner, but that is kinda freaky for a first vehicle, and now i doubt my parents will let me buy one.

can anyone tell me more about this??

the injury clain rate is average...but the drivers protection figure scares me.

it says no airbags, is that just not standard or is it not optional at all for this year?

 

what year 4Runner was it for?

 

95 he said.

i know 3rd gen safety is pretty good. not perfect, but good.

 

you have to remember that it's nearly impossible to separate the driver and the car when doing accident reporting. they give results on safety based on injury reports and such. i remember reading a report where they counted deaths per million cars on the road or something like that and the 4runner didn't do as well as expected. but the lexus equivalent (gx?) did really well. same things happend for ford/lincoln and nissan/infinity pairs too. after more research they found that the driver who buy the toyota/ford/nissan level of vehicles were more careless drivers than the kind who bought the lexus/lincoln/infinity cars. it was interesting to see that the exact same car got such different results depending on just the brand name. i'll see if i can find that report and post a link to it.

so i wouldn't worry to much about what you read. see what the insurance institute for highway safety says (www.iihs.org), they're usually the best reporter of vehicle safety.

 

The weird results they posted are probably a botched test crash. They stick a dummy in there, read the sensors, and post the results.

95's Toyota 4Runner, Toyota, and vehicles in general aside..... Consumer Reports has never been in touch with reality, be it dishwashers or toasters that they are reviewing 5 pages before or after reviewing trucks.

 

I'm going to guess the steering colum and steering wheel had a major impact on the driver's safety rating. Who knows, maybe the steering colum crushed the chest/legs and caused the head to swing out to hit the A or B pillars (??)

Just a guess since the only thing differing the passenger and driver would be those elements...

I remember seeing the crash test pictures (posted here?) of the 3rd gen and 4th gen. Obviously, due to modern design, the 4th gen scored significantly better than the 3rd--I think the 4th gen is #1 mid-size suv in gov. crash test??

oh, found the pics (this is the more difficult offset crash test)

3rd Gen:


4th Gen:

 

id say that with a vehicle like a 4runner, especially a lifted one, you will do better in a crash test then another car, and most suvs (unibody crap)

i dont think ofset crashes are effective at testing a vehicle of this size, if you hit a car offset your tire is most likely going to "monster truck over it" unless you like crashing into brick walls offset at 45 miles an hour.

my friend in an unlifted 99 hit the rear quarter panel of an accord, and went up on it (crash similar to offset) was probably doing 30, he had about 2000 dollars worth of damage, not sure of the accord, but he was fine, granted it was on pasenger side, but the damage was not that bad, up and over.

im still waiting for pictures of smashed deer from a TJM or ARB bumper....

 

I rolled my brothers first gen on ice at fifteen miles an hour. Longstory it was an icestorm. It was kinda spooky for such a gentle rollover (it hung at the balance point for a full one count) Then went upside down in two feet of snow. The fiberglass back just disentigrated and the metal roof popped down a good foot or so. I don't know about second generations, but if safety is and issue get something with airbags. The thing that probably saved me from my own youth ---is that my first generation was slow as hell but still fun to drive.
That doesnt figure into any insurance company stats or crash tests but, in that way it was the safest vechicle i've ever owned. If i had bought a wrx im sure i wouldnt be here today-- no matter how safe they crash. This might be something to tell your parents about if you have your heart set on a runner.
The 3.0 in the 95's keep it rather tame. I think the most trouble you are gonna get into in it-- will be in the back, with the seats folded down and the windows fogged up.


As far as the offset crash test. :bounce2: i think it pretty much goes to show no matter what you drive dont plow it into an immovable object going more then fifteen miles an hour. If you do... hit it square on. My first gen was backed into at 20 miles an hour by a geo storm. My neighbor backed down the hill into it. She almost totaled her car and i never knew she hit my car till a week later when she came back from her parents house. I had a generic cast iron bull bar on (i bought in mexico)which never moved a centimeter. Best eighty bucks i ever spent. The manik that came on my 2000 is crap.

Hey just buy my 97 runner

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41424

 

your 95 should have drivers air bag standard, my 93 has one standard drivers side only. im not sure when the passenger side was added. as posted above, keep the speeds reasonable and you should be fine.

lee

 

I can personally vouch for the 4th Gen in a crash...It was extremely safe...hit a stopped car at about 25mph...minor dmg to the other car...had to replace the hood, front bumber, radiator, front side panel (left side) and a few other odds and ends...me and my passenger were completely fine...except a lil shaken up (my frist accident)

It sortof looked like the front of that 4Runner that fell off the truck (earlier post) but to a lesser extent.

I definatly think that the 4Runners are very safe (along with just about all Toyota cars)

my 0.02
-Toast

 

That test actually determines damage from the most common type of head on crash which is an offset crash like when a car partially comes into oncoming traffic and strikes a car and very few of those are actually full headon crashes. This is the most common of the tests they perform.

 

(im still waiting for pictures of smashed deer from a TJM or ARB bumper...).[/QUOTE]


Thats funny. but it probably wouldnt be too pretty

 

Guys this is why it recieved a low rating....

Miked - BEAUTIFUL explaination of how a lurking variable, can unduely affect the conclusion drawn from the statistics. Whenever I see a poll or any such rating I immediately start digging for possible lurking variables that might discredit the findings. Everyone should do that.

The rating's magizine that gave it a poor rating really needs to hire some staticians. Hell I've only had 1 introductory course to statistics and I can pick apart almost any conclusion the media comes to based on their data.




Wait a minute....93 had a driver's side air bag? Since when? Might my '90 have one too?

 

Yeah, i dont know about all this talk of 95's or a 93 for that matter with Air bags. My 95 doesnt have airbags, or maybe it does and I just dont know about it...

I would feel a bit safer with airbags though.

 

Air bags didn't show up in 4runners until 1996. I have a 95 and it doesn't have any air bag. It's got every options except leather. It's not a limited model though.

The reason they rate 95 low is because it doesn't come with airbag.

 

Alot of factors also include what you hit with your Runner since theirs a big contrast from,say a Civic vs an Expeditoin and there's is a whole freakin' lot of Expeditions here in Colorado and most are being driven by distracted moms.

 

My '95 has a driver side air bag. It comes standard. teh test ratings are similar to all SUV's in that the driver will die and the passengers wont even be touched by glass. Look at the durrangos and some others. It is because of stearing columns and the fact that the driver is on the impact side of a head on colisions doesn't help. But don't worry it. I have seen some seriously totalled out 4Runners and the drivers and all passengers all walked away. Just wear you seatbelt at all times and look both ways before crossing roads. Don't drive stupid!

 

Don't read too much into the safety ratings. Driver skill is far more important.

 

My '95 is a Limited, which I thought had everything, but absolutely no air bag on her!

 

I want to see a pic of a 95 with an airbag. I cant believe it till I see it.