Safe! - Acadia, Enclave, Outlook, Traverse top safety picks

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has awarded the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook its Top Safety Pick designation for exemplary performance in frontal offset, side, and rear crash tests. To be eligible for this distinction, a vehicle also has to have standard stability control.

These corporate siblings are highly rated by Consumer Reports. We liked their combination of ride, handling, smooth powertrain, and space efficiency. With these new crash-test results, the Acadia and Outlook now earn our top-level recommendation, which means they performed well in CR's tests and have average or better reliability. The Enclave is not recommended because we do not have adequate reliability data yet. The Traverse goes on sale in the fall.

The Acadia and its siblings received top scores in the Institute’s frontal-offset  and side crash tests, and also received top marks for whiplash protection based on the design of their head restraints. The Institute provides a detailed breakdown, rating injury measures for head/neck, torso, leg/pelvis, overall head protection, and structure/safety cage. In all instances for front and side, these SUVs earn the Institute’s highest rating of good.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also awarded the vehicles five stars in both their front- and side-crash tests. The NHTSA evaluations are less severe than those performed by the Insurance Institute, but they are considered a valuable measure of safety belt and air bag performance.

The vehicles scored four stars in rollover resistance in NHTSA’s test of rollover propensity, a good rating for an SUV.

Learn more about how the Institute and NHTSA perform their evaluations in “Crash Test 101.” And see the tests in action by choosing from the more than 250 crash test videos produced with IIHS.

—Eric Evarts

Consumer Reports calculates car owner costs

A cheaper car can cost consumers more in the long run compared with a more expensive alternative, according to Consumer Reports’ new owner-costs comparisons, which appear in the Annual April Auto Issue and online in the model overview pages (available to online subscribers from the pulldown search tools or from ratings charts in the Cars section of ConsumerReports.org). In fact, says CR, a car’s sticker price doesn’t tell the whole story.

For example, at about $17,500, a Mitsubishi Lancer could cost $5,000 less than a Mini Cooper Clubman to drive home. But considering the total costs of ownership for each car, the Lancer could cost drivers around $3,000 more over the first five years. Also, a Toyota Highlander can cost $3,000 more to purchase than a V6 Ford Explorer, but owning the Ford after five years can end up costing an additional $6,500.

Consumer Reports recommends that in addition to looking for a good deal on their next car, car shoppers also consider how much the model will cost them to own. To help consumers; CR is introducing new owner-cost estimates which can help consumers compare models and possibly save thousands of dollars. CR’s estimates include depreciation, fuel costs, interest, insurance, maintenance and repair, and sales tax. Because depreciation is factored into the estimates, CR assumes that the vehicle will be traded in after five years for the April-issue ratings on 262 cars. Online subscribers can compare the costs for one, three, five, and eight years of ownership.

CR’s calculations in seven common automotive categories show that the most expensive vehicle to run for five years is the Mercedes-Benz S550 at about $101,750. CR’s calculated that the least expensive vehicle to run over five years was the Toyota Yaris with a manual transmission, at about $23,250.

For more information, read “What that car really costs to own.”