The Safest Cars According to Insurance Loss Data

The safest overall car models in our analysis have significantly lower-than-average losses for two key categories: first-party injury claims (which include personal injury protection and medical payments) as well as collision claims.

As mentioned above, when it comes to collision claims, it’s important to note that vehicle repair costs come into play. In other words, some vehicles with low losses from first-party injury claims have higher collision losses simply because they are expensive to repair or replace, but they would still be considered safe cars. This should be taken into account when looking at collision data, but it offers interesting insights nonetheless.

Generally speaking, larger vehicles tend to be safer, as evidenced by the data below. The ten vehicles with the lowest collision losses range from midsize SUVs to very large pickups.

Safety of Popular Cars by Collision Claim Losses

When looking at only a selection of the most popular cars in the U.S., several small SUVs come out on top. The pickup trucks’ higher losses are likely due in part to the fact that they are more expensive to repair. The four-door cars are still at the bottom of the list, however, despite being cheaper to repair.

Looking at insurance loss data for PIP and MedPay claims provides an idea of which vehicles are safer than others based on how often and for how much their owners file injury-related claims.

When removing collision repair costs from the equation, two Rivian models top the list, as their heavy battery packs provide great protection to occupants, even though they are more expensive to repair in a collision. Overall, most vehicles on this list are SUVs or bigger, underscoring the safety of larger vehicles.

Safety of Popular Cars by First-Party Injury Claim Losses

A similar trend can be observed when looking at the list of popular vehicles: pickup trucks win, by far, when considering only first-party injury claims and excluding collision data.

The Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra, and Ram 1500 tie for the lowest MedPay losses at 37 percent less than average.

High marks in lab crash tests don’t necessarily mean a vehicle will have low real-world injury insurance claims.

The annual lists of “Safest Cars” from the NHTSA and IIHS are often looked to for data on which cars have the best safety record for a given year. These lists are compiled based on controlled laboratory crash testing and active safety features, and include popular sedans like the Honda Civic, Honda Accord, and Toyota Camry.

However, importantly, these tests do not account for real-world performance, and insurance loss data actually reveals that these vehicles perform significantly worse than the national average in terms of real-world injury claims. This is largely due to their smaller size relative to the SUVs and trucks dominating the roads.

IIHS insurance loss data points to some interesting trends over time, even if there are some important caveats. The data for a given time frame measures a vehicle’s losses relative to the average of that specific period, so it’s not possible to make apples-to-apples comparisons. In addition, cars have become much safer in general over the past several decades, but those mentioned here have shown improvements beyond the average.

Data was categorized a bit differently in the past — most notably, only PIP claims were tracked and were referred to simply as “injury” claims. For ease of comparison, we have referred to this as PIP in the table below.

Note that these cars still may not be among the top safest cars (i.e., those with the lowest losses), but they have shown the biggest improvements between the 1990s and today.

It’s also worth noting that, generally speaking, many popular sedans that were once safer than average have become less safe over time as larger vehicles have dominated the modern market.

While safety is important to prioritize when it comes to a car, budget is as well. Many of the safest cars according to insurance loss data are luxury SUVs and pickup trucks, which are not the most affordable options.

Of course, the full cost of a car includes more than the purchase price — there is also the cost to maintain it over time, as well as the cost of insurance. More affordable cars, in addition to having a lower replacement cost, also tend to be cheaper to repair, which in turn makes them cheaper to insure.

The following cars offer some of the best value in terms of cost (both purchase and insurance) and safety record. It’s worth calling out the Mini Cooper, in particular, whose safety record is an outlier for small cars, making it a great option for new drivers looking for a small and safe car.

When examining historical IIHS data, certain brands stand out for consistently maintaining high safety ratings, which, in this case, are measured by low insurance claim losses. The following brands have maintained some of the lowest average losses over time:

Considering manufacturing recall data alongside real-world insurance loss data provides even more detail about a vehicle’s true safety record. Recall data accounts for manufacturing defects and automaker fixes, while insurance data provides a window into what actually happens when vehicles are on the road.

High recall counts don’t automatically mean a car is unsafe. It may seem reasonable to assume that vehicles with more recalls are less safe, but the evidence actually doesn’t support this. For example, Ford, Toyota, and Chrysler have the highest recall counts in the most recent data², but many Ford and Toyota models — particularly SUVs and pickups —  provide some of the best real-world injury protection based on insurance data. On the other hand, Chrysler’s vehicles do not fare as well in terms of insurance losses.

Recall and insurance loss data converge more when it comes to luxury and tech-heavy brands, including EVs. Lucid, for example, has one of the lowest recall completion rates in the industry. (Recall completion refers to the percentage of affected vehicles that are successfully repaired or otherwise remedied). In the IIHS data, the Lucid Air electric 4-door exhibits very high collision repair costs at 218 percent worse than the national average.

Tesla also struggles with recall completion, and Tesla vehicles consistently post high collision repair losses, with the Model S at 116 percent worse than average and the Model X at 118 percent worse than average. BMW, Mercedes, and other luxury brands have similarly high recall volumes and collision losses. This makes sense when you consider that these cars have high repair costs and complex technology — it doesn’t necessarily point to how safe they are, but rather how expensive they are to fix.

Recall and insurance loss risks overlap most significantly in luxury and electric vehicles where complexity drives up repair costs.

When looking at both datasets, Subaru emerges as a champion of overall vehicle reliability and safety. Subaru doesn’t top the list of manufacturers with the most recalls, and as noted in our previous analysis, many of its models have low insurance losses. By avoiding mass recalls and simultaneously posting low real-world insurance losses, Subaru models represent some of the most stable, risk-free investments for consumers.

In short: insurance loss risk (which represents crash outcomes) and recall risk (which relates to manufacturing defects) do not perfectly correlate with each other, but they do occasionally overlap. This is the case particularly in luxury and electric cars, where complexity drives both higher recall volume and higher repair costs.

Insurance loss data, particularly data relating to collision and first-party injury claims, offers a real-world look at which vehicles are least likely to generate costly injury and damage claims — and, in turn, which may be among the safest on the road. By analyzing patterns in collision, medical payments, and personal injury protection losses, we can conclude that larger cars, like SUVs and pickups, tend to be safer, but there are exceptions. First-party injury claim data is particularly useful, as it eliminates the repair cost variable.

While no car is guaranteed to prevent accidents, damage, or injuries, vehicles with lower-than-average claim losses often point to a strong safety record, making them smart choices for safety-conscious buyers.

We evaluated data from the following third parties to compile this report:

• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)