Midsize Cars Outperform Luxury Cars In Crash Tests

ARLINGTON, Va. (CBSMiami) – When it comes to safety and cars, much like with love, money can't buy you everything. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a group of moderately priced cars outperformed luxury cars in new frontal crash tests.

The IIHS tested 18 midsize family cars and gave two the top rating of good, the Honda Accord 4-door and the Suzuki Kizashi. Eleven cars earned an acceptable rating, three earned marginal ratings, and two were rated poor.

"It's remarkable that this group of midsize family cars did so much better than the midsize luxury car group," says Adrian Lund, IIHS president. "The difference is stunning. Thirteen of these midsize cars offer better crash protection than all but three of their luxury counterparts, and at a price that's easier on the wallet."

The biggest surprise came from the top-selling midsize car in the United States, the Toyota Camry. The Camry and the Prius v both earned poor ratings for small overlap protections and were the worst performers of the midsize group.

The new ratings for the Camry came just one year after a complete redesign. According to the IIHS, in the overlap protection test, the impact shoved the front wheel into the footwell, bending the windshield pillar and pushing the parking brake pedal and the left outer edge of the instrument panel rearward into the driver's survival space.