These 8 Models Were Named the Safest Used Cars By the IIHS. Here’s What Earned Them a Spot.

Jill RobbinsThe term "safety" means a lot more than it used to. With modern technology working for us, these are the 8 safest cars to buy used from 2023.

When you're shopping for a new car, "safety" can mean a lot of things. You might be looking for a car with a good crash-test rating, the latest and greatest driver-assistance technology, or something else that gives you confidence behind the wheel.

My family is currently shopping for a car for my teenage sons to share—cue the anxiety—and safety is at the top of our list, although this bitterly disappoints one of my sons, who thinks a car being "fire" and "tuff" should be the priority. Sure, kid. If you're like us, you're shopping for the safest used cars.

Whether you're looking at what's safe for a teen driver or just want that extra measure of assurance that you're protected and your car will function as it is supposed to when it really matters, safety is a serious topic. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) offers another way to look at the question: What happens to people driving these vehicles in real-world crashes?

This story is 100% human-researched and written based on actual first-person knowledge, extensive experience and expertise on the subject of cars and trucks.

Newly redesigned Toyota RAV4 in the GR Sport trim

In its latest analysis, IIHS calculated driver death rates by make and model for 2023 model-year vehicles and equivalent earlier models using data from crashes that occurred from 2021 through 2024. The results are based on driver deaths per million registered vehicle years, with rates adjusted for driver age and gender. Six vehicles had a driver death rate of zero, while four others had rates of five or fewer deaths per million registered vehicle years.

This doesn't mean that the cars on the IIHS list and the ones highlighted below are automatically the safest cars on the market or that buying something with a zero death rate is somehow crash-proof. The data measures one specific thing: driver fatalities in real-world crashes. IIHS's separate vehicle ratings assess how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash and how effectively its technology can prevent or reduce crash severity.

It's all good information, but none of it offers any guarantees. But, when shopping for the safest used cars, it can help make or break a decision. Here's a perspective on what some carmakers are getting right.

A crashed Honda Civic, a result of a crash test demonstration

"Safety" in a modern car is a combination of things that happen before, during, and immediately after a crash.

My kids learned to drive in a car with aggressive blind spot protection, meaning the car beeps at them if they're drifting out of their lane or if a pedestrian appears out of nowhere in a parking lot. As a parent and consumer, I worry about this as we're figuring out what car they'll be driving regularly.

Automatic emergency braking can detect an impending collision and apply the brakes automatically, after visual and audio warnings a potential crash is detected.

Blind spot monitoring can alert drivers to vehicles they might not see when changing lanes.

Lane-keeping systems can help when a vehicle begins drifting out of its lane.

Some of these features have become so common on newer vehicles that it can be jarring to switch to one that doesn't have them or works differently from what you're used to.

Crumple zones absorb and redirect crash energy, so less is translated to the car's interior, and the occupants inside.

The occupant compartment is engineered to maintain a protective bubble around the people inside.

Seat belts and airbags work in tandem to help keep occupants in the right position and reduce the forces they experience in a crash.

That combination matters because a good crash test and good crash avoidance are measuring different things. IIHS evaluates both crashworthiness, or how well a vehicle protects people when a crash occurs, and crash avoidance and mitigation, which covers technology designed to prevent a crash or make one less severe.

IIHS also keeps making its tests more demanding as researchers learn more about real-world crashes. Its 2023 testing criteria, for example, included updated side-impact testing and more stringent requirements for pedestrian crash prevention.

Driver death rate: 0 per million registered vehicle years

The Audi Q7 topped the latest IIHS list alongside five other vehicles with zero recorded driver deaths per million registered vehicle years. The 2023 Q7 also earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating for vehicles built after January 2023.

Its crashworthiness scores were all Good in the major frontal, side, roof-strength, and head-restraint evaluations. Its standard front crash-prevention system earned a Superior rating for vehicle-to-vehicle crashes and for daytime pedestrian prevention, and an Advanced rating for nighttime pedestrian prevention. Blind-spot detection and rear automatic braking were also standard.

In addition to its strong safety ratings, the Q7 has some thoughtful family-friendly touches, including a flexible third row and enough room to accommodate three car seats across the second row. The newer Q7 also gets customizable headlights, letting drivers choose among four different light designs.

Driver death rate: 0 per million registered vehicle years

The BMW X7 is another large luxury SUV at the very top of the real-world safety list.

Its presence alongside the Audi Q7 also highlights an important factor in the data: Vehicle size and weight matter. IIHS notes that larger, heavier vehicles generally provide more protection to their occupants than smaller, lighter vehicles. That doesn't mean bigger automatically equals safer in every situation, but it is one reason large SUVs appear prominently among the vehicles with the lowest driver death rates.

The X7 also pairs its large SUV footprint with technology designed to make driving easier. The model tested by A Girls Guide to Cars founder and Editor-in-Chief Scotty Reiss had all-wheel drive and stability control, plus an available Driving Assistance package and a surround-view camera that gives the driver a better look around the vehicle.

Driver death rate: 0 per million registered vehicle years

The Chevy Tahoe is perhaps one of the more interesting vehicles on this list because it demonstrates why it's important not to treat the IIHS death-rate study and crash-test ratings as interchangeable.

The Tahoe had a zero driver death rate in the latest real-world data. Its 2023 crash testing showed Good performance in the original moderate-overlap front test and Good driver-side performance in the small-overlap test. But the newer moderate-overlap test, which places a greater emphasis on rear-seat protection, produced a Poor overall rating.

The findings aren't that the Tahoe is secretly unsafe. Different tests answer different questions. A vehicle can have an extremely low real-world driver death rate while still having areas where there's room for improvement.

The safety technology includes blind-spot detection, lane-departure warning and prevention, and rear automatic braking, depending on model year and configuration. The Tahoe adds another layer of technology to its considerable size. We noted that its advanced cameras made it easier to maneuver the full-size SUV in tight spaces, and the 2025 model added available Super Cruise for hands-free driving on mapped roads.

Jill's son getting into a 2026 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro

Driver death rate: 0 per million registered vehicle years

The Toyota Tundra CrewMax is the only pickup among the six vehicles with zero driver deaths in the latest study.

The 2023 Tundra also earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ designation. Its small-overlap front, original moderate-overlap front, side, roof-strength, and head-restraint evaluations were Good. Its standard front crash-prevention system earned Superior ratings for vehicle-to-vehicle and daytime pedestrian prevention and Advanced for nighttime pedestrian prevention.

There's an important wrinkle here, too. The Tundra's updated moderate-overlap test received a Poor overall rating because of rear-passenger protection concerns, even though the structure and driver injury measures were rated Good.

The Tundra also packs in technology that can help drivers keep track of what's happening around the truck, including a digital rearview mirror, panoramic view monitor with a top-down view and front and rear parking assist. The Capstone also includes School Zone Alert, which gives the driver visual and audible warnings when they're entering a school zone.

Driver death rate: 4 per million registered vehicle years

The Porsche Macan had the lowest driver death rate among the vehicles that weren't at zero, with four driver deaths per million registered vehicle years.

It's also another midsize luxury SUV. Most vehicles with the lowest driver death rates are SUVs, and several are relatively large, so this gives a look at a more compact option.

The Macan's safety story isn't all about crash protection, either. During a test drive of the electric Macan, Reiss wrote about how she appreciated that the all-wheel-drive system helped hold the road in wet conditions and through mountain curves, while the head-up display kept important information in her field of view.

Driver death rate: 5 per million registered vehicle years

The BMW X5 had a driver death rate of five per million registered vehicle years.

The 2023 X5 earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating and received Good ratings across its major crashworthiness evaluations. Its standard front crash-prevention system earned a Superior rating for vehicle-to-vehicle crashes and daytime pedestrian prevention.

The X5's standard Active Driving Assistant also performed well in IIHS pedestrian testing, avoiding collisions in several test scenarios.

The newer X5 also shows how much attention automakers are putting into keeping information in the driver's line of sight. The panoramic display can be customized, with the goal of keeping the driver's eyes on the road rather than looking down at a screen. I personally think heads-up displays are hard to get used to but I appreciate how they can provide a safer ride.

The front side profile of the 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV

Driver death rate: 5 per million registered vehicle years

The Toyota RAV4 Prime is probably the most familiar everyday vehicle on this list, and one of the most interesting because it's a small SUV rather than a large luxury SUV or pickup.

The 2023 RAV4 Prime earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating. It received Good ratings in the small-overlap and original moderate-overlap frontal tests and the roof-strength and head-restraint evaluations, while its updated side test was Acceptable. Its standard front crash-prevention system earned Superior ratings for vehicle-to-vehicle and daytime and nighttime pedestrian prevention.

For shoppers who don't want a giant SUV but still prioritize safety, this one deserves a closer look.

The RAV4 also brings safety-related technology into some of the details drivers interact with every day. A recent A Girls Guide to Cars review of the RAV4 GR Sport PHEV Corliss Oglesby calls out blind-spot indicators built into the side mirrors, another example of technology designed to give drivers more information about what's happening around them.

Driver death rate: 5 per million registered vehicle years

The VW Atlas rounds out the list with a driver death rate of five per million registered vehicle years.

Its crashworthiness record is a little more complicated than the number alone suggests. The Atlas earned Good ratings in the original frontal tests and updated side test, but its updated moderate-overlap front test received a Marginal rating. Its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash-prevention system, however, earned a Superior rating.

The Atlas also comes standard with blind-spot detection and rear automatic braking, with some lane-departure features available depending on configuration.

I drove the Atlas Cross Sport several years ago and found it roomy enough to fit two booster seats with substantial space between them, while still leaving plenty of room for all the stuff that comes with driving kids around. We all want to be safe when driving our cars and want our passengers to be safe, too, but there's always going to be that balance of comfort, practicality and safety when our cargo is our kids.

The Honda Civic is a recurring top safety pick

There's a reason IIHS doesn't title this list "the safest cars."

The driver death rate study looks at fatalities among drivers in real-world crashes. IIHS requires vehicles to have at least 100,000 registered vehicle years or at least 20 deaths during the four-year study period to be included, and the institute adjusts the numbers for driver age and gender. The newest models aren't included because there isn't enough crash and registration data to produce statistically meaningful rates.

The study also doesn't account for every factor that can influence whether someone survives a crash. And a low driver death rate doesn't mean that a particular vehicle will perform identically in every type of collision. Combined with IIHS crash-test ratings and crash-prevention technology evaluations, real-world fatality data can help show the big picture of how a vehicle protects the people inside it.

You probably wouldn't use this data alone to decide what to buy, but it's an interesting way to see how your current car, or one you're considering, stacks up.

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