Ls 400 Crash Rating

[pondfisher]

I have a 1997 LS40 that I really love. Drives smooth as silk has all the power, bells. and whistles I need. My question is the car is a 1997 and what has been the experience with that safety rating? Are these cars as safe as most other models on the road today?

[90LS400Lexus]

They are very safe cars... here is a link to the IIHS test for the 1995-2000 LS400 models. This is where they ran the car into a barrier, off-set, @ 40 mph. NO injuries all all to the driver. NHTSA has not crashed one of these. Even by todays standards, even the 1990-94s rate extremely well.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=71

No rating available on the 1990-94 models, but I have seen indications where the 1990-94s perform even better than the 1995-00 models- from what I have seen on crashed examples.

Look at the 1997-2001 Infiniti Q45 in comparison... much lower rating, but the 2002-07s are excellent, as are the LS430s and Acura RLs....

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=76

I have a 1997 LS40 that I really love. Drives smooth as silk has all the power, bells. and whistles I need. My question is the car is a 1997 and what has been the experience with that safety rating? Are these cars as safe as most other models on the road today?

[1990LS400]

I remember reading in the early 1990s that no one had died in North America while driving or riding in an LS400.

Crashworthiness of the LS400 was only part of the story. It has been well documented in the insurance industry that people who buy new expensive sedans tend to drive more conservatively than those who buy lower priced cars. All sorts of reasons have been given including those who buy expensive sedans tending to be older, more highly educated and exhibiting more conservative behavior - i.e. less speeding, less reckless driving and less alcohol consumption before driving.

On the flip side, we heard a segment on NPR a couple of years ago about drivers of small pickup trucks having the highest accident and death rates. Similar reasons were given -- that owners of small pickups tended to be younger and less educated, more prone to mix drinking and driving, and of course, the vehicle provides much worse crash protection and is less stable. We were listening to this program as we headed north into Iowa in an ice storm. As if on que, a young male blazed past us at a speed much higher than the 35-40 mph I was driving on I-35. We had to laugh as we topped a hill and saw the young man standing by his pickup in the center median of I-35.

Newer cars have more and improved technology which can make cars safer as long as people don't depend on the safety features to bail them out of bad situations. 98-up Lexus cars have front air bags that deploy with less force to reduce injuries caused by deployment. Side air bags were also introduced in 98 along with stability control (VSC). As far as we are concerned, one can't have too many safety features.

Although a 1997 LS400 may not be as safe as a newer LS, it is certainly much safer than many other cars on the road today. Driving within the speed limit and reducing speed in bad weather makes any car safer.