IIHS uses a rating system based on "demerits". A vehicle with all Good sub-ratings will have zero demerits. 0-3 demerits gets you an overall Good rating; 4-9, Acceptable; 10-15, Marginal, and 16 or more, Poor.
Let's take a look at a chart of IIHS front offset crash test ratings for 1997 minivans. The Chevy Astro is not included because it is of different construction (more like a full-size van). GM Minivans include the Pontiac Trans Sport/Montana, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Chevy Venture.
If I was just given a list of these vehicles, I would have thought the Toyota Previa would have been the worst performer. After all, it was a dated (1990) design with a short front end. And while the Previa did very poorly, the GM minivans performed far worse. The dummy's left foot snapped off. The forces on the neck were so great that a broken neck was likely. The occupant compartment was crushed so severely that the dummy had to be taken apart just to get it out.
Looking at the vans before the tests, I'm sure the test performers thought the GM minivans would be one of the better performers. It was a brand-new design at the time. But it was the worst performer by a long shot. And with an average score of a low-end Marginal (excluding the GM minivans) this wasn't a good group.
Let's look at 2005, the last year these vans were made. For 2005, GM launched a new series of minivans (the "New GM Minivans", the Pontiac Montana SV6, Buick Terraza, Saturn Relay, and Chevy Uplander), but the older models were still in production.
Honda Odyssey - 0 - Good
Toyota Sienna - 0 - Good
Ford Freestar - 2 - Good
New GM Minivans - 3 - Good
KIA Sedona - 6 - Acceptable
Mazda MPV - 8 - Acceptable
Chrysler minivans - 9 - Acceptable
Old GM minivans - 40 - Poor
Average (not including old GM minivans) - 4.00 - high-end Acceptable
That's right, by their end of production the old GM minivans had ten times the average number of demerits for its class (and over four times that of the next worst performer). Same snapped off foot, same broken neck, same crushed dummy... in a 2005 van.
Seriously?
*Rating calculations and thresholds were slightly different in 1996 vs. today.
Let's take a look at a chart of IIHS front offset crash test ratings for 1997 minivans. The Chevy Astro is not included because it is of different construction (more like a full-size van). GM Minivans include the Pontiac Trans Sport/Montana, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Chevy Venture.
Ford Windstar - 0 - Good
Mazda MPV - 11 - Marginal
Chrysler minivans - 11 - Marginal
Nissan Quest - 14 - Marginal
Honda Odyssey - 16 - Marginal*
Ford Aerostar - 18 - Poor
Toyota Previa - 26 - Poor
GM Minivans - 40 - Poor
Average (not including GM minivans) - 13.71 - low-end Marginal
If I was just given a list of these vehicles, I would have thought the Toyota Previa would have been the worst performer. After all, it was a dated (1990) design with a short front end. And while the Previa did very poorly, the GM minivans performed far worse. The dummy's left foot snapped off. The forces on the neck were so great that a broken neck was likely. The occupant compartment was crushed so severely that the dummy had to be taken apart just to get it out.
Looking at the vans before the tests, I'm sure the test performers thought the GM minivans would be one of the better performers. It was a brand-new design at the time. But it was the worst performer by a long shot. And with an average score of a low-end Marginal (excluding the GM minivans) this wasn't a good group.
Let's look at 2005, the last year these vans were made. For 2005, GM launched a new series of minivans (the "New GM Minivans", the Pontiac Montana SV6, Buick Terraza, Saturn Relay, and Chevy Uplander), but the older models were still in production.
Honda Odyssey - 0 - Good
Toyota Sienna - 0 - Good
Ford Freestar - 2 - Good
New GM Minivans - 3 - Good
KIA Sedona - 6 - Acceptable
Mazda MPV - 8 - Acceptable
Chrysler minivans - 9 - Acceptable
Old GM minivans - 40 - Poor
Average (not including old GM minivans) - 4.00 - high-end Acceptable
That's right, by their end of production the old GM minivans had ten times the average number of demerits for its class (and over four times that of the next worst performer). Same snapped off foot, same broken neck, same crushed dummy... in a 2005 van.
Seriously?
*Rating calculations and thresholds were slightly different in 1996 vs. today.
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