NHTSA New Car Assessment Program
Find the NHTSA safety rating for the tested variant.
Vehicle safety ratings are not generic model badges. Choose the exact test record before using an overall, frontal, side or rollover score.
Why the exact variant matters
NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program tests representative configurations of a model year, not every trim, cab style or drivetrain. Two vehicles wearing the same model name can carry different scores if NHTSA tested them as separate variants, so this tool surfaces every tested variant on file for the year, make and model you search, and lets you open the one that actually matches your vehicle before quoting its score. A 5-star overall rating is a weighted combination of the frontal, side and rollover categories, so one individual category can still score lower than the overall figure suggests, and a "Not Rated" result means no federal test record exists for that variant rather than evidence it performed poorly. 5 common questions, including how this differs from IIHS's separate Top Safety Pick program, are answered below.
What is the NHTSA 5-Star Safety Rating?
A crash-test and rollover-resistance score NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program assigns to a specific tested vehicle variant, on a 1-to-5-star scale, covering overall, frontal (driver and passenger side), side, and rollover categories.
Why does the tool ask me to pick a 'tested variant' instead of just showing one score?
NHTSA does not crash-test every trim, cab style or drivetrain combination of a model separately: it tests representative variants. A model year can have several distinct tested variants with different scores, so the search returns every one NHTSA has on file for that year/make/model and lets you open the specific test record that matches your vehicle's body style and drivetrain.
Is a 5-star rating the same as IIHS's Top Safety Pick?
No: separate programs, separate tests, separate scoring, run by different organizations (NHTSA is a federal agency; IIHS is an industry-funded nonprofit). Do not combine their labels into one rating or assume a vehicle that scores well in one program automatically scores the same in the other.
Does a 5-star overall rating mean every category scored 5 stars?
Not necessarily. The overall rating is a weighted combination of the frontal, side and rollover categories. A vehicle can carry a 5-star overall score while one individual category, most often rollover for taller vehicles, scores lower.
Why does a variant sometimes show 'Not Rated'?
NHTSA does not test every vehicle sold in the U.S. A 'Not Rated' result means no NHTSA test record exists for that specific variant. It is not evidence the vehicle performed poorly, only that no federal test score is on file for it.
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