Consumer Reports has dropped three Toyota vehicles from its "Recommended" lost due to recent bad test scores, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Camry, RAV4, and Prius V each lost its "Recommended" listing after receiving a "Poor" rating in the IIHS's new narrow-offset front crash test.
The Audi A4 was also bumped off, according to Consumer Reports.
"This is a tricky situation because when Consumer Reports pulls its recommendation it gives the appearance that these models are suddenly 'less safe' than they used to be. That's not true at all," says Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "What the new IIHS test has uncovered is the next area for automakers to focus on based on crash test statistics."
A "Poor" score in the test means there is a strong chance a driver or passenger could suffer a severe or life-threatening injury.
The IIHS narrow-offset test simulates a vehicle hitting either a pole or another car with 25 percent of the front area on the driver side. The test was designed to replicate a major crash that occurs in the all-around the world.
When the IIHS first started running the new test, many models failed but were not taken off the "Recommended" list to give the automakers some time to adjust. Now only "a handful" of vehicles failed the test according to Jake Fisher, who runs Consumer Reports' vehicle testing.
"Every other family sedan has done better (than Camry,) said Fisher.
Toyota is currently in the middle of making improvements to the Camry, and the vehicle will be retested within the next couple of months.
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