These Are The Safest New Cars You Can Buy, According To The IIHS

When you’re buying a new car, you want it to get good fuel economy, offer at least a few desirable features, and be as reliable as possible, but you also want it to be safe. After all, even if you follow every traffic rule to the letter, someone could still end up hitting you. The good news is, all new cars come with seatbelts, and that’s the most important safety feature your car could possibly have. As long as you’re wearing your seatbelt, you might even survive a fall off a 300-foot cliff. Seriously. Always wear your seatbelt, folks. 

That said, it is true that some new cars are safer than others. And since the insurance industry has a vested interest in reducing how many hospital bills it has to pay, it makes sense that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is the go-to for automotive safety information. As our friends over at Consumer Reports reminded us, the IIHS also just released its last update of the year, which means we now have the full list of the safest cars the IIHS tested in 2025. 

If you’re in the market for a safe new sedan, you’re going to want one that earned either a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+, which is noted next to each car on the list. Now, let’s take a look at which cars made the list.

Small sedans aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be, so you might expect to only have a few options here, but there’s actually a good variety. The Acura Integra is going to be the sportiest of the bunch, while the Toyota Prius will probably get the best fuel economy. Still, the Honda Civic and Mazda3 are solid contenders, and you really shouldn’t sleep on the Hyundai Elantra or the Kia K4, either. And if you’d rather skip the Prius, both the Civic and Elantra can also be had in hybrid form, seriously boosting their gas mileage. 

• Acura Integra (TSP)
• Honda Civic sedan (TSP)
• Honda Civic hatchback (TSP+)
• Hyundai Elantra (TSP+)
• Kia K4 (TSP+)
• Mazda3 sedan and hatchback (TSP+)
• Toyota Prius (TSP+)

If you’re in the market for a midsize sedan, you probably already know about the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry. And yep, as expected, both cars make the IIHS’s list of the safest sedans you can buy. These days, the Camry is hybrid-only, while the Accord lineup is mostly hybrids, with only the least-expensive versions staying gas-only. Meanwhile, the Hyundai Sonata is probably the best-looking of the bunch and also offers a hybrid powertrain as an option. The Ioniq 6, on the other hand, is Hyundai’s electric sedan, and unlike the Tesla Model 3, the company isn’t run by one of the worst human beings on the planet. That said, the Ioniq 6’s styling has proven to be controversial, so it may not be for everyone.

• Honda Accord (TSP+)
• Hyundai Ioniq 6 (TSP+)
• Hyundai Sonata (TSP+)
• Tesla Model 3 (TSP)
• Toyota Camry (TSP+)

These days, a loaded Accord or Camry offers pretty much every feature you could possibly need, but not everyone wants to buy a car that only offers what they explicitly need. Sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself to a luxury sedan, and if you want an IIHS Top Safety Pick, you only have a few options. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is typically classified as a compact, but if you haven’t driven one in a while, it may surprise you with how large it is. Then you have the Audis, where you’re pretty much picking gas (A5) or electric (A6 Sportback e-tron). And then there’s the Genesis, which doesn’t have the brand history of Audi or Mercedes but does come with one heck of a warranty.

• Audi A5 (TSP+)
• Audi A6 Sportback e-tron (TSP+)
• Genesis G80 (TSP+, 2026)
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class (TSP+)

Odds are, the kind of person who wants a full-size luxury sedan instead of an SUV probably has a good bit of brand loyalty to one of the German luxury automakers that have dominated this segment for decades. And yet, it was the newcomer, the Genesis G90, that earned the only Top Safety Pick from the IIHS this year. And while it’s understandable that you may just want an S-Class, you really should at least test drive the G90. You may still decide to go German, but you also may be surprised at just how much the G90 offers in addition to its long warranty.