
‘Most reliable' car brand on road dubbed an ‘indestructible tank' with 97% safety score is revealed by expert mechanic
BULLETPROOF 'Most reliable' car brand on road dubbed an 'indestructible tank' with 97% safety score is revealed by expert mechanic
A CAR mechanic has named one brand as the 'strongest' and 'most reliable' carmaker.
The mechanic said their cars are "built like tanks".
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Good safety ratings are a staple of Volvo cars
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In 2018, the widely-sold Volvo XC40 boasted a five-star safety rating, and a remarkable adult occupancy safety score of 97%
Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
A top mechanic has revealed that he believes cars made by Volvo are 'indestructible'.
He explained that their cars are "the safest to sit in."
The Swedish manufacturer is widely regarded for its tough designs and exceptionally high safety standards.
The mechanic, who goes by 'Indy' said that he believes Volvo is the most reliable brand choice among car companies.
Speaking on the MotorBodies YouTube channel, Indy added: 'There's one car that is indestructible. I mean it's not indestructible but it's built like a tank: Volvos.
"We had a BMW that collided with a Volvo, and even though the BMW was in absolute pieces the Volvo stayed strong.
"It's one of the reasons that the police use them.
'They are cars that can sustain large impacts but still stay strong.
"So remember, if you want a reliable car built like a tank, buy a Volvo.'
A signature feature of any Volvo is a high test score in European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests.
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In 2018, the widely-sold Volvo XC40 boasted a five-star safety rating, and a remarkable adult occupancy safety score of 97%.
Euro NCAP explained: 'The passenger compartment of the XC40 remained stable in the frontal offset test.
'Dummy readings showed good protection of all critical body areas apart from the lower leg of the passenger, protection of which was adequate.
'Volvo showed that good protection would be provided to the knees and femurs of occupants of different sizes and to those sitting in different positions.'
The XC40 was no exception to Volvo's strict safety rules, as the 2017 XC60 not only matched its five-star safety rating, but even surpassed its adult occupancy assessment, scoring an incredible 98%.
More recently, the brand's XC90 was the worthy winner of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's 'Top Safety Pick Plus' award last year.
These are the latest additions to Volvo's long legacy of excellent passenger protection, widely recognised by experts such as American mechanic Scotty Kilner.
He said: 'You've got front and rear disc brakes and airbags all over the place - Volvo were one of the biggest innovators in safety.
'They also sold enough of them that parts aren't a big deal these days. I can get parts from these things all over the place."
It's no surprise therefore that Volvo has been rated one of the best brands to buy used cars from.
Earlier this year, the used car background check provider CarVertical analysed car history checks on the top 20 manufacturers carried out last year to reveal which brands typically have the cleanest records.
Volvo ranked joint-second with Toyota, with both scoring an impressive 70% - beaten only by Honda with 72%.
Meanwhile Minis (69%), Porsches (69%) and Peugeots (67%) made up the rest of the top five.
However, at the bottom were a string of German brands - Audi (52%), Mercedes-Benz (59%), BMW (61%) and Volkswagen (62%).
Kia rounded out the bottom five (58%).

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Auto Express
29 minutes ago
- Auto Express
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Auto Express
an hour ago
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BMW's new ADAS tech: the non-intrusive driver aids you won't want to turn off
BMW's Neue Klasse electric cars will introduce 'smart and co-operative' automated driving assistance on lane changes and overtakes – and Auto Express has tested them in an upcoming BMW iX3 prototype. The new suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) uses Artificial Intelligence and superfast processing from multiple sensors to predict and support a driver's intentions. That enables it to execute a highway overtake if the driver looks in the side mirror, or cross the central white lines to avoid a cyclist if you've telegraphed the move with a little steering input. Advertisement - Article continues below Dr Peter Waldmann, BMW's vice president of automated driving, told Auto Express that the new system was designed around the principles of being smart, safe and symbiotic. And that means putting an end to assistance features that drivers find intrusive, irritating or just plain wrong. 'Because they've had some negative [impacts] on customers, drivers may want to turn them off. So we're trying to improve them to boost customer acceptance because ultimately it's safer [with ADAS on].' New-generation BMWs such as the iX3 are 'software-defined vehicles' with immense processing power, 20 times greater than today's cars and the ability to take complex decisions in milliseconds. The AI has been trained on hours of annotated driving footage to help it learn the driving environment and potential hazards. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below The ADAS features have their own 'superbrain' chip knitting together data from the cameras, radars and sensors positioned around the car. They construct a picture of the surroundings, locate the car to within a few centimetres thanks to powerful GPS and high-definition mapping, and even monitor the driver to understand his or her intentions. 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That's confirmation that I can take my hands off the wheel for minute after minute. Truth be told I'm not sure what to do with them, so I clasp them together in my lap like I'm praying. Which isn't due to a lack of faith in the iX3. We approach a slower-moving vehicle, and tapping the indicator triggers a command on the touchscreen for an overtake – select it and the iX3 will do the rest, even moving back into the middle lane once past the overtaken vehicle. The algorithm checks the gap is sufficiently big and oncoming traffic speeds safe before cutting back in. Even more impressively, you can look in the side mirror, then watch the car respond by steering around the hazard. Then you look in the opposite mirror to make it resume its original lane. If you feel like clapping go ahead – there's no need to have your hands on the wheel so long as you're looking ahead. Advertisement - Article continues below The driver monitoring camera is watching and will give a warning after around 4-seconds, and it won't be fooled by most sunglasses. The iX3 also features smart start on the highway: if you're in stop/start congestion, the BMW will begin driving when the car in front pulls away, so long as you're gazing through the windscreen. Dr Waldmann makes me test it with my eyes shut and sure enough the electric SUV refuses to budge. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below There's another smart but subtle tweak which will delight many frustrated drivers: instead of a brush of the brakes or a gentle steer out of lane cancelling active cruise control, the iX3 will permit gentle braking so that you aren't forever resetting the cruise speed. The biggest compliment I can pay is during 25 minutes on the simulated highway, I seldom needed to touch the steering or pedals. BMW has tried to create intelligent lane assist where crossing the white lines isn't strictly forbidden. Doing 34mph, we bear down on a stranded car slightly encroaching on our lane. Again by looking in the mirror, the iX3 will let you cross the lines to steer around the hazard – or if you don't take action it will assist with steering or braking. This less binary approach is ideal for Sunday morning drives where there are swarms of cyclists to avoid, without the lane assist pushing you back on a collision course. Dr Waldmann says the system is in tune with its customers, making it an easy two clicks to turn off the audible speed warning ('our customers don't like them,' he observes) and training the system to be sympathetic on an engaging road. Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below 'On a curvy road we see that [BMW drivers often] want to go their own way. We've got a really complex, AI-based algorithm [deciding] if you really want to do [an overtake] or not. So if you look [in the mirror] or steer there, the BMW accepts it's okay. But if your eyes are not on the road or [an emergency] happens, then you get helpful assistance.' We also test the system by driving towards a dummy pedestrian, who's depicted in the touchscreen's graphical representation of our surroundings, Tesla-style. Typically a car would play it safe and stop, but if the iX3 detects your steering inputs it will defer to you continuing past the hazard while remaining in lane, or creeping out of the lane if you won't hit another vehicle. Slow down and the contextual button will offer to take over parking. Machine learning has absorbed so many scenarios, and the sensors have such a wide field of vision, that it may select a space to park in that you haven't actually spotted. And if you disagree, select another space from the graphical representation on the touchscreen. And the iX3 isn't fussed about you being properly lined up: it will choose the fewest number of manoeuvres to slot you efficiently into that tricky space, hands- and embarrassment-free. Neue Klasse cars such as the iX3 will roll-out the new assisted driving features across European countries including Germany, France, Austria and Italy. BMW's vision is to automate highway cruising from 'entry to exit' with hands-off driving and automatic lane changes, meeting the new DCAS standard adopted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in autumn 2024. Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below The UK is a UNECE member and has adopted the DCAS standard, but local regulators will need to approve the system. So will BMW offer it in the UK? 'There are no technical issues,' says Dr Waldmann. 'Mapping shouldn't be a problem but there are some costs.' Those are likely to involve configuring the system for right-hand drive. The long list of ADAS hardware – a radar and a camera up front, four surrounding cameras and radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors and the hi-definition map with GPS down to 10cm – will be standard equipment on the iX3. That means customers will be able to switch on new subscription features in the BMW ConnectedDrive store. BMW is extending the capabilities into German urban areas, with automatic lane change and automatic stopping at red lights detected by the forward camera. Over The Air software updates should boost the system's prowess, with BMW striving to enable urban turns off main roads and the ability to tackle roundabouts. The system will also be developed for North America, and China will be key, a market more culturally accepting of autonomous driving features. 'We want to say to European [drivers], you are the boss. So the machine might give you an offer and you say 'yes' or 'no'. In China it's quite different: they might [accept imposed] things western drivers don't want,' concludes Dr Waldmann. You'll have to wait for the new iX3 but you can buy other BMWs right now on Auto Express. Take a look at the best deals... Find a car with the experts Car Deal of the Day: A Volkswagen Golf R Estate for less than a GTI Car Deal of the Day: A Volkswagen Golf R Estate for less than a GTI The Golf R Estate is one of the best performance estates around – and right now it's criminally cheap. It's our Deal of the Day for 9 June. Should Citroen make a new 2CV? Some say oui, others say non Should Citroen make a new 2CV? Some say oui, others say non A new Citroen 2CV could be inbound, but would this be a French fancy or a financial flop? Car Deal of the Day: A fully-loaded Jeep Avenger for under £200 per month Car Deal of the Day: A fully-loaded Jeep Avenger for under £200 per month The petrol-powered version of Jeep's charming baby SUV is our Deal of the Day for 8 June


Top Gear
an hour ago
- Top Gear
BMW iX3 prototype review: 'an emphatic leap more intuitive, rewarding, precise and involving' Reviews 2025
In short, this is a revolution for BMW, one of the world's great car companies. This new iX3 will launch next year, but its real significance is to be the first out of the traps for a new generation of electric vehicles. And we mean completely new, from ground to cloud. More about the tech, background and scope of the related cars here. BMW is calling them the New Class, or Neue Klasse. So while we wouldn't usually get frothed-up about a disguised prototype of yet another electric crossover, this one moves the dial. It's about the same size as the combustion X3, and will sell alongside so BMW gives you a drivetrain choice – the iX3 is electric only, because the underlying Neue Klasse structure is designed to take max advantage of electric packaging. If your sole EV yardstick is range, the iX3's 500-mile WLTP figure thrashes all-comers. It's up against the new Audi Q6 e-tron and Porsche Macan electric and Lexus RZ, and by the time it arrives there will be the Alfa Stelvio electric and Volvo EX60 too. For the Americas, Cadillac has the bigger Lyriq. For the globe, there's the heavily revised Tesla Model Y. BMW's local rival Mercedes has had the GLC, but EV years are dog years and it shows. So next year there will be a replacement, called GLC EV. Anyway, the well-packaged battery means that although it's combustion-X3 sized, it has X5 space, especially in the flat-floor back bench. So obviously ground-up new means new electrics? How does it go? The one we're driving is the iX3 50 xDrive. It has 407bhp between its front and rear motors, and a total of 442lb ft. That's good for a sub-5.0 second 0-62mph time, says BMW. The WLTP efficiency is 4.1m/kWh. Energy comes from new cells in a new battery structure. It runs at 800 volts to save more weight, and charge faster. The motors and inverters are new. Everything's optimised for efficiency, and the result is that 500 mile WLTP figure, or 400 in the more realistic US EPA test. Charge times are pretty staggering: I watched as it picked up 200 miles of that in just 10 minutes, the first part of it at 400kW. There are few of the necessary 800V charge posts yet in Britain, but even on our lower-power posts it'll do 10-80 per cent in half an hour, which is an addition of 350 miles WLTP. You want comparisons? A Porsche Macan 4 Electric has the same power, takes 5.2s for the sprint, but it's far less efficient, only getting about 3.3 miles for every kWh input (WLTP measures charger-to-wheel, not the more frugal battery-to-wheel figure on your trip computer). Its charging time on the fastest posts is similar, but the less efficient Porsche adds 250 miles in a 10-80 per cent charge. Hmm, clever but hidden. Isn't there anything I can show off with? See the dash up above? BMW calls it Panoramic iDrive. Its first wow is a shallow display running the entire way across the base of the windscreen just above the dash (it's actually a reflected image in the blacked-out strip of the glass that hides the parked wipers). That contains useful configurable widgets, plus the driver's display itself – speed, navigation arrows, battery percent, warning lights etc.