The Dangers of Shopping for a Vehicle Based on Safety Features Alone

When it comes to shopping for a vehicle, many people focus solely on safety features such as airbags and crash test ratings. While these are certainly important considerations, they should not be the only factors taken into account when making a decision. A recent discussion between two individuals highlighted the importance of considering other aspects of a vehicle, including its overall design and physics.

The importance of choosing the right type of vehicle was discussed in detail. The speaker noted that regardless of which side of the vehicle you are sitting on or how fast you are going, you cannot choose your type of crash. This means that the momentum of an object is hard to control, and it's impossible to predict where a collision will occur.

The discussion also touched on the topic of passenger-side crashes. The speaker pointed out that while the small overlap test for passenger-side crashes may not seem as important as other safety features, it can still be crucial in certain situations. For example, if you are planning on using your vehicle for family transportation and will likely have multiple passengers in the front seats, a high rating on this test becomes increasingly important.

The psychology of driving was also discussed, with one speaker noting that feeling safe behind the wheel can actually make drivers more reckless. This is because when we feel invincible, we are less likely to exercise caution while driving. The opposite is true: when we feel uncomfortable or uncertain in a vehicle, we are more likely to slow down and be extra vigilant.

The topic of driver confidence was also touched on. One speaker noted that driving a large vehicle such as an SUV or pickup truck can give drivers a sense of invincibility. This can lead them to drive more recklessly, as they feel less need for caution behind the wheel. In contrast, smaller vehicles such as sedans may make drivers feel more uncertain and inclined to slow down.

Another aspect of vehicle shopping was discussed: the practicality of different types of vehicles. The speaker noted that larger vehicles, such as SUVs or pickups, can be impractical for certain situations, such as city driving. In these cases, smaller vehicles with easier parking and maneuverability may be a better choice.

The discussion also touched on the topic of family vehicle considerations. One speaker noted that when shopping for a family vehicle, it's essential to consider not only safety features but also practicality. This includes factors such as ease of installation of car seats, tether anchors, and other safety equipment.

In conclusion, while safety features are certainly an important consideration when shopping for a vehicle, they should not be the only factor taken into account. A more holistic approach that considers a range of aspects, including design, physics, driver psychology, practicality, and family considerations, is necessary to make an informed decision. By taking a more comprehensive approach, drivers can find vehicles that meet their needs while also prioritizing safety.

When shopping for a vehicle, it's easy to get caught up in the feeling of invincibility that comes with driving a large vehicle. However, this can lead to reckless behavior behind the wheel. Instead, drivers should focus on making informed decisions based on data and physics rather than relying solely on their intuition or emotional response.

In terms of specific vehicles, a recent discussion highlighted the importance of considering both safety features and practicality. The Versa was noted as a great option for those who value safety without sacrificing too much in terms of practicality. On the other hand, a full-size pickup truck like the Silverado may give drivers a sense of invincibility, but it also requires more caution behind the wheel.

Ultimately, the decision to purchase a vehicle should be based on careful consideration of a range of factors. By taking a comprehensive approach that includes not only safety features but also practicality and family considerations, drivers can find vehicles that meet their needs while also prioritizing safety.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe talk about our latest test results on the 2020 Nissan Versa we respond to your feedback about what's better built-in in-car navigation or using your phone and does ride height make a vehicle safer next on talking cars hi and welcome back or welcome to talking cars I'm Jennifer stock burger I'm Emily Thomas and I'm Jake Fisher so last week if you guys were listening or watching we kind of reached out to you with a question regarding an audience member who had a question regarding the the difference between in car versus phone navigation and specifically where manufacturers looking to abandon the in-car navigation with so many people using their phones and this particular manufacturer said let us know we're kind of on the fence of whether we should continue to offer it or not so Mike Monticello asked you guys what were your thoughts and you guys responded in spades we got so many responses be it to our talking cars at ICON calm email on YouTube and we so appreciated it but the truth is but telly was about 50/50 including this great video we got from Jules in State College Pennsylvania hey talking cars big fan of the show tuned in pretty much our weeks you guys I have an interesting situation for the navigation I have a Tesla Model Y and then also have a BMW x5 in the Tesla I do prefer the Google Maps obviously it's kind of the only choice you can use your phone but it's not as fluidly integrated in the x5 however I do use the wireless apple carplay with Apple maps I like the look and feel of those maps better compared to the BMW maps they look a little cartoonish not the biggest fan for me my only complaint about using the Apple maps in the BMW is they don't sync across to the instrument cluster or the heads-up display so I wish they would fix that my mother also falls in that same boat as me she prefers using the Apple maps over the BMW map she is 54 she was able to figure out she did most of it on her own the BMW dealership did help her with a little process of doing that setup but once she's set up she's good to go and it's worked flawlessly for her thanks I look forward to seeing guys on the next episode so Jules depending on the car II was in used one or the other so Jake just looking for your thoughts on what you prefer well I've got a lot of thoughts about that but I mean we've actually done him surveys of of people of what they actually use and yes there is definitely split but actually the third option which we found a lot of people they use both right so they actually complement each other there's some things that the in-car nav and it doesn't do well and and the same thing with your phone so I mean as an example the in-car ones actually have better reception so the GPS actually works better in your car the data works better in your car you're gonna have data in places where you're not gonna have an in your phone in your car just because of the placement of the antennas the other thing is just integrated better so I mean and and certainly you know viewers of of this podcast certainly told us and they noticed that it's it's nicely integrated once in the in-car system right I mean you've got you know sometimes the heads-up display is working with it sometimes you have things on your dashboard you can't really do that with your phone but where the phone really does well is one updates they're always being updated and - when it comes to finding destinations the phones do such a great job so you know there was a lot of really nice tips that you know people were sending in to us I mean and we use the - I mean I know I you know data is an issue when you're using phone I prefer personally I use my phone all the time but you know when you're traveling somewhere so when I travel overseas data is an issue so what I always do is is I download the maps beforehand have them all you know sometimes at the hotel I could download the maps where I'm going in the next day that works a lot of the viewers you know we are doing that too and that saves on your data and then I do run the data for traffic and that's really really tiny bits of data I mean not really using up your data plan for those kind of information yeah and in that tip you gave about downloading maps in ahead of time that was something we did not mention but absolutely many of you said hey download the map before you go well you may not depending on your signal have like real-time navigation you'll at least know where you are so that's absolutely an option for people if you have not used that I certainly have I think we used it and when we were in Scotland you know a couple years ago we put the maps ahead Emily any thoughts from you on your preference I definitely prefer you theme I phone but that could also just be in part because we move between cars so much that I'm never really super adept at whatever infotainment system that we're working with in the car so I know my phone so much better I can find things I've already saved it on my phone like if I'm going somewhere I already like looked up the address or save the address to my favorites and stuff so it's already there I'm not having to sit there and twiddle with the knobs and like slowly type out the address name i'm infotainment and stuff like that so for me my preference is my phone but I think that's because I'm much more familiar with the system there and the interface so it's easier for me to understand and it's just easier for me to use but that's also because with our newer cars were getting carplay if I was still having to do it where I didn't have car play and my phone is sitting down in the cupholder trying to navigate like when I rent cars for business trips if it doesn't have car play and I'm having to do this dance constantly for how to get to the hotel it irritates me so much so it really depends on the situation like my husband's car doesn't have car play and he prefers to like be able to update the maps there and stuff like that because like for me it's totally a distraction I'm like I'm already in a place I don't know that well when we went abroad we also like either downloaded the maps or we would look up directions while we were still like at the Airbnb or at the hotel and then I would just like print screen' everything like I couldn't screen the directions even if it was just like walking and the map to show me like where to make my turns and stuff like that so that I would just have it on hand cuz I'm taking my phone everywhere with me right so yeah the learning curve is really important I mean I'm glad you brought that up because you know one cups of rental cars jeez I mean you know when you reserved a rental car I mean I'm more interested in getting car played than I am interested in getting like a roomy backseat I mean the kids that big fit but in car you know car play is a necessity when it comes to some you know again rental cars Wow you're unfamiliar with where you're going you're unfamiliar with the car you want to be familiar with the navigation system if is your own car totally different animal especially people one of the nicer systems that has voice controls and you could program and and you just say take me home and it knows where your home isn't exactly so right I'm that person that will walk around like in the rental car garage with my cable and my phone like quickly plugged in and turn the car on and see if it's me car flake because I'm like I just need to not get lost and not get into a crash so I want to be able to see everything nice and clearly okay yeah I packed my cell phone mount now when I go into car just in case well Jake you bring up a good point and Emily you alluded to it about looking down one of the things we've always said is whatever system you're using make sure you're using it safely you know to have it here at eye level is so much easier than looking down in your cup holder so an inexpensive cell phone mount when you're traveling all of that we absolutely heard what you alluded to both alluded to too is depending on the car some integrate it very well some do not and then with apple carplay and android auto the ability to switch back and forth between them and some of the functionality in the car was not always the same you know sometimes you have to physically unplug to get out of car play others make it very easy it's just a button that says hey I want to go back to the car controls so absolutely we heard four manufacturers that are listening or watching don't abandon in-car navigation that loves it not dead yet not dead yet you know some are making it optional but don't abandon it people really still like it depending on their circumstances depending on the integration so and always use it safely you know pull over if you have to recalculating you know do that do that safely so thank you so much again for your responses whether you sent them to talking cars at icloud.com email or responded on youtube it was wonderful we love the engagement in fact we want to know are there other things that you just don't like about the car you're driving maybe it's something we want to share with automakers made it's something we just want to talk about on the show and there's a better way as we learned in this case so comments let us know what is it you don't like so we really appreciate it and whatever your system you're using keep using it safely so moving on we'll go to from the track and this week we're going to talk about our final test results of the 2020 Nissan Versa so just to rattle off a few specs on the Versa this is a 1.6 liter four-cylinder with a continuously variable transmission 122 horsepower a little boost from what it was previously a hundred and nine it's now only in the sedan version there is no more Versa note hatchback prices run from about 14 $7000 to 18 - depending on how its equipped um an RS v trim was kinda at the top with that 18,000 sticker included blind spot warning Android auto and car plate capability so Emily you've happened to spend quite a bit of time in our versa and what are your thoughts yes I've got the car for like the past two weeks and we've taken it for all of our little walks and stuff to get out of the house I feel bad because I want to like the car because of the price point and I feel like I keep hating on the low end Nissan Citians and I feel bad about it but I kind of just can't help it because I really don't like this car I found it really uncomfortable and I first I was like okay maybe this is just me being really sensitive because of the pregnancy and everything just like hurts and I feel things a lot more so that's not the case the ride is really harsh and uncomfortable you literally feel every single bump and jostle on the road and it wasn't just me that felt that way the other testers felt that way too like I tried to make sure I hadn't really read what we thought about the car and so after I did it for a couple of days I wouldn't want to leave the witness right yeah um but yeah I just found it like way too uncomfortable it's it's pretty cramped inside you know I've driven it I've sat in the backseat with Micah and there's not a lot of rear cabin space for you two to be comfortable for longer drives there's annoying things about the car like the fact that there's no exterior trunk release like I don't know why people like get away with not putting that there I don't want to have to like always walk to the front of the car to get it or find my key fob or whatever and just even the fact there's very limited like cabin storage my husband kept trying to like find somewhere to like you know maybe like stash is wallet or whatever but there's no covered storage anywhere other than the glove compartment which again it's like so if you couldn't have at least put a tiny pocket but nope not there right there there's just like small things that just kind of add up for everyday use though but in terms of controls and stuff really easy to use everything's like basic knobs and you know all that kind of stuff is great about the car but it wouldn't be a car that I bought because I didn't enjoy it it sounds like you enjoyed walking better yes you took it to the walk and then extended there there is no doubt it is a small car with a small engine but Jake any any elaboration on the Versa well I mean first of all I mean it's not like this is a Nissan heat fest because I mean the Sentra is actually quite nice I mean you know if it's it's the year of Nissan it was 2020 but it's like the best of Nissan and the worst of Nissan you know the the Sentra they reinvented it it's it's sporty and it's fun and and they really made it more substantial not so much when it comes to the Versa and that's really disappointing because the Versa actually wasn't always kind of that bargain basement the cheapest vehicle you could get at the rental company when they first launched it was actually quite nice inside remember our test that you know I did lure inside it was like soft touch surfaces and then the note actually wasn't that bad the person note but that's gone and it's kind of back to this kind of not fun stiff riding vehicle and look I mean there are vehicles that are inexpensive on the market you don't have to settle for something like this I mean I mean for me I would take a Hyundai venue actually I mean that's that's kind of a I mean sure it doesn't it's not riding plush but it's kind of has some utility and it's kind of fun to drive and you could get that for a very similar price so yeah not a lot going for this one yeah friends who many years ago had asked me they were looking for a commuter car a couple they were empty nesters you know they their kids had gone and I recommended years ago a versa to this couple and they still have it they still loved it I remember us talking about how roomy it was while it still has some of the Headroom it doesn't it's not as roomy as it once was I do appreciate Emily what you said about the simplicity because it's it's a less expensive you know you don't get into the complicated controls everything's super simple standard gear selector all simple controls and then some standard safety forward collision warning automatic emergency braking I wish it was slightly better because everything you said Emily the ride the seats that was all reflected in our scoring and I wish it was slightly better because to me it seems like a it could have been a great first car but I agree with you Jake there are there higher scoring better options than the Nissan Versa so of course yeah they'll go ahead I'm sorry if you need something just as a mode of transportation it will suffice but I wouldn't recommend if you have a long commute or you know if you want like any creature comforts and there's other options that suffice better well you know what's interesting too being so small you think you get great fuel economy and it's it's not bad but it's very similar to what you'd get in a competitive midsize car actually so you're not really getting a big advantage for that that size which is kind of strange so all of these details of course if you're looking at the Versa are at consumerreports.org the full road test so take it in and see it might be for you but you'll see all of the details so moving on to your questions as always keep them coming talking cars at icloud.com we love the videos we love the written and this week we are going to start with a video question from Kent in Rockville Maryland hi talking cars a few years ago we realized that our Mazda 6 was not gonna be big enough to take us on multi week vacations across the country so we bought a minivan they're great but now I have a feel for the open air I want it to be free do you have any suggestions for used convertible comfortable that can see for probably in the 15 to 20 thousand dollar range thanks a lot have a great day okay so Ken's looking for a little open air and what for seats Emily any thoughts so my my first reaction to Ken's video was I don't think what you're looking for exists in the marketplace I had a hard time reconciling comfortable with four seats because every convertible that I've seen or every test car that we've had it's a convertible that has a back seat it's not a comfortable back seat by any regard so I feel like you're gonna have to compromise somewhere and most likely that whoever takes the brunt of that compromise is gonna be who's in your back seat so depending on how much you love your children or whoever it is that you're putting back there it may sway your decision whether or not you really want this to be a four-seater so that aside if you completely disregard rear seat comfort and oh we look at front seat comfort as well as you know just looking at things like reliability of the vehicle and how it did overall for testing personally I like the Mustang I had a lot of fun we had our Mustang at the track goes like one of the first cars like when I first joined at the track and I think it's a lot of fun to drive I recommend it the 2018 model year don't get the 2015 that's the redesign year and if I learned anything from Jason so you never buy redesign this it's kind of right at the top of your price range so something to consider you know how much you're gonna be willing to to go out of that range or like be right at the tippy top of it and ago she ate that down but the front seat comfort was very good just not so great for the rear seat coming comfort um and you can get it convertible style which is great so it it sort of checks off the things that you wanted right and he would be very cool cuz obviously people that have Mustangs are especially cool yes oh really yes my parents have a Mustang convertible and they are cool absolutely well I mean the Mustang convertible actually is a good option and that's actually what I recommended from my parents but you know the whole thing about yeah I agree with you humbly and comfortable in four seats is tough when it comes to roomy rear seats you could get a Jeep Wrangler and that's a convertible and that's a room University I would not say it's comfortable and then of course there's this other piece that we have to talk about because we're Consumer Reports its reliability and that's not one where you're gonna be you know doing really great however you know with the Jeep Wrangler you could kind of fix it with a rock as Jeremy Clarkson would say so that big eye bag going for it but I mean there's there's just other options I mean they think about the convertible is you know if it's not your daily commuter and it's some kind of you know think about what kind of like instead of getting a motorboat you know go around on the weekends you have something kind of just fun I mean maybe the reliability isn't such a big deal to you it's not dear your car so I mean there's other options you can look at too you could look at a an Audi a5 convertible that is a really really nice vehicle a 3-series convertible is nice too but um I mean I actually was looking at listings and you can find quite a bit of a fives you know we were talking probably about five or six years old but you could get in your price range not terribly unreliable if something goes wrong probably a little more expensive to fix but you could consider it yeah you I was right where you were Jacob what I had written down was a 2016 Audi a5 so a decent rear seat again probably not what we would call roomy decent shrunk good reliability good owner satisfaction people really liked it so I was with you but I had to laugh because when I first started thinking about it you know a car came to mind is the Nissan Murano cross cabriole I don't know anyone but there was a not popular vehicle you've seen sometimes and you have to do a double-take like what is that you know be and they're very rare but um I found it funny because that would meet all of Ken's requirements roll out I got thrown a shout out to my mom because she has always had a four-seat convertible going back so before the Mustang it was the PT Cruiser convertible before that I think there's another Mustang convertible before that it was a Volkswagen Rabbit convertible and then go way back it was a Chrysler 300 convertible so stole is cooler now probably cooler than me I think that that's a low bar so Ken a tough ask but hopefully we've give us at least some options to think about and thank you so much for your question the next question is from Kevin and he writes I'm curious about the longevity of airbags in older cars do these systems need any maintenance or inspection to function properly in the event of a crash I Drive an O 6 Toyota Tacoma and I want to feel confident that it's airbags will work Emily do you have any answer for Kevin I do so I had to phone a friend and reach out to one of my colleagues to work for an airbag manufacturer now works for a vehicle manufacturer and essentially what he said was as long as there hasn't been a recall on your airbag it should be performing fine and the way you know that it's not or that you need to get it checked is that there is an airbag fault warning light that will pop up on your dash and essentially you should see this light come on every time you turn the car on and every time you turn the car on your vehicle is checking that electrical connection that would initiate airbag depletion and if the resistance for that connection isn't up to spec then that light will stay on or it'll come on during your drive and if you see that that airbag fault light persists on your dash then you should definitely take it in to get checked but otherwise it should be working fine it will inflate you know if you were to get into a crash despite the age of your vehicle and really that's what that indicator light is therefore great simple answer so you want it to come on and go off and then you're good yeah yeah so let's check great thank you very much so our next question is from Ahmad from Morehead Kentucky I'm currently cross shopping the Toyota Highlander and Kia Telluride I'm leading towards the Telluride but I am concerned about long-term reliability I know the Toyotas have a history of great reliability but will be the key of be in the same ballpark I'd love to hear from you especially Jake Fisher so Ahmad you ask and you shall receive so Jake Fisher what do you got for your number one fan my only thanks for the question and you know in addition to my mom we have we have a fan so so it's a great question I would not be concerned about getting the teller ID Hyundai Kia the reliability has been quite good but ballpark depends how big the ballpark is the truth is there are many choices that are reliable and I would say Hyundai Kia certainly in that you know Mazda Subaru they're making reliable vehicles it all depends on how long you intend to keep it and if you're the type of person that really wants to get 150,000 miles on the vehicle or really just be truly trouble-free there's reliable vehicles and then there's Toyota Toyota really does stand apart I mean there's a reason why you know years and years of our data is just showing that hood it just is always number one so they really it's all about you know weighing these things you know Toyota maybe they're not always the most exciting vehicles but it's the price you pay for getting something that's really much more bulletproof than other cars so I mean don't feel bad about getting the Tellarite but if you want the best in terms of reliability yeah probably go for the Toyota so Toyota hits it out of the ballpark there you go very very well done and our last question is from Craig my wife and I are planning on starting a family and are wondering if there is anything in the design of a pickup truck that would make it safer than something like a sedan does something like the ride height make a difference so certainly Craig safety is such a broad question in particular we're always talking about the balance of crash avoidance versus crash worthiness so in that I looked you know kind of at our performance data on two very popular very reliable vehicles the Toyota Camry and the Toyota Tacoma just to do some differences and in performance and again getting to that crash avoidance the Camry weighs 3,300 pounds the Tacoma 44:49 so tacoma's got the benefit in terms of mass but emergency handling score keep in mind our emergency handling involves you know not only accident avoidance but kind of that limit when will it lose grip how forgiving is it to the average driver should it lose you know and all of these have stability control but emergency handling for the toyota camry is a three or a four out of five score for the tacoma it's barely a two out of five score braking distances are about 20 feet longer on the Tacoma than they are on the camry child safety you know you talked about you're gonna have to be putting child seats on again better for the Camry than the Tacoma the Camry is an IIHS now we're getting to crash worthiness top safety pick+ meaning it scores good their highest score across the board for all their crash metrics the Tacoma is a Top Safety Pick it does not score nearly as well for the IHS small overlap on the passenger side and then again the new car assessment program the safercar.gov star scores that the government does the camera is five stars and the Tacoma is four so in terms of just raw data I would absolutely skew toward the sedan because I think even though I'm using these very specific examples you'd see similar trends in other sedan picked up comparisons so Jake any thoughts for Craig on pick up versus India well I mean I got the the data display there and the data speaks for itself I think the way to think about it though is you know there's two pieces like you say there's the will it help me avoid a crash or will protect me in a crash completely different things the ones that are of helping you avoid these are cars these are something that handles well and low to the ground and all those when how will it do in a crash now it gets even more complicated what kind of a crash is it now if your mental model of a crash is small car pickup truck crashing into each other head-on okay pickup truck gonna win high pick a classic gonna West problem classic physics see absolutely right I mean but but here's the thing that is not the majority of fatalities that is not the majority of crashes that happen so I think you really have to kind of think about all the different ways and when it comes to actually pickup trucks and suv's the majority fatalities are single vehicle crashes so this is not so so there's the head-on but then there's the sideswipe and all these different types of things but but when you're talking about a single vehicle this is you know well a lot of them are rolling over or they're going off the road or they're crashing into a tree and you know what even if you you mentioned advantage of mass well if you know again Emily calling out physics right I mean when you have the physics when you have more mass it's hard to make that stop so if it's hitting the tree I mean there's more momentum there's it's it's gonna specially against something that's not gonna move right right so it's you can't choose the type of crash you're gonna be a something so I think that's that's really thing but overall I completely agree you're going to be safer you're gonna be better off in a car and I think to with you know if you're planning on this being your family vehicle sometimes people don't give us much credit to the IHS small overlap test for the passenger side right because it's a newer test and vehicles are kind of you know they're they're getting up to speed which is fine and people have asked this question before like well how much does this passenger side test really matter matters if you're having a front passenger so like the argument that I've made before which Jake totally reiterated is you don't get to choose your type of crash you don't get to choose which side of the vehicle you're gonna get hit on you don't get to choose the speeds you don't get to choose if you're in a single or multiple vehicle you know crash and if you're not going to make this a vehicle that's strictly a commuter vehicle where you are the only person ever in the car and therefore you are the driver and there's no-one else then sure maybe the passenger side doesn't matter as much to you but if this is intended to be your family car and you're likely going to have you know your spouse in that front passenger seat or yourself in that front passenger seat then that test result matters you know you want it to be the top rate for your family that's gonna be the vehicle that everyone's gonna be in so I think you know take all those pieces together is really important like you need to get a holistic view of the vehicle when you're making that decision I love the question and I think you know it's very interesting because I'm right now I mean Emily's Drive in the Versa I happen to be driving a Silverado and when you drive a full-size pickup truck you feel safer about the world you feel on top of the world you feel safer it gives you that feeling and and I think it's so important not to shop by the feeling but actually look at the data and and look at the physics of it but but I understand you know why a lot of people feel that way and they want to have a lot of metal around them it feels right the challenge there is now because you feel safer it can also make you more prone to making less safe choices as a driver you know and so it it all just kind of it's it's interesting it's a very like complicated question because it's not just the science of it there's also like sort of the psychology that comes with it absolutely you and I was like this inflated confidence as a driver like I can take on the world and so I'm invincible which is it's actually a very dangerous mindset to have as a driver because you need to be you need to be extra careful right you need to be extra vigilant so I'm glad you brought that up this is this is getting deep quick but I mean I absolutely agree it's the psychology of it and I'll throw one other piece on it when you're driving a large vehicle whether or not it's a full-size SUV or a pickup truck and you're cruising along on a highway you know I'm driving you know if driving 65 or 70 on the highway it's quiet you don't feel like you're going that fast you get in that Versa you're going you go in same speed and you're like oh I better slow down this thing you know so then we feel it I assure you I feel so so yeah I mean you see these large heavy vehicles going fast and it doesn't take much you know look down on that phone and all sudden it goes off the side and it's rolling over and it takes a lot to make it stop so and and we assure Craig that as he starts his family this will be the first of many tough decisions about balancing safety and practicality versus what you might have gotten as a single person and it'll be so much easier for you to install your car seats in that city and then it will be in there especially down the road when you have to start dealing with tether anchors and it's just yes unless you get a four-seat convertible then you just go back to the other question no unless you get the Murano cross Cabriolet no break there you go in general I think our consensus is the sedan so good good luck with your shopping as always thank you all for your questions keep them coming talking cars at icloud.com that will do it for this episode keep watching keep listening and we'll see you next timewe talk about our latest test results on the 2020 Nissan Versa we respond to your feedback about what's better built-in in-car navigation or using your phone and does ride height make a vehicle safer next on talking cars hi and welcome back or welcome to talking cars I'm Jennifer stock burger I'm Emily Thomas and I'm Jake Fisher so last week if you guys were listening or watching we kind of reached out to you with a question regarding an audience member who had a question regarding the the difference between in car versus phone navigation and specifically where manufacturers looking to abandon the in-car navigation with so many people using their phones and this particular manufacturer said let us know we're kind of on the fence of whether we should continue to offer it or not so Mike Monticello asked you guys what were your thoughts and you guys responded in spades we got so many responses be it to our talking cars at ICON calm email on YouTube and we so appreciated it but the truth is but telly was about 50/50 including this great video we got from Jules in State College Pennsylvania hey talking cars big fan of the show tuned in pretty much our weeks you guys I have an interesting situation for the navigation I have a Tesla Model Y and then also have a BMW x5 in the Tesla I do prefer the Google Maps obviously it's kind of the only choice you can use your phone but it's not as fluidly integrated in the x5 however I do use the wireless apple carplay with Apple maps I like the look and feel of those maps better compared to the BMW maps they look a little cartoonish not the biggest fan for me my only complaint about using the Apple maps in the BMW is they don't sync across to the instrument cluster or the heads-up display so I wish they would fix that my mother also falls in that same boat as me she prefers using the Apple maps over the BMW map she is 54 she was able to figure out she did most of it on her own the BMW dealership did help her with a little process of doing that setup but once she's set up she's good to go and it's worked flawlessly for her thanks I look forward to seeing guys on the next episode so Jules depending on the car II was in used one or the other so Jake just looking for your thoughts on what you prefer well I've got a lot of thoughts about that but I mean we've actually done him surveys of of people of what they actually use and yes there is definitely split but actually the third option which we found a lot of people they use both right so they actually complement each other there's some things that the in-car nav and it doesn't do well and and the same thing with your phone so I mean as an example the in-car ones actually have better reception so the GPS actually works better in your car the data works better in your car you're gonna have data in places where you're not gonna have an in your phone in your car just because of the placement of the antennas the other thing is just integrated better so I mean and and certainly you know viewers of of this podcast certainly told us and they noticed that it's it's nicely integrated once in the in-car system right I mean you've got you know sometimes the heads-up display is working with it sometimes you have things on your dashboard you can't really do that with your phone but where the phone really does well is one updates they're always being updated and - when it comes to finding destinations the phones do such a great job so you know there was a lot of really nice tips that you know people were sending in to us I mean and we use the - I mean I know I you know data is an issue when you're using phone I prefer personally I use my phone all the time but you know when you're traveling somewhere so when I travel overseas data is an issue so what I always do is is I download the maps beforehand have them all you know sometimes at the hotel I could download the maps where I'm going in the next day that works a lot of the viewers you know we are doing that too and that saves on your data and then I do run the data for traffic and that's really really tiny bits of data I mean not really using up your data plan for those kind of information yeah and in that tip you gave about downloading maps in ahead of time that was something we did not mention but absolutely many of you said hey download the map before you go well you may not depending on your signal have like real-time navigation you'll at least know where you are so that's absolutely an option for people if you have not used that I certainly have I think we used it and when we were in Scotland you know a couple years ago we put the maps ahead Emily any thoughts from you on your preference I definitely prefer you theme I phone but that could also just be in part because we move between cars so much that I'm never really super adept at whatever infotainment system that we're working with in the car so I know my phone so much better I can find things I've already saved it on my phone like if I'm going somewhere I already like looked up the address or save the address to my favorites and stuff so it's already there I'm not having to sit there and twiddle with the knobs and like slowly type out the address name i'm infotainment and stuff like that so for me my preference is my phone but I think that's because I'm much more familiar with the system there and the interface so it's easier for me to understand and it's just easier for me to use but that's also because with our newer cars were getting carplay if I was still having to do it where I didn't have car play and my phone is sitting down in the cupholder trying to navigate like when I rent cars for business trips if it doesn't have car play and I'm having to do this dance constantly for how to get to the hotel it irritates me so much so it really depends on the situation like my husband's car doesn't have car play and he prefers to like be able to update the maps there and stuff like that because like for me it's totally a distraction I'm like I'm already in a place I don't know that well when we went abroad we also like either downloaded the maps or we would look up directions while we were still like at the Airbnb or at the hotel and then I would just like print screen' everything like I couldn't screen the directions even if it was just like walking and the map to show me like where to make my turns and stuff like that so that I would just have it on hand cuz I'm taking my phone everywhere with me right so yeah the learning curve is really important I mean I'm glad you brought that up because you know one cups of rental cars jeez I mean you know when you reserved a rental car I mean I'm more interested in getting car played than I am interested in getting like a roomy backseat I mean the kids that big fit but in car you know car play is a necessity when it comes to some you know again rental cars Wow you're unfamiliar with where you're going you're unfamiliar with the car you want to be familiar with the navigation system if is your own car totally different animal especially people one of the nicer systems that has voice controls and you could program and and you just say take me home and it knows where your home isn't exactly so right I'm that person that will walk around like in the rental car garage with my cable and my phone like quickly plugged in and turn the car on and see if it's me car flake because I'm like I just need to not get lost and not get into a crash so I want to be able to see everything nice and clearly okay yeah I packed my cell phone mount now when I go into car just in case well Jake you bring up a good point and Emily you alluded to it about looking down one of the things we've always said is whatever system you're using make sure you're using it safely you know to have it here at eye level is so much easier than looking down in your cup holder so an inexpensive cell phone mount when you're traveling all of that we absolutely heard what you alluded to both alluded to too is depending on the car some integrate it very well some do not and then with apple carplay and android auto the ability to switch back and forth between them and some of the functionality in the car was not always the same you know sometimes you have to physically unplug to get out of car play others make it very easy it's just a button that says hey I want to go back to the car controls so absolutely we heard four manufacturers that are listening or watching don't abandon in-car navigation that loves it not dead yet not dead yet you know some are making it optional but don't abandon it people really still like it depending on their circumstances depending on the integration so and always use it safely you know pull over if you have to recalculating you know do that do that safely so thank you so much again for your responses whether you sent them to talking cars at icloud.com email or responded on youtube it was wonderful we love the engagement in fact we want to know are there other things that you just don't like about the car you're driving maybe it's something we want to share with automakers made it's something we just want to talk about on the show and there's a better way as we learned in this case so comments let us know what is it you don't like so we really appreciate it and whatever your system you're using keep using it safely so moving on we'll go to from the track and this week we're going to talk about our final test results of the 2020 Nissan Versa so just to rattle off a few specs on the Versa this is a 1.6 liter four-cylinder with a continuously variable transmission 122 horsepower a little boost from what it was previously a hundred and nine it's now only in the sedan version there is no more Versa note hatchback prices run from about 14 $7000 to 18 - depending on how its equipped um an RS v trim was kinda at the top with that 18,000 sticker included blind spot warning Android auto and car plate capability so Emily you've happened to spend quite a bit of time in our versa and what are your thoughts yes I've got the car for like the past two weeks and we've taken it for all of our little walks and stuff to get out of the house I feel bad because I want to like the car because of the price point and I feel like I keep hating on the low end Nissan Citians and I feel bad about it but I kind of just can't help it because I really don't like this car I found it really uncomfortable and I first I was like okay maybe this is just me being really sensitive because of the pregnancy and everything just like hurts and I feel things a lot more so that's not the case the ride is really harsh and uncomfortable you literally feel every single bump and jostle on the road and it wasn't just me that felt that way the other testers felt that way too like I tried to make sure I hadn't really read what we thought about the car and so after I did it for a couple of days I wouldn't want to leave the witness right yeah um but yeah I just found it like way too uncomfortable it's it's pretty cramped inside you know I've driven it I've sat in the backseat with Micah and there's not a lot of rear cabin space for you two to be comfortable for longer drives there's annoying things about the car like the fact that there's no exterior trunk release like I don't know why people like get away with not putting that there I don't want to have to like always walk to the front of the car to get it or find my key fob or whatever and just even the fact there's very limited like cabin storage my husband kept trying to like find somewhere to like you know maybe like stash is wallet or whatever but there's no covered storage anywhere other than the glove compartment which again it's like so if you couldn't have at least put a tiny pocket but nope not there right there there's just like small things that just kind of add up for everyday use though but in terms of controls and stuff really easy to use everything's like basic knobs and you know all that kind of stuff is great about the car but it wouldn't be a car that I bought because I didn't enjoy it it sounds like you enjoyed walking better yes you took it to the walk and then extended there there is no doubt it is a small car with a small engine but Jake any any elaboration on the Versa well I mean first of all I mean it's not like this is a Nissan heat fest because I mean the Sentra is actually quite nice I mean you know if it's it's the year of Nissan it was 2020 but it's like the best of Nissan and the worst of Nissan you know the the Sentra they reinvented it it's it's sporty and it's fun and and they really made it more substantial not so much when it comes to the Versa and that's really disappointing because the Versa actually wasn't always kind of that bargain basement the cheapest vehicle you could get at the rental company when they first launched it was actually quite nice inside remember our test that you know I did lure inside it was like soft touch surfaces and then the note actually wasn't that bad the person note but that's gone and it's kind of back to this kind of not fun stiff riding vehicle and look I mean there are vehicles that are inexpensive on the market you don't have to settle for something like this I mean I mean for me I would take a Hyundai venue actually I mean that's that's kind of a I mean sure it doesn't it's not riding plush but it's kind of has some utility and it's kind of fun to drive and you could get that for a very similar price so yeah not a lot going for this one yeah friends who many years ago had asked me they were looking for a commuter car a couple they were empty nesters you know they their kids had gone and I recommended years ago a versa to this couple and they still have it they still loved it I remember us talking about how roomy it was while it still has some of the Headroom it doesn't it's not as roomy as it once was I do appreciate Emily what you said about the simplicity because it's it's a less expensive you know you don't get into the complicated controls everything's super simple standard gear selector all simple controls and then some standard safety forward collision warning automatic emergency braking I wish it was slightly better because everything you said Emily the ride the seats that was all reflected in our scoring and I wish it was slightly better because to me it seems like a it could have been a great first car but I agree with you Jake there are there higher scoring better options than the Nissan Versa so of course yeah they'll go ahead I'm sorry if you need something just as a mode of transportation it will suffice but I wouldn't recommend if you have a long commute or you know if you want like any creature comforts and there's other options that suffice better well you know what's interesting too being so small you think you get great fuel economy and it's it's not bad but it's very similar to what you'd get in a competitive midsize car actually so you're not really getting a big advantage for that that size which is kind of strange so all of these details of course if you're looking at the Versa are at consumerreports.org the full road test so take it in and see it might be for you but you'll see all of the details so moving on to your questions as always keep them coming talking cars at icloud.com we love the videos we love the written and this week we are going to start with a video question from Kent in Rockville Maryland hi talking cars a few years ago we realized that our Mazda 6 was not gonna be big enough to take us on multi week vacations across the country so we bought a minivan they're great but now I have a feel for the open air I want it to be free do you have any suggestions for used convertible comfortable that can see for probably in the 15 to 20 thousand dollar range thanks a lot have a great day okay so Ken's looking for a little open air and what for seats Emily any thoughts so my my first reaction to Ken's video was I don't think what you're looking for exists in the marketplace I had a hard time reconciling comfortable with four seats because every convertible that I've seen or every test car that we've had it's a convertible that has a back seat it's not a comfortable back seat by any regard so I feel like you're gonna have to compromise somewhere and most likely that whoever takes the brunt of that compromise is gonna be who's in your back seat so depending on how much you love your children or whoever it is that you're putting back there it may sway your decision whether or not you really want this to be a four-seater so that aside if you completely disregard rear seat comfort and oh we look at front seat comfort as well as you know just looking at things like reliability of the vehicle and how it did overall for testing personally I like the Mustang I had a lot of fun we had our Mustang at the track goes like one of the first cars like when I first joined at the track and I think it's a lot of fun to drive I recommend it the 2018 model year don't get the 2015 that's the redesign year and if I learned anything from Jason so you never buy redesign this it's kind of right at the top of your price range so something to consider you know how much you're gonna be willing to to go out of that range or like be right at the tippy top of it and ago she ate that down but the front seat comfort was very good just not so great for the rear seat coming comfort um and you can get it convertible style which is great so it it sort of checks off the things that you wanted right and he would be very cool cuz obviously people that have Mustangs are especially cool yes oh really yes my parents have a Mustang convertible and they are cool absolutely well I mean the Mustang convertible actually is a good option and that's actually what I recommended from my parents but you know the whole thing about yeah I agree with you humbly and comfortable in four seats is tough when it comes to roomy rear seats you could get a Jeep Wrangler and that's a convertible and that's a room University I would not say it's comfortable and then of course there's this other piece that we have to talk about because we're Consumer Reports its reliability and that's not one where you're gonna be you know doing really great however you know with the Jeep Wrangler you could kind of fix it with a rock as Jeremy Clarkson would say so that big eye bag going for it but I mean there's there's just other options I mean they think about the convertible is you know if it's not your daily commuter and it's some kind of you know think about what kind of like instead of getting a motorboat you know go around on the weekends you have something kind of just fun I mean maybe the reliability isn't such a big deal to you it's not dear your car so I mean there's other options you can look at too you could look at a an Audi a5 convertible that is a really really nice vehicle a 3-series convertible is nice too but um I mean I actually was looking at listings and you can find quite a bit of a fives you know we were talking probably about five or six years old but you could get in your price range not terribly unreliable if something goes wrong probably a little more expensive to fix but you could consider it yeah you I was right where you were Jacob what I had written down was a 2016 Audi a5 so a decent rear seat again probably not what we would call roomy decent shrunk good reliability good owner satisfaction people really liked it so I was with you but I had to laugh because when I first started thinking about it you know a car came to mind is the Nissan Murano cross cabriole I don't know anyone but there was a not popular vehicle you've seen sometimes and you have to do a double-take like what is that you know be and they're very rare but um I found it funny because that would meet all of Ken's requirements roll out I got thrown a shout out to my mom because she has always had a four-seat convertible going back so before the Mustang it was the PT Cruiser convertible before that I think there's another Mustang convertible before that it was a Volkswagen Rabbit convertible and then go way back it was a Chrysler 300 convertible so stole is cooler now probably cooler than me I think that that's a low bar so Ken a tough ask but hopefully we've give us at least some options to think about and thank you so much for your question the next question is from Kevin and he writes I'm curious about the longevity of airbags in older cars do these systems need any maintenance or inspection to function properly in the event of a crash I Drive an O 6 Toyota Tacoma and I want to feel confident that it's airbags will work Emily do you have any answer for Kevin I do so I had to phone a friend and reach out to one of my colleagues to work for an airbag manufacturer now works for a vehicle manufacturer and essentially what he said was as long as there hasn't been a recall on your airbag it should be performing fine and the way you know that it's not or that you need to get it checked is that there is an airbag fault warning light that will pop up on your dash and essentially you should see this light come on every time you turn the car on and every time you turn the car on your vehicle is checking that electrical connection that would initiate airbag depletion and if the resistance for that connection isn't up to spec then that light will stay on or it'll come on during your drive and if you see that that airbag fault light persists on your dash then you should definitely take it in to get checked but otherwise it should be working fine it will inflate you know if you were to get into a crash despite the age of your vehicle and really that's what that indicator light is therefore great simple answer so you want it to come on and go off and then you're good yeah yeah so let's check great thank you very much so our next question is from Ahmad from Morehead Kentucky I'm currently cross shopping the Toyota Highlander and Kia Telluride I'm leading towards the Telluride but I am concerned about long-term reliability I know the Toyotas have a history of great reliability but will be the key of be in the same ballpark I'd love to hear from you especially Jake Fisher so Ahmad you ask and you shall receive so Jake Fisher what do you got for your number one fan my only thanks for the question and you know in addition to my mom we have we have a fan so so it's a great question I would not be concerned about getting the teller ID Hyundai Kia the reliability has been quite good but ballpark depends how big the ballpark is the truth is there are many choices that are reliable and I would say Hyundai Kia certainly in that you know Mazda Subaru they're making reliable vehicles it all depends on how long you intend to keep it and if you're the type of person that really wants to get 150,000 miles on the vehicle or really just be truly trouble-free there's reliable vehicles and then there's Toyota Toyota really does stand apart I mean there's a reason why you know years and years of our data is just showing that hood it just is always number one so they really it's all about you know weighing these things you know Toyota maybe they're not always the most exciting vehicles but it's the price you pay for getting something that's really much more bulletproof than other cars so I mean don't feel bad about getting the Tellarite but if you want the best in terms of reliability yeah probably go for the Toyota so Toyota hits it out of the ballpark there you go very very well done and our last question is from Craig my wife and I are planning on starting a family and are wondering if there is anything in the design of a pickup truck that would make it safer than something like a sedan does something like the ride height make a difference so certainly Craig safety is such a broad question in particular we're always talking about the balance of crash avoidance versus crash worthiness so in that I looked you know kind of at our performance data on two very popular very reliable vehicles the Toyota Camry and the Toyota Tacoma just to do some differences and in performance and again getting to that crash avoidance the Camry weighs 3,300 pounds the Tacoma 44:49 so tacoma's got the benefit in terms of mass but emergency handling score keep in mind our emergency handling involves you know not only accident avoidance but kind of that limit when will it lose grip how forgiving is it to the average driver should it lose you know and all of these have stability control but emergency handling for the toyota camry is a three or a four out of five score for the tacoma it's barely a two out of five score braking distances are about 20 feet longer on the Tacoma than they are on the camry child safety you know you talked about you're gonna have to be putting child seats on again better for the Camry than the Tacoma the Camry is an IIHS now we're getting to crash worthiness top safety pick+ meaning it scores good their highest score across the board for all their crash metrics the Tacoma is a Top Safety Pick it does not score nearly as well for the IHS small overlap on the passenger side and then again the new car assessment program the safercar.gov star scores that the government does the camera is five stars and the Tacoma is four so in terms of just raw data I would absolutely skew toward the sedan because I think even though I'm using these very specific examples you'd see similar trends in other sedan picked up comparisons so Jake any thoughts for Craig on pick up versus India well I mean I got the the data display there and the data speaks for itself I think the way to think about it though is you know there's two pieces like you say there's the will it help me avoid a crash or will protect me in a crash completely different things the ones that are of helping you avoid these are cars these are something that handles well and low to the ground and all those when how will it do in a crash now it gets even more complicated what kind of a crash is it now if your mental model of a crash is small car pickup truck crashing into each other head-on okay pickup truck gonna win high pick a classic gonna West problem classic physics see absolutely right I mean but but here's the thing that is not the majority of fatalities that is not the majority of crashes that happen so I think you really have to kind of think about all the different ways and when it comes to actually pickup trucks and suv's the majority fatalities are single vehicle crashes so this is not so so there's the head-on but then there's the sideswipe and all these different types of things but but when you're talking about a single vehicle this is you know well a lot of them are rolling over or they're going off the road or they're crashing into a tree and you know what even if you you mentioned advantage of mass well if you know again Emily calling out physics right I mean when you have the physics when you have more mass it's hard to make that stop so if it's hitting the tree I mean there's more momentum there's it's it's gonna specially against something that's not gonna move right right so it's you can't choose the type of crash you're gonna be a something so I think that's that's really thing but overall I completely agree you're going to be safer you're gonna be better off in a car and I think to with you know if you're planning on this being your family vehicle sometimes people don't give us much credit to the IHS small overlap test for the passenger side right because it's a newer test and vehicles are kind of you know they're they're getting up to speed which is fine and people have asked this question before like well how much does this passenger side test really matter matters if you're having a front passenger so like the argument that I've made before which Jake totally reiterated is you don't get to choose your type of crash you don't get to choose which side of the vehicle you're gonna get hit on you don't get to choose the speeds you don't get to choose if you're in a single or multiple vehicle you know crash and if you're not going to make this a vehicle that's strictly a commuter vehicle where you are the only person ever in the car and therefore you are the driver and there's no-one else then sure maybe the passenger side doesn't matter as much to you but if this is intended to be your family car and you're likely going to have you know your spouse in that front passenger seat or yourself in that front passenger seat then that test result matters you know you want it to be the top rate for your family that's gonna be the vehicle that everyone's gonna be in so I think you know take all those pieces together is really important like you need to get a holistic view of the vehicle when you're making that decision I love the question and I think you know it's very interesting because I'm right now I mean Emily's Drive in the Versa I happen to be driving a Silverado and when you drive a full-size pickup truck you feel safer about the world you feel on top of the world you feel safer it gives you that feeling and and I think it's so important not to shop by the feeling but actually look at the data and and look at the physics of it but but I understand you know why a lot of people feel that way and they want to have a lot of metal around them it feels right the challenge there is now because you feel safer it can also make you more prone to making less safe choices as a driver you know and so it it all just kind of it's it's interesting it's a very like complicated question because it's not just the science of it there's also like sort of the psychology that comes with it absolutely you and I was like this inflated confidence as a driver like I can take on the world and so I'm invincible which is it's actually a very dangerous mindset to have as a driver because you need to be you need to be extra careful right you need to be extra vigilant so I'm glad you brought that up this is this is getting deep quick but I mean I absolutely agree it's the psychology of it and I'll throw one other piece on it when you're driving a large vehicle whether or not it's a full-size SUV or a pickup truck and you're cruising along on a highway you know I'm driving you know if driving 65 or 70 on the highway it's quiet you don't feel like you're going that fast you get in that Versa you're going you go in same speed and you're like oh I better slow down this thing you know so then we feel it I assure you I feel so so yeah I mean you see these large heavy vehicles going fast and it doesn't take much you know look down on that phone and all sudden it goes off the side and it's rolling over and it takes a lot to make it stop so and and we assure Craig that as he starts his family this will be the first of many tough decisions about balancing safety and practicality versus what you might have gotten as a single person and it'll be so much easier for you to install your car seats in that city and then it will be in there especially down the road when you have to start dealing with tether anchors and it's just yes unless you get a four-seat convertible then you just go back to the other question no unless you get the Murano cross Cabriolet no break there you go in general I think our consensus is the sedan so good good luck with your shopping as always thank you all for your questions keep them coming talking cars at icloud.com that will do it for this episode keep watching keep listening and we'll see you next time\n"