Trade Me adds vehicle safety rating search filter

Monday, 18 May 2020

ANCAP safety test - Old and New Corolla

Trade Me has added a new filter to its vehicle search function allowing users to sift between new vehicles depending on their safety rating.

Trade Me Head of Motors, Alan Clark said the company has worked closely with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to help Kiwis stay safe on our roads.

“The safety of our members has always been a priority for Trade Me which is why we’re stoked to have done this great piece of work with Waka Kotahi.

You can now sort vehicles on Trade Me by safety rating.

“We hope that this new feature will allow Kiwis to make safety-conscious decisions when purchasing their next vehicle.”

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Trade Me's new safety filters in the app. ANCAP recommends only considering cars rated at five stars.

* What does ANCAP do and why do we need it?

* The lowest crash test score in a decade

“Increased visibility on Trade Me is a huge win for our Safe Vehicles programme and a great step to ensuring people think about safety when they are purchasing a vehicle,” said Fabian Marsh, Waka Kotahi Senior Manager Road Safety.

Clark said the company looked forward to seeing how Kiwis interact with this tool and how they might be able to iterate on it in the future.

The safety ratings on Trade Me are compiled by the Waka Kotahi and published on the Rightcar website, which will show the current rating (ANCAP, UCSR or VSRR) for each make and model of vehicle.

In New Zealand, a vehicle’s safety rating comes from one of three sources: ANCAP, based on crash test results for new cars; or UCSR or VSRR, based on real-world crash data compiled by the Monash University Accident Research Centre over the past 30 years.

ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Programme) recommends consumers only buy five-star rated vehicles. NZAA is a bit more lenient, suggesting going no lower than four stars.

ANCAP also takes data from other NCAP sources like Euro NCAP, Japan NCAP, ASEAN NCAP, China NCAP, Korean NCAP, Latin America NCAP and Global NCAP.

It also pays to check when a certain vehicle was tested as criteria changes over time. Obviously, the more recent the better.