What's in this section on vehicles?

Choosing a safe and sustainable car

• Choosing a safe and sustainable car: find out about features that can keep us safer and reduce the effects our transport choices have on the environment.
• Rightcar: how does your vehicle rate for fuel economy, driver safety, others’ safety, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and air pollution. Rightcar includes information from:
  • Fuelsaver: information about fuel consumption of vehicles available on the New Zealand market. How much do you spend on fuel? How much can you save?
  • Used car safety ratings: statistics show that some vehicle models give drivers better protection from death or serious injury in a crash than others, and their impact on drivers of other vehicles can also vary greatly. Find out how your vehicle compares.
  • ANCAP crash test results: results of crash tests, shown by make and model or by vehicle type. Vehicles are tested using crash test dummies and are rated for the extent to which they protect occupants in the event of a crash. Find out if your vehicle has been rated and how it compares.
• Buying a used car: essential reading if you're buying a used car. You may want to print the page out and use it as a checklist before you hand over any money.

Also see our information on:

• Importing motor vehicles
• Vehicle ownership.

Keeping safe and legal

• Warrant of fitness inspections: periodic safety inspections are compulsory for light vehicles (eg cars, vans, utes and 4WDs).
• Vehicle exhaust emissions: describes current requirements in the Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Exhaust Emissions 2007.
• Vehicle standards: what they are, how they work.
• Objective noise test for vehicle exhaust noise: what the test is and how it could affect you.
• Customising: information to help ensure you modify your vehicle safely and legally.

About vehicles

• Safety belts: links to safety belt information on the site - lapbelts, child restraints, safety belts in motorhomes, replacing belts with webbing grabbers.
• Four-wheel drives: how their handling differs from that of cars, what you need to know in order to drive safely.

Vehicle safety alerts

• Alerts: safety information about individual vehicles.

Last updated: 4 December 2007