Potential car-owners looking for vehicle safety are beginning to be spoilt for choice in the used car market, latest figures show.

In the Used Car Safety Ratings 109 vehicles rated as excellent or good safe choices and 54 rated poorly.

This week the New Zealand Transport Agency and the Automobile Association release its 21st annual update of the Used Car Safety Ratings – calculated from real-life crashes.

Each year, the data is updated and added to the vehicle safety ratings database which now includes information from about six million vehicles in police-reported road crashes, and more than 1.4 million injured road users from across New Zealand and Australia.

It shows the difference in the risk of death or serious injury in a crash between the worst and best rated car is more than nine times for vehicles built from 1999. More than 200 models have received a Used Car Safety Rating, including most of the popular vehicles sold in New Zealand.

For large cars, a 1996-2003 BMW series five, 2008-11 Ford Falcon and 1996-2002 Nissan Maxima are among the safe picks while the 1993-97 Holden Commodore is the sole vehicle registering as very poor.

Commercial utes also have a strong safety showing, with the 2007-11 Holden Commodore ute, 2006-11 Mitsubishi Triton and 2005-11 Nissan Navara also labelled as safe picks.

NZTA access and use group manager Celia Patrick says the updated data shows the range of safe second hand cars is increasing.

'There is an ever-increasing number of safe second hand cars available at all price points,” says Celia.

But an alarming 19 small cars – including the 1996-2000 Honda Civic, 1995-97 Ford Laser and 1996-2003 Mitsubishi Lancer – are rated very poor. Sitting atop of the ratings are the 2009-11 Holden Cruze and Mazda 3, and the 2003-09 Toyota Prius – with all picking up five stars.

Within the rating systems 109 vehicles rated as excellent or good safe choices and 54 rated poorly.

'This shows why it's important to check out safety of a vehicle before making a purchase,” says AA motoring services general manager Stella Stocks.

'It's not always obvious to consumers about what makes one vehicle safer than another so we encourage consumers to learn what to look for and buy the safest car they can afford.”

Stella adds buyers should be looking for features such as electronic stability control and airbags at minimum, as these make a real difference in keeping occupants safe in the event of a crash.

The Used Car safety Ratings analysis is completed by Australia's Monash University Accident Research Centre and there are 2167 vehicle models with ratings for protection to drivers.

These cover most of the popular vehicles in the Australian and New Zealand vehicle fleets.

To view all vehicle safety ratings go to the RightCar website