Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:42:51 GMT From: "griffin" <gryffynospamHISshaw.ca> Subject: Re: Which one of these cars are the safest, and which one should I get?
Just buy an old Jeep CJ, stick some 36x13.5" Swampers on there and drive however you want. Not great at handling but if you roll over, who cares? I felt safer in my Jeep then in any other vehicle I've driven ....I loved the relatively low center of gravity (with wider tires) and the fact that I was inside a massive metal cage. My buddy had been hit at 60kmh by a front-end loader that backed into the intersection and all he had were a few bruises and a sore wrist ...the Jeep was completely intact except for a bent bumper, misaligned tires and a cracked manifold. And you said you didn't really care about mpg ...which is good. Mine got around 8mpg ;p Reliability isn't a factor either, right? That's good too ...cuz I passed everything on the highway except the garage. But if you want a safe car, go with Volvo. My parents owned Volvo's throughout my whole childhood due to safety and the reinforced beams. I remember one accident we got in ...there was about a 6" deep impression in the side door and you couldn't even see it on the inside. But, Volvo's are almost as bad as Jeep's for reliability and they are expensive as hell to fix. Not to mention, most mechanics have no idea what they are doing under a Volvo hood ... Rather than trusting some "official" statistics on testing, why not check insurance rates ...you can bet that the safest cars generally have lower insurance because the company is less likely to have to dish out liability costs. The exception is if the car has expensive-to-replace parts (ie ...higher end imports ...BMW, Volvo, etc). You can bet tho that the insurance companies probably have the "real" stats that matter. My bet, the best bang for your buck along with safety concerns is a newer Accord or maybe even a Camry (altho I'm not a fan of Toyota's V6). I don't know (or care) about safety ratings from these "official" places but I do alot of junkyard scrounging for parts and most Accords seemed to have faired not too badly even in write-off accidents. I can't say the same about Corolla's, Civic's and older Accords tho. I also wouldn't expect the Matrix/Vibe to be great in T-Bone accidents. They seem too high up and would probably roll. You might also want to look at the Jetta as an option ...nice car. And as someone who's been in more accidents than I can count (and no, I've never been at fault for one - yet), safety should definitely been an issue, but I think it's more on how you drive than anything. Instead of worrying about it so much, find a car that you feel COMFORTABLE in ...because then you relax and can sit back from the steering wheel and not be so tense ...which is why I've never been hurt in any accident. I've almost always seen the accident coming before it's happened and I've actually learned to just close my eyes while it happens and listen for the familiar sound. It's when you tense up and move towards the steering wheel that you'll get rocked and be staring at the Hospital Ceiling. Anyways, good luck. Don't pull your hair out because it may not matter anyway. You could be in the safest car on the road and the F350 Dualie running the red is going to make Metal-Sushi out of your car anyways. PS: borrow $10k and buy a Lexus sc300! Yummy ;p Cheers!
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