Are small cars safe, no one cares anymore

One thing that sure has changed. No one seems to care about safety anymore. It's all about price. Wonder what the death rate looks like in compact cars? Who cares, it's cheap and foreign.

For years all the test centered on safety. Now, you hear nothing.

Why is that?

Or a raising cost of living.

Hard to tell.


:shrug:

Between multiple air bags, crumples zones, etc. you can have small and safe.

The trick is to not let yourself get hit.

or you get rear ended by the Mom in the van on the phone. Larger cars now are far more maneuverable than small carts due to tire size and suspension improvements, try reading some road tests and looking at the G force numbers generated by all cars on Car and Driver and Road and Track or Motor Trend.

Time through a slalom is far more indicative of maneuverability than pure G force numbers.

I haven't seen that many Hummers entered in slalom competitions.

The Fit is a blast to drive despite its slow acceleration and weak skidpad grip. It’s proof that a good car involves more than just performance figures. But the 70-to-0 braking distance of 196 feet is unacceptably poor. That’s 13 feet more than the worst performance of the old Fit and two feet longer than a 4870-pound Kia Borrego can manage. If Honda is as serious about safety as is suggested by the six standard airbags and ABS, then it needs to perform better in an area that helps avoid accidents.


http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/honda_acura_central/2009_honda_fit_sport_road_test+t-counterpoint+page-4.html


0-60-0


Porsche 911 Turbo - 0-60-0 mph: 6.16 sec
Porsche Carrera GT - 0-60-0 mph 6.38 sec
Lamborghini Gallardo - 0-60-0 mph 6.39 sec

Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren - 0-60-0 mph 6.42 sec
Ferrari F430 F1 - 0-60-0 mph 6.48 sec
Mercedes Benz CLK DTM AMG - 0-60-0 mph 6.5 sec
Lamborghini Murcielago - 0-60-0 mph 6.61 sec
Porsche 911 GT2 - 0-60-0 mph 6.72 sec
Porsche 911 GT3 - 0-60-0 mph 6.73 sec
Corvette Z06 - 0-60-0 mph 6.76 sec

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/porsche-911-turbobest-0-60-0-mph-time-ar13018.html

Can you spell maneuverability? It means more than scooting around accidents, it means acceleration, breaking and handling, and the little cars DON'T have that combination by a long shot.

I'm pretty sure at least couple of those cars are over $100,000.

You are comparing apples to zucchini here..

I also note that you included no slalom times..

And I agree that it's unacceptable that the new Fit brakes worse than the old one.

I guess I am the only person with Google?

To compare them to an econobox is really quite disingenuous.

A Fit versus a ZR1, I mean come on..

What do they know? They like Asian cars! And minivans over SUVs! The horror! :spray:

One of the reasons I dont drive one.

And are thinking of a turbo kit for it..

Not exactly representative of larger cars, or SUV's for that matter.

Sure there are some smaller cars that don't handle all that well but there are quite few that do, the Mini for one. I had a Suzuki Swift GT 1.3 a while back and while it didn't handle as well as the Lotus I had many years ago, it was an absolute ball to throw around on a slalom course. The techniques you use on a rear wheel drive versus a front wheel drive to get around a course the fastest are quite different.. With the FWD car, you point the front wheels where you want to go and mash the throttle, the rear is mostly just along for the drive.. RWD is an entirely different story, with that you have power on oversteer and can't just jump on the throttle without being very aware of your rear wheel traction, too much throttle and you'll end up doing a 360 in the road if you're not careful.

Did you click on the link about the Mini vs F150 crash test comparison? That one was a real eye opener.

04 Dodge Dakota, 4x4 and a crew cab.

and other such road tanks on the road. Americans buy too much SIZE in cars. It's a vehicle, not a luxury frigging liner.

I'll take the safety over the mileage any day.

There is too much business in the trucking industry to ban those trucks off the road.

If seventy plus thousand pounds of 18 wheeler smashes into you at speed, there are very few vehicles that are going to offer much protection.

The poster said something like get rid of all big cars off that road and I just said there will still be 18 wheelers and no where in the near future will you see big rigs banned. I never said anything about SUVs being able to sustain damages. If a big rig hits you in matter what car you drive you'll likely die. Nothing in my post indicates or implies a bigger vehicle will sustain damanges. My point was it would be counter productive to ban suvs and pickups from the road when 18 wheelers will still be flying down all over our nation's highways.

And today's small car is much safer than small cars in the past.

small car vs. small car would be a more even playing field, but it will never happen.

people driving small cars are JUST AS STUPID as people driving SUVs. Give me a break. It doesn't mater WHAT size or type of car you are driving.

f=ma

Some people work for as living.


I answered you in my first post: f=ma (Would you rather be hit by a feather moving at 60 mph? Or a brick?) But since you don't accept Issac Newton:

"Two insurance companies are raising liability premiums for sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and big vans because of evidence that they cause more damage in accidents, The New York Times reported today."
http://abcnews.go.com/business/Story?id=88993&page=1

"Most cars are safer than the average sports utility vehicle , while pickup trucks are much less safe than all other types. Minivans and import luxury cars have the safest records," states the report, "An Analysis of Traffic Deaths by Vehicle Type and Model," which was prepared by Tom Wenzel, an energy analyst with Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division, and Marc Ross, a professor in Michigan's Applied Physics Department."
http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/EETD-SUV-Safety.html

"...unlike full-size pickups and SUVs with rigid bumpers and trailer hitches, a small car is more likely to show visible damage in a crash, as the crumple zones collapse to absorb the blow. Many consumers equate a badly damaged vehicle with badly injured occupants, when in fact the vehicle is suffering so the passengers don't have to,"
http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2007/09/is_driving_small_less_safe.html

"When cars of different sizes collide there are a huge number of variables that impact the result. One of those is kinetic energy, which is a function of mass and velocity. A larger, heavier vehicle has more energy than a smaller, lighter one, and in combination with less crush space, the latter tends to come off worse in an accident."
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/14/iihs-finds-sub-compacts-fair-poorly-again/

"The study looked at results from accidents involving 3,933 child occupants younger than 15, in vehicles 1998 or newer, in either SUVs or regular passenger cars. Overall, results showed a marked increase in injuries whenever a rollover was involved, and found rollovers were twice as likely to occur in an SUV compared to a regular car."
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060103/SUV_safety_060102/20060103/

"Shock, horror, what a surprise - passengers in small cars that collide head on with mid-size vehicles will likely suffer significantly greater leg and head injuries than those in larger cars. ... And here's the zinger: the tests recreated a collision typical of less than one per cent of all smashes!"
http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/cars/story.html?id=82bb0c38-e9bb-4c81-80b1-34805e753ad3

"Our main results are that sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are not necessarily safer for their drivers than cars; on average they are as risky as the average midsize or large car, and no safer than many of the most popular compact and subcompact models. Minivans and import luxury cars have the safest records."
http://www.aceee.org/pubs/t021full.pdf

"Cars are built with what is called unit-body construction. To be light enough to meet fuel standards and safe enough to meet safety standards, they have expensive and elaborately engineered steel skeletons, with built-in crumple zones to absorb the impact of a crash. Making a truck is a lot more rudimentary. You build a rectangular steel frame. The engine gets bolted to the front. The seats get bolted to the middle. The body gets lowered over the top. The result is heavy and rigid and not particularly safe. But it's an awfully inexpensive way to build an automobile."
http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html

"{Insurance Institute for Highway Safety} neatly graphed results, which unblinkingly chart annual deaths per million vehicles sold for 40 different models, show that drivers of many small cars are statistically safer than drivers of the average sport-utility vehicle."
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1525/is_1_88/ai_98469838/

"It’s long been known that SUVs are hardly the safest vehicles on the road, both for their occupants and the occupants of other cars (as well as pedestrians and cyclists). ... When it came to crashes that caused injuries but not deaths, Dr. Dennis Durbin of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention said children in minivans were 35 percent less likely to be hurt than children in S.U.V.’s."
http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/04/03/why-suvs-are-less-safe-than-minivans/

"Keall said SUVs were more dangerous to others, particularly pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, because of the high bonnets and rigid structures."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/national/549384

"The safest subcompact ... and compact ... car models are as safe to their drivers as the average SUV. When one considers the combined risk, including those killed in the other vehicle in two-vehicle crashes, then the safest subcompact and compact models are actually safer than the average SUV. Moreover, the combined risk for the average subcompact or compact car is only slightly higher than that for the average SUV."
http://www.samefacts.com/archives/climate_change_/2009/04/smaller_cars_and_insurance_basics.php

"A new study from U-Penn’s Children Hospital shows that “children riding in SUVs have similar injury risks to children who ride in passenger cars.” Analysis from about 4,000 accidents involving children shows that the rollover risks outweigh any benefit from the larger vehicle."
http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/suv-safety-myth



http://www.tsc.berkeley.edu/newsletter/Summer05-SUVs/scapegoat.html

What kind of an asshole response is that? I'm working too, but I had to prod you to back up what you stated (and not real convincingly either). Additionally, since you decided to flame me with a 'fucking', you can kiss my wrinkled old hairy white ass in Macy's window. Our conversation (and your effort to convince me of the safety of small cars) is done. Smaller cars aren't safer than anything larger, and you can post all of the threads and links you want, but if you run into my 2009 Silverado Pickup truck with your shitbox, YOU are going to the hospital.



http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx

These are the ratings that count.


Buh bye

I know, I know....off to ignore I go. :rofl:

It has no airbags and probably is "unsafe" but I keep an eye peeled and don't drive recklessly. I've been driving it for almost a quarter of a century.

It has less than eighty thousand miles on it, too....!

...Turbo Sprint. The first car I purchased.

I would give anything to have that car back! It got 52 mpg, and it was FAST!

That Turbo-charged engine had a lot of zip...but it was only a 3-cylinder engine, which
was quite amusing.

medical bills that we cannot afford and be ruined for life.

so compared to an SUV they seem unsafe.

I drive a '96 Saturn SC2 that gets between 28 and 31 mpg (actual) I don't feel unsafe in it and enjoy driving it.


The whole "unsafe small cars" crap was to keep people buying the 12 mpg vehicles.

hit each other than they are when two mid-sized cars are in an accident. Some small cars offer better crash protection than others. Some smaller cars don't have side impact airbags. Other offer them only as an option.

It's an 07 so it will be with me for a few more years.

on their cell phones I worry about.

Seat belts, air bags, better tires, increased roof strength in case of rollovers.

All vehicles are much safer than they were just a few years ago.

I was hit, in a mid size foreign car, by a motorcycle and the car was totaled. Sorry to burst some bubbles here.

But you walk away...

Sorry to bust your bubble.

"Totaled" just means it was worth more to fix it than it was worth. It doesn't mean it was crushed like a Pepsi can and the interior occupants were reduced to fleshy sacs of hamburger.

you believe that I have a bridge.....

the bike ended up in 4 pieces, but the guy is still alive and carrying on a normal life. So by everyone's standards on here, we should all get a bike. After all they are even better yet on gas etc.

And driving a motorcycle safely requires a certain amount of strength & skill that not everybody has.

still do it, even small ones can kill you if they hit you. Ever seen a small car hit a bicycle or a pedestrian? There is always some one who thinks their way is better.

A car is "totaled" when the cost of repair is greater than the value of the car; rather than paying for the repair, the insurance company simply cuts you a check for whatever the car was worth. In an accident, a car is designed to crumple around the passenger, redirecting all the energy of the collision into deforming the car in a pre-planned and non-hazardous manner, cushioning the shock to the passenger and lowering the risk of injury. Of course, such crumpling naturally tends to total the car; it's very hard to un-crumple a car for obvious reasons.

It is much easier to total a car in an accident than it was in, say, 1970, when cars didn't have crumple zones. Cars are much safer as a result.

so no, i dont think safety is the reason anyone is buying cars. a lot may have to do with cost, but for me personally i prefer the car, i dont like endangering others with the vehicle i chose. and if i were to drive a suv i put my safety above all others, blocks others view ergo making it even tougher for car drivers. not to mention the space it takes

i cannot personally take that route. not about cost.

blocking others view.Not to mention these huge club cab full size pick ups. Why do people need them? I guess they feel it's their right, same as with an SUV. Mini vans are the scourge of the earth IMO!

they are all so holier than thou and snooty to boot. i asked her about the safety of everyone else as she kept hers safe. she told me, that her family was first oncern

this is truly one of those ne liberal elitists from cape cod. a lawyer. lol.

holier than thou, shit I'm not even holy, nor am I snooty,I'm a blue color worker retired as is my SO. We drive an SUV because he is 6'4" tall and doesn't fit in a compact car. So what are we supposed to do use a freaking shoe horn and can opener?

my husband bought a trooper, my brother one of those monster trucks. people put a lot of money into their vehicle and they should get what they want.

though it is a nuisance, inconvenience and even an added burden to cars who cant see, i still dont begrudge a persons choice. where i may be concerned about fellowman and willing to do something, someone else may not have that high on their priority and i assure you, there will be things that you contribute to fellowman that doesn't hit my list.

as a car driver it is incredibly annoying not being able to see when i need to make a turn

it is always nice to have an aware suv driver that realizes and hangs back a bet to let a person see.

but i do think it is a bet hypocritical of sister in law, with so many pc lectures from her, telling me to keep family safe at expense of others.

poor guy, when we had the small car, his knees were up against the dash all the time and his head was brushing the ceiling of the cab. He had to ride that way around 2,000 miles on a trip one year, with 3 kids crushed against each other in the back,up against the doors. Some folks just can't fit into a small car, there is no snootiness to driving an SUV, sometimes it's a necessity.....

family and I'm 5'9". Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do! ;)

and avoid running into anything.

If you need to drive a tank in order to feel safe on your way to the supermarket, I suggest there are other issues at work.

cd players or whatever their form of entertainment for the day is. I've had 3 major accidents in my life, none of them where my fault, and yes one of them was on the way to the grocery store less than 20 miles from my house.

on an Interstate in a small car, between a pickup and an SUV.

I survived with a few bruises but the car was totaled, and it didn't even have air bags.

I'll take my chances in a zippy little car that gets out of the way fast.

I don't feel particularly safe out there no matter what I'm driving, so I might as well reduce my carbon footprint while I drive something that's a lot more fun than trying to wrestle some tank around.

A zippy little car, OK, right..........

across 3 lanes of traffic, right to left, obliterating my vision for a critical second.

At least he slowed me way down.

It's idiots in oversized vehicles who are the problem, not those of us with sensibly sized cars.

in their little cars wih headphons on, putting on makeup, READING, TEXTING, eatng. Give me a break.

not the vehicle being driven.

It was like suddenly the number of trucks that you can't see though or see around increased ten fold.

And most of the m'fers can't drive them anyway.

Why is that?

I watched a guy in a small car nearly hit a bicyclist one morning. he was flying around a bend in the road behind another car and didn't see the bicyclist until he was right on him. I slowed down and moved over because I could see what was up ahead because I am up high, as did the pickup behind me,.....SUV drivers are not all bad.....

... the Ford F150 truck ...

http://www.loqu.com/mini-cooper-vs-ford-f-150-crash-test/blogs/sweet-1558

Goes to show that size does not necessarily mean strength. People think their SUV's are bigger and will protect them more, but just because it LOOKS bigger doesn't mean it's safer.

they need extra protection from big cars that fuck the whole thing up. Everyone using smaller cars is something obviously alien to you called "society", and it would work. If it weren't for selfish cumsocks who break it all.

The NHTSA and IIHS are quite certainly still performing crash tests. The results are so prevalent in the automotive press that they show up in dozens of car ads as well as most of the major automotive publications.

33 miles per gallon now. I love my little car.

When I was driving MY geo 3cyl I was getting well over 45 MPG City, and 50+ highway.
I got 60+ highway before the changed to that MTBE bullshit in the mid/late 90's.

No accidents, turning radius of a quarter!

Shit falls from the sky, an ordinary home isn't safe. Everyone should live in a reinforced concrete bomb-proof bunker. No ones talking about it. Why is that?

What I drive: http://www.internetautoguide.com/crash-tests/09-int/2005/scion/xa/index.html

Mini-Cooper: http://www.automobilemag.com/am/2009/mini/cooper/crash_tests.html

Kia Rio: http://www.internetautoguide.com/crash-tests/09-int/2009/kia/rio/index.html

Chevy Aveo: http://www.internetautoguide.com/crash-tests/09-int/2009/chevrolet/aveo/index.html

Ford Focus: http://www.internetautoguide.com/crash-tests/99-int/2009/ford/focus/s-sedan/1265/index.html

that is certainly not the case.

One from each of the Big Three.

Stops quick, stability control, side air bags. 40-43 MPG

In a crash, you're toast...but you do get great mileage.

there are small cars that are rated safely. The car I've had my eyes on for 3 years has constantly ranked highest in its class for safety (Subaru Impreza--- google if you are not familar).

I drove an Escort for years. The only time i had a problem was when I got rear-ended by a land yacht, I mean Expedition. I still have whiplash as a result of the accident, but I'm still here.

One of the top ten safest cars out there. And, a small car.

small cars can be safe. I'm partial to Subarus, and every car they make has one of the highest safety ratings in thier class.

A lot of safety improvements, such as side airbags, lap/shoulder belts for all passengers and adjustable headrests in all positions, have been better embraced by import companies and small car lines than in many larger models.

In addition, some of the largest vehicles are exempt from many safety requirements because their weight means they are not classified as passenger vehicles for many regulations, and instead reside in loopholes that were meant for commercial vehicles and farm equipment. This is why some large SUV models still don't have lap/shoulder belts and headrests in the rear center seating positions even though these have been mandatory in passenger vehicles sold in the US for several years. These large vehicles (and large vans) also suffer a safety disadvantage due to their inflexible truck frames versus car-based models.

The safest vehicles new sold in the US are, in roughly this order: minivans (the Japanese imports rank much better on safety in this class,) large sedans (domestic wins here, but they're all very good,) and midsize sedans (most are very good.) But as long as you stay away from the very smallest models and anything Korean, chances are whatever you buy will be the safest car you've ever had, because everybody's made huge improvements on safety in the past decade or so, and so much safety equipment is standard now.

Many people don't get that many (if not most) SUVs are patently unsafe --for THEM as well as other drivers.

my younger son was in a car accident while driving his 94 Honda Accord, about the same size as today's Civic would be. A woman driving a van made a left-hand turn in front of him, so she was at fault, not him. The Honda was totaled, no one was hurt. I don't know how much damage was done to her car.

Five days later (no need to wonder why I have gray hair) the older son was in a car accident while driving his 1999 Honda Civic. A young woman driving a 2002 Honda Accord made a left hand turn in front of him, so she was at fault, not him. The collision was violent enough that the battery in her car was catapulted out of her car, and several yards into the roadway. Both cars were totaled, no one was hurt.

About eight months later (my hair is entirely gray) the younger son was driving my 2004 Honda Civic when he stopped in traffic at a construction site and the full-sized pickup truck behind him didn't stop, pushing the Civic into the full sized van in front. The Civic was totaled and no one was hurt. And also not my son's fault.

I had a compact car a few years ago, it was the scariest experience driving that car with the whole family crammed inside, driving beside 18 wheelers on the highway, my kids up against the doors in the back seat.

I drive on icy roads for 4 months out of the year, I never felt safe in the little car. SUV's are not highly regarded here on DU, but I would rather drive one vs. a compact car. We do not live in compact car friendly country, there are more SUV's and pickups here, and no one around here apologizes for it. If I lived in, say southern California or somewhere warm, only drove a few miles a day, and didn't have to haul kids and animals, yeah I would have a small car I guess.

You're safer in a compact car than an SUV in a collision, because SUVs are all built on a pickup truck chassis. A pickup truck chassis doesn't have the same safety regulations that a passenger car chassis does, so you are much more likely to be injured or killed in an SUV than in a car.

Manufacturers build SUVs on truck chassis because they're much cheaper than car chassis, because of the lack of safety requirements.

Sorry to bust your bubble; replace that SUV with a Volvo, you'll be safer.

maybe by then we will be living in a warmer climate, then a volvo would work just fine.

I mean really. :rofl:

Carly

Your assumptions are probably based on the logic Ren and Stimpy used than on reality.

Especially the larger ones on truck frames. If you want a safe family vehicle get a minivan (best) or a full/midsized sedan. Both tend to have much more up-to-date safety features than SUVs, and are easier to maneuver to actually avoid an accident, and have frames that are designed for safety and comfortable handling, not for hauling lumber and pulling horse trailers.

I explained this better upthread.

that anyone can get a DL. in Europe its much more costly and the tests are much harder to do. Many Americans could not get a license there including many who have driven for years.

Are you sure you replied to the correct post?

Check safety rating of the SPECIFIC vehicle.
There are many SUV rated 5 stars on side impact & front impact like Honda CRV.

There are many minivans & sedans that are 3 star or worse.

are simply an accident or a rollover waiting to happen.

I have been trying to wrap my brain about them for years and it still boggles the mind.
there is very little common sense in the laws here, imho, and the tests are DESIGNED TO FAIL PEOPLE!
not TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE, BUT TO FAIL!!!!

it's a bullshit way for the governments to make easy money.

Once you get your license it's almost impossible to loose it, because so few infractions cause points to build up.
they flits (that is cameras on the road that flash "speeders" which are often hidden) so much that speeding tickets don't mean anything except revenue.

If they gave a flying fuck they'd make road rules that make more sense, and theory tests that reflected that sense.

and yes I'm bitter because I've failed 4 times, where i aced BOTH the Nevada (50Q's 86%) and California tests first time out!

BTW most cars here are "small" cars. Actually the handful of American designed and built cars on the road here, look seriously out of place, even mid-sized sedans are road hogs here!

But that aside....

the PASS rate of the driving test was 46% here in the Netherlands... the just admitted to making the written test HARDER!

By contract the test for a scooter 9the REAL scourge of the roads) has a PASS rate in the high 80's!!

So PLEASE STOP TALKING OUT OF YOUR FUCKING ASS!!!

I realize that as American's we know exactly DICK about the rest of the world, but don't try to use statistics you know nothing about to defend your questionable position.

American's have difficulty getting licenses here because the US driving laws make sense. These... don't!

driving along in my tiny little green car (beep! beep!)

and then BAM!

its all over.

so sad. damn i wish i had ordered that last fat burger!

:-(

They're more maneuverable, have a better braking distance, and a lower rollover rate. They do fare worse in head-on collisions, though. Of course, those are relatively rare, but hey.

the drivers of small cars are washed out of their post-crash vehicles with a hose.

i don't know how you would bury that. i suspect it cannot be cremated because it is so wet.

but keep on driving those small, teeny, crash wanton carriages, buds.


go green! you maneuverable, better braking distance, lower rollover rate, death trap riders, you. believe your bullshit!

go!

but it would be a good name for a band.

... advantage they have to their own drivers. The all-around advantage seems to be with minivans. Interesting.

They do far worse is ALL collisions. Let's be real here.

SUVs aren't safe.

http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/ncap/ncap_category.jsp

In a wreck. I actually feel safer in my car (performance sports car) as its more nimble and can stop way faster. I dont really look for safety in a car purchase anyways, pretty much all vehicles here have to pass safety regulations and such. IMO, they're all safer than autos of 20+ years ago.

.. and most likely you won't have to worry about it.

Fact is, everyone cannot drive a freaking tank so they can feel "safe".

Why not just stay home?

C

And, I see nothing wrong with buying Smart Cars, etc. They, and smaller cars, aren't the problem.

I have a small car that is also one of teh top ten safest cars on the road.

"For years all the test centered on safety. Now, you hear nothing."

I would imagine that as all cars either made or imported into the U.S. must adhere to safety standards based on particular class and weight, and as these standards are assumed by the consumer, and further, as these standards have been in place for over two generations, any actual need to advertise these standards is diminished by consumer knowledge, and its constant reiteration is simply unnecessary in the here and now.



"Who cares, it's cheap and foreign..."
There are a myriad of domestic subcompacts to choose from if you believe for whatever reasons that imported vehicles are not forced to adhere to U.S. safety stands.

Not sure about "cheap and foreign."

Foreign cars are also far more expensive to fix - but, then again, American cars are running rings around their foreign counterparts now and don't have to go to the shop as often.

1. I can't afford a newer model.

2. As long as I take care of it with proper maintenance,etc.
it keeps running well.

3. I have a quarter ton of steel around me when I'm driving
to protect me and my passengers.

( Isn't it the "official" car of "libruls", according to Freepers?)

After two auto accidents one year apart driving a Honda where
one of the accidents completely smashed in the right side of
the car, accordion style, I will only drive cars with good
crash test ratings.

Rear-ended at high speed while stopped, side-swiped, and had a car wash break and fall on the roof (no lie) puncturing it while she was in it. Got it fixed all three times. She still misses it. BUT, Ford don't make 'em like that anymore.

Wow, I'm so glad your ex made it out of the carwash OK!

Those older Volvos are amazing!
They are like mini tanks.

But you're right, once Ford bought them they never looked
like Volvos and they don't make them like the pre-Ford models at all.

Large cars
Acura RL 2009 models
Audi A6
Cadillac CTS
Ford Taurus with optional electronic stability control
Lincoln MKS 2009 models
Mercury Sable with optional electronic stability control
Volvo S80

Midsize cars
Acura TSX 2009 models
Audi A3
Audi A4
Ford Fusion 2009 models with optional electronic stability control
Honda Accord 4-door models
Mercury Milan 2009 models with optional electronic stability control
Saab 9-3
Subaru Legacy with optional electronic stability control
Volkswagen Jetta 2009 models
Volkswagen Passat 2009 models


Small cars
Honda Civic 2009 4-door models with optional electronic stability control
Mitsubishi Lancer 2009 models with optional electronic stability control
Scion xB
Subaru Impreza with optional electronic stability control
Volkswagen Rabbit 2009 4-door models

Don't see any cheap cars on there.
So what does that say about the cheaper priced cars? You get what you pay for....

A Jetta around $25k and is a bit more expensive than a Jetta.

You can get the base base base Jetta for a little under $20k.

Safest trucks and SUVs

LARGE PICKUPS
Ford F-150
Honda Ridgeline
Toyota Tundra



SMALL PICKUP
Toyota Tacoma



LARGE SUVs
Audi Q7 (Aren't the Volkswagen and Porsche models the same???)
Buick Enclave
Chevrolet Traverse
GMC Acadia
Mercedes R class
built after 9/08
Saturn Outlook

MIDSIZE SUVs
Acura MDX
Acura RDX
BMW X3
BMW X5
Ford Edge
Ford Flex
Ford Taurus X
Honda Pilot
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Veracruz
Infiniti EX35
Lincoln MKX
Mercedes M class
Nissan Murano
Saturn VUE
Subaru Tribeca
Toyota FJ Cruiser
Toyota Highlander
Volvo XC90



SMALL SUVs
Ford Escape
Honda CR-V
Honda Element
Mazda Tribute
Mercury Mariner
Mitsubishi Outlander
Nissan Rogue
Subaru Forester
Toyota RAV4
Volkswagen Tiguan