Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
I haven't seen one wrecked yet. I like the looks of the Chrysler vehicles.
Pat,
Government tests are done in a controlled environment. That's better than nothing. They do straight side collision, straight front and half front. Only about 1/4 of all wrecks that I have worked involve those angles. A lot of crashes involve cars moving forward but the car is cocked 30-50 degrees (like sliding on ice); or nose-down at 20-45 degree angle going down an embankment and striking a tree with the roof or windshield; or multi-vehicle crashes. The tops of vehicles are not safe at all. Gov't also said the Cavalier was not safe. My wife has a Cavalier. She was driving one evening and pulled out onto a four-lane and we got struck t-bone in driver's side by a full-size Chevy PU. We were banged up and sore but the Cavalier held up well and protected us. It was also repaired and she has been driving it for 3 1/2 years now. Multi-vehicle (3 or more) crashes are the worst. Vehicles get hit 3, 5, 10 times at different angles. Most smaller vehicles end up a pile of scrap metal.
Like you said, even gas mileage is just a close estimate.
I look at Consumer Reports and then buy what I want and need, not what they want me to buy. I learned that from them. When Mini DV (digital format) video cameras came out, I bought the Consumer Reports #1 rated JVC Mini DV Video Camera. Blank tapes are still available, but how many video cameras use that format now?
Glad you chose the Subaru, they seem to hold up well. I like the Forrester model. I'm no expert, by far. I can speak from experience, though.
Seat belts do save lives.
Air bags do save lives.
If anyone is looking to buy a car and safety is #1, just ask police officers, medics, firemen or insurance agents which vehicles hold up. Results may surprise you.
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
Volvo used to be a very safe car, may still be I haven't kept up with them. Was one of the leaders, if not the leader in safety. I saw a report dated around 1970 where Volvo had taken two of their cars and run them head on into each other at 50 mph. No deformation of the passenger compartment in either car. I'm by no means a crash expert but that seemed pretty impressive. Again, a controlled environment.
Gary
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
<font color="blue"> Volvo used to be a very safe car, may still be I haven't kept up with them. Was one of the leaders, if not the leader in safety. </font color>
Volvo is still one of the best cars out there as far as safety is concerned. We used to have one - until my wife was rammed in it (a station wagon) by a woman that flew through a stop sign. It was a pretty bad accident - there wasn't much left of the other car (a Toyota Corrola); the front end of that car got ripped off and the wheels were no longer supporting the vehicle. The Volvo was totalled (frame damage - it was under warranty and Volvo did not recommend that it be repaired) but I'm sure someone bought it, fixed it up, and sold it to someone who has no idea what happened to it. But my wife walked away from the accident and we are huge believers in the Volvo safety record.
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
bgott, Hey bud, pretty funny stuff! Sorry your friend had to suffer but it would have been hard not to laugh.
When I was an undergrad in physics and driving a VW bug a girl I dated asked me to give her and some friends a ride to a FORMAL function. The operative word is formal. They were all wearing formals with multiple fluffy petticoats. I had a guy friend with me. He hopped over the back seat into the parcel storage area next to the back glass and girls filled up the available volume with their bodies and petticoats. I was driving, there were two girls sharing the front passenger seat, and there were 4 girls in the back seat. This is a total of 2 guys and 6 girls with massive amounts of petticoats under their formals.
They had to grab their dresses and fluffy petticoats and pull then down so we could see out of the windshield and side windows. I steered with my right hand on the left part of the wheel and I reached under my right leg with my left hand to get to the stick shift. (Hey thats my knee... Sorry, looking for the gear shift...)
We did bottom out just a little bit on some enourmous pot holes in the sorority house parking lot but we made it down the street OK. Folks sure did double takes when this little beetle pulled up at the destination and the honor guard/doormen opened the door to help the occupants out. We looked like one of those circus acts where bunches of clowns get out of an itsy bitsy car.
Nothing broke. The good ole bug was like the Model "A" and Model "T" Fords, they took a licking and kept on ticking. Now I have about the same year bug but with 14 inches shorter wheel base (sectioned out of floor pan behind the front seats.) and a fiberglass beach buggy body. I have ripped all around the beaches and deserts of Baja in it and it always brought me home (even if I had to use a boot lace as a makeshift throttle cable one time.)
Pat
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
shade2u2, Loked at the Pacifica and liked several features but with options we want and all wheel drive it just got too pricey for us. Also I am a little gun shy about being a pioneer/beta tester for a new model.
Pat
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
What years/models do they have. I am pretty well sold on the Subaru but want to see the data on the Jeep LIberty with diesel engine before the final decision.
One is a 1996 wagon, I think its a Legacy. The other is either a 2000 or 2001 Outback wagon.
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
Andy, Thanks for the info. Now that I had begun to zero in on the Subaru Forester, my wife has gone in to what if politico-economic situation in Saudi Arabia takes a dive and gas prices soar? Maybe we should get a Honda Civic Hybrid. It will save us about $800 annually on gas or $8K in 10 yrs and a lot more if/when gas prices go up. Note: Oklahoma average price for regular last month was $1.57 while California is looking at $2.00 per gallon.
Maybe I'll price a good riding mule.
Pat
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
Pat,
Check out the Toyota Prius for 2004. It's now a hatchback four door. I'm hoping to get one as it'll be a 60 mile trip each way to work from the new house.
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
<font color="blue"> California is looking at $2.00 per gallon </font color>
About $2.25 for regular, $2.60 for premium lately. It really sucks... [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
Re: AUTO BUYING ADVICE REQUEST
chrisjbell, I can feel your pain (almost). When I lived in San Diego it used to bug me that our gas prices werre higher than an outlying area toward the east. The "excuse" the oil industry used to explain our high prices was the cost of trucking the fuel down from the L.A. area. Interesting that they could truck it from the same place THROUGH SAN DIEGO and on toward the east so much cheaper than just to San Diego.
At times some folks would drive across the border to T.J. to fill up. A lot of Mercedes Diesel sedans in the area had a second tank installed in the forward end of the trunk with a "Y" connector at the fill connection. They were plumbed together at the output connection, no selector valves, and the gauge read correctly. Drive to Mexico, fill up, have lunch and return. The diff in price paid for lunch for two, and the drive.
Pat