Buy a Toyota or GM

Spam Hater wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.telus.net:

Check out the Pontiac Vibe, or the Toyora Matrix (same car) I have one and it is the best car I've owned. It's classified as a wagon, but looks sportier that a typical wagon. It's based on the Toyota Corolla, so it has a good pedigree.

John

"Cool Jet" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

A few years back, a lady driving an SUV (Escalade I think) and yep talking on a cell phone was too distracted to stop at a red light and thus rear ended a stopped Honda Civic (who was waiting for the red light) at about 50 mph, killing 2 innocent children in the back seat.

5000 pounds at 50mph versus a 2000 pound car. Physics. If the lady were in a 2000 pound car herself (instead of a huge SUV), the kids would have survived, most likely.

Tonight on my way home, a Chevy Tahoe was trying to make a left turn from the right lane. He had missed the left turning lane altogether, and was sitting in the regular forward lane and was thus impeding the traffic trying to go straight (light was green). But he couldn't turn left because there was a huge slew of traffic already in the left turning lane who weren't going to let this jackball in. Did he simply go straight and then turn around somewhere up the road? No. He waited there half a minute until the left turning lane was almost empty, then he made a left turn and almost crashed into a car that was turning left fromt he left turn lane. All the while there was a backup of cars wanting to go straight (and they had a green light), who were stuck behind this piece of fecal material. Everyone was honking. When he was finally out of the way (after making an illegal left turn), the light turned red, trapping us in a long cycle at that busy intersection. Kinda makes you understand why there are murders on the highways. Road rage? Or is it road revenge? Or justice?

You seem to have a very selective memory. Why not tell us about some of the idiots driving cars that you see everyday? Or are you blind to them because they don't fit in to your SUV bashing attitude.

Dave

JD wrote:

What if the person in the Honda had been driving a safe car? I saw a Honda rear ended by a Bonneville and the front wheels of the Bonneville were sitting in the Honda's rear seat. After the tow trucks pulled them part the Bonneville was driven to the side of the road, the Honda was drug onto a flatbed and the rest of its pieces tossed on top. Both were ~2000lb front wheel drive cars. I saw another small Honda rear ended by a small Toyota truck, the Toyota truck would could have driven all the way over but the driver stopped and put it in reverse and backed off. The Honda cut off the Toyota. Another one I was stuck on a 35mph street a few cars back from an intersection to a small side street and was stopped because the line of cars from a large intersetion were stopped at a red light and traffic was backed up that far. A guy in a little Honda came through the gap from the side street, didn't look at traffic coming the other way and was hit by a small Chevy Blazer. The Blazer driver hit the brakes and we heard the tires screech a bit and he hit the Honda in the passenger door. The Honda was thrown off the street and into a yard, landed on its wheels but the passenger door where was hitting the driver in the right arm, there was nothing left of the passenger seat. The Blazer had a bent bumper in the center, didn't even break the plastic grill. It was the old body style 2 door S10 blazer which weighed less than 2000 lbs (my 4x4 s10 truck was only 1500). Imagine if there had been passengers in those Hondas. It doesn't matter the weight of the other vehicle a Honda will loose, I won't ride in one myself. How about the little Honda that passed me on the highway, BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! as it slowly creeped by me in the left lane, cut in front of me then slowed down 10mph so I had to swerve around to keep from hitting him. For every bad SUV driver stories as you can come up I can give you two small car bad driver stories. Like the silver Honda that always parks in the same row as me and is never straight between the lines, if people can park full size SUV's straight between the lines, why do Hondas have to have one tire on the line? This isn't a deliberate park crooked because I think my car is a sports car its a normal every dad coffin that lots of people drive to work and back because they vale gas more than their life.

1500kg maybe, but not 1500 lbs.

Seems to me the Blazer has hovered around 3500-3800 lbs forever.

Good suggestion I have, but too little trunk space and neither Vobe or Matrix hold a full sized spare, a definite requirement for my long distance driving in sometimes remote country on slippery and snowy roads. The Corolla sedan does appear to have wheel well room for a full sized spare. If the longer Corolla was produced as a wagon, that may do it.

By the way if your suggestions did meet my needs I'd definitely not buy the Vibe. Better chance to get proper maintenance at the Toyota dealer, than at a GM dealer where there are limited staff knowledgeable on Toyota designs.

That's true, but what the big SUV people don't realize is that they are in more single vehicle accidents (going off the road) and the death rate is high. Generally they corner poorly and have little crush zone.

Now that there are so many large SUVs, about 50% around here, they are frequently crashing into one another. The results are terrible, all are usually killed. One of the advantages of keeping my oldie Concord is the fairly large crush zones at each end. It's that crush zone that absorbs the crash and saves the occupants. A stiff block of steel is no protection when hitting a solid object such as a tree or lamp post.

The nuts driving many of these large SUVs often follow far too close. When I can't let them ahead I usually leave more room in front of me so there is enough stopping space for both of is. If the road is quite curved and dry pavement I sometimes gradually speed up on each curve to the left and quickly shake them off. My they often hate that, because I've seen them almost lose it on the curves trying to keep on my bumper, which is quite impossible given my car's terrific cornering ability. Eventually when they catch and pass on a straight I have a laugh as they often shake their fist at me; for leading them astray I assume.

Must have been a Honda Civic with the short rear. All such designs are unsafe in the rear when rear ended, regardless of the make. I believe GM sells a car like the Civic; probably built in Asia.

So true. I noticed the big error in the weights quoted, but felt it just indicated the accuracy (?) of the story.

By the way the original VW Beattle weighted 1,600 lbs. The 1970-4 Datsun 510 weighted 2,000 lbs.- I had them.

I'll have to go check the door sticker again but it seems to me my s10 was around 1500.

The only one of the three I described that was the real short was the one hit in the passenger door. The one rear ended by the Bonneville was a regular 4 door with a truck and a fairly new model as well. The truck was laying on the other side of the highway and was one of the parts they threw on the truck after they drug the rest of the car on. Highway was shut down the whole time so I had nothing else to do but sit there and watch.