I wish car manufacturers put roll bars in cars(made to protect from roof collapse in a rollover and made in such a way as to not hurt the driver or passengers in a side impact). I wish car manufacturers would also use 4 point seat belts, and have fire retardant fire shields around the fuel tank, as well as internal fuel cell bladders like they have in professional race cars.
Back to the subject, my budget is at the most $12,000. These are the cars I'm considering based on the Crash Test Ratings.
2001/2002 Honda Civic Coupe with Side Air Bags1999/2000 Volvo S80
2003 Toyota Matrix with Side Air Bags2003 Pontiac Vibe with Side Air Bags
These are cars that are really a little out of my range, but I'm still looking out to see if maybe I'll get lucky and there will be a high milage car in my price range.
2002 Lexus ES300 with Side Air Bags2003 Honda Accord Coupe with Side Air Bags
2003 Saab 9-5 with Side Air Bags2002 Acura MDX with Side Air Bags
There's one more car I wish I had more data about. It's a high milage 1998 Lexus LS400, I know it does excellent in the IIHS front offset crash test, and it does have side air bags, but since there's no data about the side impact crash test or the rollover resistance, unfortunately I don't think I could get it even if a high milage one was in my price range.
I have provied links to the crash test results to many of these cars throughout the post.
For me to even CONSIDER a car, it would have at least meet these standards. It would need at least 14 out of 15 stars in these 3 parts of the crash tests.
1(Front Offset Crash Test Rating for the driver), 2(Side Impact Star Rating for the Front Seats), and 3(Rollover Resistance). Also, VERY IMPORTANTLY a car has to have a CENTER fuel tank, and NOT a rear fuel tank like a Town Car or Mustang or Pinto or Crown Victoria.Which car do you think is the safest car for that money? I know that the obvious choice would be a 1999/2000 Volvo S80, but when you do a lot of research, you realize that the 1999/2000 Volvo S80 may not be as safe as you think. First of all the Volvo S80 is a pretty unreliable car from what I've read, but to me safety is SO important that even reliability and fuel economy have to take a back seat to safety. What I'm MOST concerned about ever being in a serious car accident even more than death, is getting paralyzed or getting burned so badly that you look like an alien and you look much worse than a Klingon or a Reptilian Xindi. I've seen burn victims on tv, that only wish they looked like a Klingon or Reptilian Xindi instead of what they look like. I'm really quite concerned about the rollover ratings, because the other day I saw a show called something like "The Science of Crash Tests" on The Discovery Science Channel, and they showed how a guy got paralyzed with his Ford F-150 rolled over in an accident. Then they actually did a rollover test of a Ford F-150 and also of a Volvo SUV. The F-150s roof COMPLETELY collapsed and if there was a person inside, he/she would have been paralyzed if not dead. The Volvo SUVs roof pretty much held its shape even after it rolled over and over again. That's one of the main reasons which I like the Volvo S80, I have a feeling that even though the rollover rating for the 1999/2000 Volvo S80 are not given, that the 1999/2000 Volvo S80 may likely have a 5 star rollover resistance rating if it were tested. I also feel that I'm correct in thinking that probably the roof of the
1999/2000 Volvo S80 has a lot of structural reenforcement to prevent it from collapsing in a rollover crash.I wish I could get the Toyota Matrix, but it looks just so tall and so narrow, that I almost feel it's very likely to rollover in a side impact or in a high speed turn. If the Toyota Matrix was Short and Wide, then it would be the perfect car for me as it would have a 5 star rollover rating instead of 4 stars, and it's reliable and has good fuel economy as well, but because it only has a 4 star rating in the rollover resistance test, I'm leaning against it.
Actually first I thought I'd get a 2001 Honda Civic Coupe with Side Air Bags since it did pretty well in the crash tests, it had great reliability, and it had great fuel economy as well, but my dad basically made it clear that I would not be getting that car even though I was going to buy it with my own money. My dad said that since it only weighs 2500lbs, that it's an unsafe car and the crash tests are all lies and propoganda so that the car companies can get rich. BTW, my dad drives a 2000 Lincoln Town Car, which in my opinon is a LESS safe car than the Honda Civic Coupe with Side Airbags because of its crash test results and the Lincoln Town Car's higher death rate, its poor accident avoidance capability, and the FATAL flaw in the Lincoln Town Car, it's REAR FUEL TANK which could rupture in a high speed rear accident. Well after my dad refused to allow me to get the Honda Civic, I started looking at the 1999/2000 Volvo S80, and at first I was all set on buying it, but then I realized that it's a very unreliable car and that it would be in the shop a lot if I bought it. I did think twice, but then I thought that safety is so important that I could live with unreliability. I then however discovered that maybe the 1999/2000 Volvo S80 is NOT as safe a car as I had thought. It's true that it did great in the NHTSA Side Impact Crash Tests, but it was never tested in the Front Offset or Rollover Crash Tests by the NHTSA so you don't get the whole picture.
1999 Volvo S80 NHTSA Crash TestOne of 2 things have to be true, either the 1999/2000 Volvo S80 is a VERY SAFE CAR and the NCAP are LYING and bias against Volvo, or
1999/2000 Volvo S80 is perhaps the most overrated car ever in safety.There actually is some circumstancial evidence that the NCAP may actually be bias agaisnt Volvo or something. I mean look at how the 1998 Volvo S70 does excellent in the NHTSA Front Offset Crash Test.
1998 Volvo S70 NHTSA Crash Test2003 Pontiac Vibe NHTSA Crash Test
2000 Lincoln Town Car NHTSA Crash Test