Definitely off topic in this forum, but since i carry you guys's opinion in such high esteem i'm asking it here. .RJ feel free to move it to GDD...

Pops was in a pretty serious accident this past weekend--he was driving eastbound on a surface street in the rain, when a westbound silverado HD lost control, hopped the 6" center island, and hit pops in the driver's side front. Luckily, he walked away with a broken wrist and some soreness. Needless to say, were he not in the 4500 lb behemoth of a sedan that he was driving at the time, things would have been much worse. The car was totaled, and looking at pictures, i'm amazed that he's alive.

So, in lesser news, he's in the market for a new car. I've been enlisted to do some research on what he should look into, and his particular emphasis is on safety. I've never been one to be impressed with the 21st century's automotive techno-gadgets and 5000 lb curb weights, so this renders me quite useless when it comes to everyone's particular bells and whistles.

I'm sure that side curtain airbags, crumplezones, HUD's, adaptive cruise control, knee airbags, ABS, stability control**, good brakes, better tires, and a certain amount of maneuverability are important to driver safety--but i was wondering if you guys had any particular insight as to what works and what doesn't when it comes to these newfangled features. I've scanned the IIHS's frontal crash test info, i've read the skepticism regarding side impact reports, and reading the brochures it all sounds great--but what's gonna give a person the best chance when things get fubar on a rainy day in SoCal?

So far i've been looking at the fullsize offerings from a few german companies, a swedish company, and an english carmaker. Judging by reliability reports from all 5 carmakers, i'm not enthused, but like the last german heap of unreliable-but incredibly safe metal, i suppose dealing with the dealership on a monthly basis is a small price to pay for keeping your life in a head on collision.

thanks!

 

The Sweed's, and the German's that bought into chrysler, have always been ahead in the field of safety. When I was working in the industry, their safety research was unbelievable. I don't know if this is still the case now that Saab is becoming another GM badge engineered brand; but I doubt they've gone backwards in their safety technology, which used to be ahead of the pack.

Your other choice would be to just buy a big, hunkin' peice of American SUV and hope you take out the little guy, which seems to be the favored choice of poor drivers these days, so they can save their own asses.

 

based on what i've read over the years, a certain swedish car company that used to have a well-touted reputation of producing "the safest production cars in the world" still holds true to that ideal. i don't know which swedish car company you were referring to, maybe it is the same one, but if not, check out volvo. if the old man likes a spirited drive every now and then, they do have the S60R...