The IIHS and Their Testing Procedures: A Primer - Ford-Trucks.com

Well, I read this article on the main page. I'm not going to dispute that safety has improved over the years. My first driving experience was in a 1956 M100 pickup. I have fond memories of that experience, but even my untrained eye can see that a more modern truck would be a much safer ride. Question is, where is the hard data that proves the newer trucks are significantly better? What can we, as consumers expect in terms of survivability in a crash and just how are those terms expressed?

A lot of improvement will be incremental. Is there any list that would show year over year improvements? Is a 2015 model that much better than a 2005? How about a 1995, or maybe a 1975 model? There will be a lot of factors that will be obvious, such as seat belts and collapsing steering columns. Note I did not mention airbags as I recall these were introduced as a response to failure to comply with seat belt usage. Softening the surfaces always helps, but we have introduced wear considerations that become prohibitively expensive to repair. Has this destroyed the ruggedness and utility of the truck?

I recall the 70's ad campaigns bragging that a high percentage of Ford trucks produced in previous decades remained on the job. Nowadays, it is rare to see something over 5 years old on the road. Insurance companies are quick to write off even minimally damaged vehicles and the repair shops are disappearing. Auto manufacturers are clamoring to control the repair of their product which only serves to strengthen their control over the life cycle. Computer controls were a godsend towards increased power and efficiency, now they are increasingly being used for surveillance to the benefit of the insurance industry. Is this all worth it? The auto industry wants to reach deeper into my pockets to make all this happen and I'm wondering if there are any tangible benefits for me?

 

most people these days have the memory and attention span of a rotting cantalope.
they believe anything they read on the internet or hear in the news.
so if the car manufacturers tell them that cars are only safe for 5 years and they need to buy a new one every 5 years, that is what the sheeple are going to do because big brother knows best.

 

There was another news story this past week showing the average of vehicles on America's streets is now 11.5 years. The "newest" thing I've owned recently was 8 years old, salvage-titled at that.

Ford has supposedly demonstrated the aluminum F-150 is at least as strong its steel counterpart, still resisting that repair costs will rise though----denial?

 

Here's another one. I know we like picking on the Dodge boys, but seriously, I don't think driving one would be like signing your own death warrant!

http://m.nydailynews.com/autos/drive...icle-1.1088385

If Ford has the best rating and Dodge has the worst, just what is the point spread here? Exactly what danger do I face with the Dodge, (outside of ridicule from my fellow Ford fanatics?)

 

I had an interesting experience repairing salvage. My daily driver is my 2003 Ranger Edge. One of the issues I had to deal with, supposedly to ensure the safety of my repairs was paint. I took the truck in for a structural inspection and it failed because I had not painted the bare metal. Took a brush and a can of Tremclad and all was well.

I saw a video where they took a sledge hammer to the box side. It actually fared quite well, but repair came in at over $4K. Labour rates were double the time and double the hourly rate because of the special skills needed to work with aluminum.

 

Maybe I missed it....is this rating because of the barrier, offset, rollover etc test data, or was it because of actual accident statistics? It's one thing to have a vehicle that clearly doesn't hold up in a crash. It's quite another to have a poor rating because of the demographic buying the vehicles turning out to be poor drivers for one reason or another.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ash-video.html

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