I work in London and Frankfurt on a regular basis. When I first saw a Smartcar I thought it was slick. But after talking to people that have owned them I wouldn't buy one. They seem to have a lot of mechanical problems. A good friend has one and it has been in the shop more than his driveway. I don't think they even sell them in the UK anymore, sales were too low.

I would go with a Toyota matrix myself.

Michael

 

Are they safe because they spend most of their time on the driveway?

Matrix? Better yet - a Mini Cooper. :-) I have no idea about their efficiency but I sure would love to have one.

 

True, but if you got hit by a large car or SUV, what would you rather be in?

An Excursion or a small car?

We can talk about our driving and that we can control.

But we can't control other's driving (esp. Drunk Drivers or joy riders or Fast & Furious wannabe racers).

I'd rather be in a tank like the Ex. None of the gas saved will matter to me in the afterlife.

I'm not knocking little car's improvements in safety. They are safer, but for me and my loved ones, not safe enough. Ideally, they'd be great for inner city transportation, yes. No doubt.

As for rollovers, give me the Ex anyday!

In Puerto Rico, there are kids dieing weekly from racing their Honda's and Toyota's and Mitsu's. It's just sad. They usually take someone with them when they die. The island is in mourning over this.

I used to take my girls around in my work trucks because I couldn't afford a 2nd family car. I never ever felt unsafe in a rack truck or a full size van.

Then one day, I borrowed my father's Chevy Nova/Toyota Corolla '85. While I used it to work small jobs with (and that little hatch back carried nice loads in the back with a 40' ladder strapped to the top), I had not problems or issues with driving it. I appreciated it's thriftiness and convenience in parking and in driving around.

But when I placed my daughters in it...different story. I was petrified. All the trucks on the road seemed so much bigger than usual. I never drove my little angels in that car again (they were 4 & 2). When I'd travel with them, it was either my Ford F-150 or my Ford E-350. They actually loved my work trucks!

But hey, I would never knock anybody's personal decision for driving a smaller vehicle in considertation for the enviroment and for gas savings. As I've said before, after I upgrade my work trucks, I will be looking at a Ford Escape Hybrid myself.

 

LOL! Your future driveway?

 

In the afterlife, if there is one, your tank will always be full.

As I said, I can make the money back a lot easier than regenerating body parts.

 

Is that the "compact spare" that the newer Exs come with? I have an 01 and I don't have it. Why, the color even matches.

 

Actually, that Mini is "collapsable"!

LOL!

It folds up and turns into a 4th row seat!

LOL!

 

RE : safety issues
No question about it, if I could be guaranteed of the when, where, and what of an accident, I want it to be a "head on" with a kid on a tricyle, and me in my EX.

But here's the problem, folks, there are an inordinate number of DEATHS in Ford SUV's of all types, caused by roll-overs, when that tinny piece of crap they CLAIM is a roof, collapses down to the door handles. You get hit, for example, at an intersection, by anything reasonably heavy going fast, and you ARE going over on your side. If you werent going TOO fast, you should be all right, as the Ford isn't going ALL the way over.

Again, love my EX - does what it was hired to do. But given its high center of gravity, 1920's suspension design, and miserably inadequate body structure, it is NOT the vehicle to go tearing around at high speeds. IF you are not going too fast, you should be able to do what I do - I always think I am driving a motorcycle, and all lights are GREEN for the other guy. By that kind of defensive thinking, you visually "clear" every intersection before you enter it, which means SLOWING DOWN when your vision is obscured.

 

( just me correcting a computer foul - up / for some reason, my above message on thinking about DEFENSIVE DRIVING got posted twice, so I erased the duplicate)

 

6686L, I agree with you that roofs on all trucks (Fords being the topic) are not the strongest.

I'd rather be in a Mini during a roll over but I'd rather be in an Excursion in a wreck against a Mini.

Someone posted pics of what happens when a SD hits an Expedition head on. The lady in the Expy had to be life-flighted away. The passenger in the SD had a concussion I think. The SD weighs more than the Expy and the Expy (a last gen, 03-06) has a really good crash test rating. Imagine if that thing weighs like 3000 lbs. 8000 lbs vs 3000 lbs. I'd rather be in the 8000 lb truck lol.

-rockstate

 

Look at this. My Ranch Hand sits OVER the top of the Miata's roof. Which do you (all people browsing not in particular 6686L) think I'd want to be in - in any wreck?



-rockstate

 

I decided to look for some pictures of of the Excursion rolled over, and heres a good pic of one. One thing I noticed from looking at other pics of other rolled suvs like the Suburban, Excursion, Tahoe, Expedition, Etc. is that they all appear to have collapsed a great amount at the A-pillar, must be the weak spot on suvs and trucks.


Heres the worst pic of a Prius I could find, it doesn't appear to have been rolled.

 

Whew, neither look all that pretty but I'd be willing to bed that nobody was seriously hurt in either wreck.

Roofs on trucks/SUVs are hard to build because there is SO much weight being pushed down. For instance, an Ex probably weighs about 8000 lbs unloaded. That Prius doesn't even weigh half that. Then forms the question, how do you build something strong enough to take 8000 lbs of stagnant force (I don't know how much it is when it's actually rolling) without causing too much damage? Without adding a whole bunch of strengthening, which adds a lot of weight, I don't really know of much a way.

That's my take on the topic more in depth ^


I'd still rather be in a new SUV/Truck.

-rockstate

 

The smart cars claim to safety is the crazy lil roll cage they built around the passenger compartment. Thats a fine and dandy safety component, but the problem is there is nothing around it to absorb the impact of an accident! Same reason a 1960s chrysler is going to still look like a car when hitting a excursion head on at say 40 mph. But the excursion occupants will be hurt much less as the CRUMPLE ZONES absorb the impact. The smart has very little to no crumple zones, its just a big cage on wheels. (think gerbil in a plastic ball) Your internal organs and brain have nothing protecting them from slamming into your skull or ribcage or sloshing around inside you, so when you go 40mph to 0 instantaneously your insides turn to jello. With crumple zones its a cushioned and more controlled deceleration and you are MUCH safer. Same reason seatbelts stretch a little in an accident, all about slowing down the impact felt by the body.

 

Actually, the Smart car has a pretty well designed crumple zone. Look for the video by Top Gear when they dida Smart-vs barrier.