My wife was in an accident last friday with a Mercury Grand Marquis which has a frame (same as a Crown Vic like the cops use or a Lincoln Town Car). Her Infinity is crushed into a ball of scrap metal while it looked like the Merc could be driven off if the fender was pulled away from the tire. I don't care what rating the Insurance Institute gives a non-frame car it's going to lose in a crash with a frame car. I think they both weigh the better part of 4000#'s and are similar in size so it wasn't a case of big car vs little car. If I had a teenager getting their first car it would be a frame type regardless of what name was on it.
I drive Crown Vics and Grand Marquis. The Grand Marquis I now drive has averaged 24-mpg since new for 100,000 miles. This includes city & highway. I have replaced the spark plugs but the ones coming out still looked new. Am on the third set of tires, the front end has never been checked for alinement. Its a shame they quit making them. I like rear wheel drive and cant aford the corvette.
Evan i am think a truck, frame, tall, and a real bumper. I was only aloud one and she is a hand full just like I was.
Evan, First and foremost, I hope the missus was unhurt. I understand your logic behind the crumpled ball vs the bent fender. It makes perfect sense, if you are looking at it from the VEHICLE point of view. Modern vehicles are engineered and designed to absorb energy (at great cost to themselves) to prevent the occupants from absorbing that same energy. They have become disposable human transporters, designed to protect us from ourselves, nothing more. Thankfully, there are still some old ones around for us to cherish, or we would have to submit to watching sports all the time. Mike, Wilton NH
Sorry~ Evan, sorry to hear that happened to your wife. I assume she is OK? I'll never forget what happened to that little car the foreign student was driving when he pulled out in front of me. I was driving my 1964 Chevy truck. He got paint on my bumper. The front end of his car was all pointing to the passenger side, and was very much "totaled"!
Whew ! I'm glad she's O.K. Evan . This is why the L.A.P.D. stopped buying Chevies ~ only Brand 'F' still makes a frame on body typ car . My cars are now old Mercedes' and I get to see some really badly wrecked ones in the junkyards , the passenger compartment is always intact as the rest of the car crumples . I've seen the rear bumper of a W-125 SEL (the biggest car they make) within 4" of the back seat and no one was hurt in the wreck . My missus drives a little Toyletta Corroded , I hate it as it's patently UNSAFE and I am rather fond of her .
Guess I left out the important part. The older than us (her 78, him 81) folks in the frame car said they didn't need medical attention, just a way to the airport to pick up their grand daughter. My wife sustained a broken arm, ribs deeply bruised, and burns, bruises, and scrapes from the air bag. She is just 4' 9" tall and they say air bags are potentially dangerous to children or small people. She wimpers and groans but won't stay home after I brought her home from the hospital but instead is in the shop sweeping and vacuuming one handed.
instead is in the shop sweeping and vacuuming one handed. If you find another one of those, let me know.
Re:Wife in crash Glad to hear your wife is gonna be ok! I hate to use the word here (Ford) but my wife drives an Explorer. Before that she drove a GMC envoy, I drive a Jeep GC for daily use. All are built on frames and I feel that she is safer in a frame-on vehicle too. We all need to stop driving these econo-boxes and get back to real American cars.
