The good thing about 4 x 4 cars...

[katiejaye]

if you have an accident the other car is likely to come off worse! Yesterday some complete plonker decided to drive full speed into the back of my Jeep when he wasn't concentrating, I was expecting carnage but when I got out fuming (and sore!) to inspect the damage, all my car had was a tiny dent to the plastic bumper where as the front of the other blokes car was totally crumpled on one side. My car really is built like a tank!

 

[CSYMolly]

Some silly lady did a similar thing to my car, it was parked outside my house and she drove straight into the back/side of it. My bumper was scratched and the entire side of her car was dented and scratched. They have to be useful for something with all we pay for them!

 

[JAK]

Hurrah for tanks!

I had a massive accident years ago in one of the Terranos - lost control on black ice, ploughed through 30 metres of hedge/fencing bfore finally hitting a tree & ended up wedged sideways in a ditch!
Car was a total write-off, entire front end wrecked, radiator split in half etc.........but the cabin was virtually untouched & I was able to kick my way out walk away with barely a scratch!
Had I been in the scooby (which appears to be made almost entirely of plastic!), I fear I would not be sitting here typing this now!

 

[katiejaye]

Wow you are lucky! Thank god for BIG cars! I knew there was a good reason for having one!

 

[JAK]

Is one of the reasons I hired a Volvo when my scooby was pinched....it might be slow & cumbersome but at least there's several inches of solid metal between me & the outside world! LOL

Have seen a few accidents involving Imprezas & MX5s (both of which I have/have had!) over the years.....most were not a pretty sight!

Was a nasty accident up the road here the other day (a not unusual occurrence on this particular set of crossroads!) - a 4x4 was on its roof in the middle of the road but judging by all the shouting & swearing going on, I think all the occupents were ok!
(We didn't rush to look as the police were already there!)

Yep, if you're going to hit something or have something hit you, you are indeed better off sat in a Volvo or a hefty old 4x4, no question!

 

[airedale]

You don't need cars THAT big to walk away from that sort of accident. The average Primera sized car will do that for you.

The difference with tanks is that when a normal car hits a pedestrian the pedestrian might just survive. When one of these tanks hits a pedestrian - pedestrian dies.....

.......just a thought to consider.

I live on a narrow country lane on a hil that is never gritted in snow or ice. I drive only automatics. Until recently I wasn't allowed to live at my farm. So I had to drive to/from every morning and evening to do all the animals.

I don't have 4 wheel drive. I drive a 10 year old Nissan Primera automatic. I get all my horse feed for 9 horses in it once a week including large bales of stuff. For haymaking I can fit 8 or 9 bales in the back and bring in from the field when we have enough stackers to need faster stacking delivery than the grabber provides.

I can take my car down the fields to carry water to the new sheep field until we got the water laid on without getting stuck.

I don't NEED a 4x4 and I question whether many people actually do. My car comfortably seats 5 adults as well, so I don't need the seating space.

Many years ago I got totalled by a petrol tanker on ice - it sided me and rear ended me and pushed me nose on into the crash barrier. I walked away with whiplash - and that was in a 1969 Mk 1 Escort !!!

do we REALLY need these monster 4x4s ??? (towing trailers is a valid reason for having one as I've seen too many trailers being towed dangerously with the 'tail wagging the dog' with a too small towing vehicle) but for the rest of the time............WHY ?

 

[the watcher]

[ QUOTE ]

Yep, if you're going to hit something or have something hit you, you are indeed better off sat in a Volvo or a hefty old 4x4, no question! <img src="http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

[/ QUOTE ]

the only downside of a really old 4x4 is that they have a very solid chassis, they may stay more or less the right shape but the only 'crumple zone' in the vehicle is you, so through the seatbelt you get the full impact of anything that hits you. If you have a real oldie I would recommend you check your head restraints and seats as you personally will take a really big knock through transferred force in the event of a heavy crash

 

[JAK]

Tbh, I reckon you were lucky to walk away from a serious accident sat in a mkI Escort, though if I remember correctly it was the mkIII's that used to vaporise on impact!

I'm not a fan of big 4x4's for the 'school run' either - we had a succession of Terranos to pull a big caravan all over the country!
Never put bull bars on 'em though but I don't make a habit of running into pedestrians either!

However, if the stupid barstewards choose to ignore traffic light signals & step out in front of me, then that's their bl**dy problem as far as I'm concerned & I don't see why I should have to drive an ugly funny-shaped car just because some brain-dead nitwit hasn't got the sense to cross the road safely!

 

[JAK]

True indeed - any really old vehicle is always a bit dodgy! Mine were modern Nissans, with all safety features etc. & whilst it is true that most modern decent cars will protect you to some extent in a crash, it is a fact that some are just more solidly built than others & given the choice of having the same accident again in either the Impreza or the Terrano, I'd pick the Terrano every time! LOL

 

[katiejaye]

I would have a Renault Clio if I could but I need my Jeep Cherokee to pull my trailer! I agree that 4x4's/tanks are silly as family cars or run-arounds as they are impractical, non-economical and can be dangerous in the wrong hands. The day I can afford a horsebox I will happily trade in my 4x4!

 

[katiejaye]

[ QUOTE ]
However, if the stupid barstewards choose to ignore traffic light signals & step out in front of me, then that's their bl**dy problem as far as I'm concerned & I don't see why I should have to drive an ugly funny-shaped car just because some brain-dead nitwit hasn't got the sense to cross the road safely!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said!

 

[airedale]

It's their problem - and they will take the major injury - but it is the driver of the car that will get prosecuted - and with the cane the motorist attitude nowadays the general intention to up the harshness of sentencing for car related deaths to severe terms of prison as reported this week in papers means that the idiot pedestrian or cyclist could still result in the driver going to prison.

I also totally agree with Nissans - have had loads and they are very robust cars - no street cred whatsoever in comparison to 'Toyota' or 'Subaru' but still better value for money.

 

[flyingfeet]

[ QUOTE ]
do we REALLY need these monster 4x4s ??? (towing trailers is a valid reason for having one as I've seen too many trailers being towed dangerously with the 'tail wagging the dog' with a too small towing vehicle) but for the rest of the time............WHY ?

[/ QUOTE ]

If it was cheap to own 2 cars and tax & insure I would have a smaller run about. However decided it was more economical to have just the one big 4x4.

I am really shocked at shows at the number of people that are towing illegally. I have an Ifor 510 (1 ton) and with one horse (750kg) that is heavier than towing capacity of RAV4, CRV, Freelander, XTrail, Vitara etc; let alone a small saloon!

 

[airedale]

exactly what I've seen and it's so dangerous - RAVs and the small Vitara's certainly shouldn't be towing and the large Vitara is only suitable for ponies and very light trailers.

I know lorries have to be kept on the road but TBH I don't think the small 2 horse lorries that are almost Transit van size would be any more expensive to keep than a proper, legal, 4x4 towing vehicle and a trailer. On top of which the ride for the horses is generally better in a lorry than a trailer.

I wish they would stop all this road tax junk and just put the tax straight onto petrol. Then people pay according to how much they use the roads and how thirsty their vehicle is. It also means that tourists pay for our roads as we do in France where they abolished their road tax a few years ago. - Also means no-one can dodge the 'road tax' as they have to pay whenever they put petrol in their tank (or diesel). Means pensioners who drive less than 1000 miles a year aren't paying the same roadtax as a salesman driving 40k miles per yeara

 

[katiejaye]

[ QUOTE ]
I know lorries have to be kept on the road but TBH I don't think the small 2 horse lorries that are almost Transit van size would be any more expensive to keep than a proper, legal, 4x4 towing vehicle and a trailer. On top of which the ride for the horses is generally better in a lorry than a trailer.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not the cost of running it, it's the cost of buying it. I would love a little 2 horse lorry conversion but I just can't afford one. Probably if I sold my car and trailer I may afford an old knackered lorry, but then I would also need to buy a small car. My second hand 4x4 and trailer cost a lot less.I would rather a safe 4x4 and new trailer to an old knackered out lorry. One day hopefully I will be able to afford a new lorry and a little run-around car.

 

[SpruceRI]

I sold my little Transit lorry for a 4x4 and trailer as I thought that would be more economical. In some ways it is as the trailer is serviced annually for less than £100 and doesn't need road tax. But the 4x4 is extremely juicy, so I pay through the nose in fuel, whereas the Transit would get me through a month of trips on £30, the present car costs more than that a week! But it was the stress of the Transit failing it's MOT at least once every year, plus the car doing the same and having to put a new gear box in both within a month of each other that tipped me over the edge! Buying the 4WD and trailer needed a loan to help pay for but has been loads less stressful in the long run. Nowhere to keep your gear mind you, in a trailer!