Are Volvos still the safest cars?

@volly - the V40 is OK, but nothing unusual compared to cars of its day, and not as safe as, say, a 2006 or newer car. The S40/V40 were based on the same basic chassis as the Mazda 3 and European Ford Focus.

The XC90 has a terrible reliability record. One of the worst, but it is very safe on the lift at the mechanics. There are very few station wagons out there, tell your son to lump it. It’s not like a crossover is sporty, either. A wagon will drive better and probably be a bit more fuel efficient than a crossover. Though all the luxury wagons are either European or American (Cadillac CTS), and aren’t typically great for reliability, so a Japanese luxury crossover could be a better bet. I like the somewhat carlike Infiniti EX a lot. It doesn’t have the roomiest back seat or luggage compartment, but that may not be an issue for long. The Acura RDX is nice, too, and a bit roomier. Oh, wait. There is one Japanese luxury wagon, the Acura TSX. It’s a very good car, if you don’t expect sports car performance or a super high degree of luxury. But it’s a nice, comfortable traditional wagon. Very much like a modern Volvo equivalent.

^
Well, if you are, “payed” (sic), well, your firefighter-related skills must certainly be better than
your command of the English language
your sense of civility, and
possibly
your emotional stability, as evidenced by your out-of-control rant.

If there was some way on this site to block you I would, but
unfortunately
that capability does not exist in this forum.

This thread does not seem to want to die! Yes, 25 years ago Volvos were the safest cars on the road. Now every car is much safer than those of yesteryear.

Safety is not a matter of mass and weight alone. The way the car is designed to crumble and absorb energy determines largely how safe it is. Race cars routinely crash a 100 mph and the driver walks away.

Years ago you could crash a Volvo into a pickup truck and the Volvo driver came out ahead. Those days are gone.

^
Prepare for an extremely intemperate rant from our new, “friend”, Doc!

I would argue that there is a car with standard Awd and as good crash test and many safety features as any car on the market, that should be at least, on par with Volvo
which costs MORE, model for model. No sense having a safe car if fewer can aford them. Having the safest Rolls Royce does little for the average consumer. Subarus are at least more affordable. Volvos, like SAABs did, like Jeeps do, depend upon name ID as much as actual automobile improvement. Govt. mandates have really leveled the playing field making even inexpensive cars safer then they were.

Dear new best buddy, please take a look at this list:
http://www.informedforlife.org/

There are safe Volvos on the list, as well as MANY other brands and models. Volvos do NOT have the monopoly on safety.

Any Vovos as safe as “the beast” ?


Heck. I don’t see any Volvo ads promoting safety from biochemical attacks !

According to IIHS personal injury payout statistics for 2010-2012, the best large luxury car was the Audi A6, followed by the Volvo C70 in second place. But the Volvo S80 is second to last (17 out of 18). The Volvo S60 was #10 of 33 mid-size luxury cars rated. Audis tend to have the lowest personal injury payouts among the luxury brands.

While I don’t think @Jbags123 will get a high grade in his writing classes, his point is that tests don’t answer all the safety questions. 1st responder’s and the guys that use saws and the “jaws of life” do get a different perspective on vehicle safety. I would tend to believe Volvo’s are still an early adopter of safety technology. But are they way ahead of the competition? That’s the question.

@Jbags123

“your all so f’ing stupid you probably deserve to die in a wreck . . .”

That was probably the most aggressive and abusive statement ANYONE has ever made on this website

“your local friendly firefighter”

If you’re considered friendly, we don’t need enemies

“hence why I get payed so much money”

The people that I’ve known who brag about their paycheck were always very insecure

“I’ll just stop . . .”

We wish you would

Go back to the firestation and play with Sparky

I may be wrong here but it’s my opinion that a vehicle that can’t get out of it’s own driveway would be a very safe car indeed.

We discussed this before
http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2285905/when-did-volvos-get-their-great-reputation-and-when-did-it-stop-being-true/p1

Naw. an Abrams tank is the safest on the road. The jaws of life won’t even touch it. All of life if a compromise though and who wants to drive a tank, let alone park it.

Volvo puts a lot of emphasis on safety, but so does Honda,Toyota,VW,Subaru and many others.

My parents purchased a 1973 Volvo 144 from my grandparents in 1986,the grandparents bought a new Camry which was easier for them to drive and make the u-turn from their cul-de-sac into the carport. The lack of Power Steering as well as Power Brakes made my parents re-think keeping the car for teenage use because it was much harder to steer and brake compared to the VW and Datsun we owned at the time. I know a couple of people who prefer driving large used Cadillac sedans because they feel more secure (one lost his wife in a car accident and has owned Caddy’s at least since the 80’s when i first met him) and others buy Subaru’s because of their track record with the IIHS tests.

My personal opinion and experience, others have different views.

Who keeps resurrecting these old threads?

Who keeps resurrecting these old threads?

In this case it was jbags123
Who I hope will no longer be with us.

We keep responding don’t we ?

As in any round-table disscussion, we toss in our new opinion to an old subject and it keeps us active and on our toes. ( Picture us all actually sitting at a big round table in a bistro, bar, or cafe’ and how some may stay as others come and go. )
Mant times, I’ll get bored of the slowly meandering current subjects and start reading a lot of older ones just to see if there’s anything more to impart.

I think Volvo inovated a lot of the safety features that are now the norm accross the industry.
so 
NOW
 they no longer are leaders as all the others have caught up.

@kengreen I’ll add one final note. A large part of Volvo’s reputation was earned by the good rust protection of their bodies. You may not be aware that until the mid 60s, Volvo did not make their own bodies; they were made by a large Swedish stainless steel equipment manufacturer that I worked for. Although not stainless, they were made with great care and with very good rust protection.

As cars aged, our vehicles rusted away and quickly collapsed in serious collisions. Volvos, on the other hand held together even when old. We did not get any significant rust protection till 1976.