What’s safest - big and old or small and new(ish)?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

I would expect age to have an effect on the V70. If it was a brand new one, no doubt. But with certain level of corrosion and decay on parts of the older cars it wouldn’t surprise me if the Honda would be better. I trust our 2016 V40 over the 2001 V70 any day.

age will have no effect at all the bodyshell will be the same as the day they were made .

[Clan]

Originally Posted by edmoss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDyeWofcLY

Newer smaller car wins.

There were many rumours going around 10 or 15 years ago when this test was carried out that the volvo had been doctored , no engine for example .

The 240 45 years ago could be driven into a solid wall at 50 mph in volvos crash tests and you could open the doors step out with a little dis-orientation no doubt ... That is why The Americans them based their very strict safety regulations on the 240 .

[Thekilt]

Originally Posted by Clan

age will have no effect at all the bodyshell will be the same as the day they were made .

If you take condition into age then that makes a big difference. History of the vehicle, previous accidents, storage etc. An 18 year old dry stored car is not the same as a car kept outside in damp conditions used day in day out with rust etc.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by Clan

age will have no effect at all the bodyshell will be the same as the day they were made .

Do you seriously belive that?

I renewed the chassis on my landrover. In order to get it onto the trailer to dispose of it ,I cut it up with a chop saw. I knew it was corroded internally,the reason I changed it, what horrified me was the amount of unseen corrosion, sections of closed Web that looked like lace. I seriously doubt that outwardly sound chassis would of survived a heavy crash. Welding plates into it did not reinforce the weakend surrounding area but it passed mot every year.

And yes I have seen rusty volvos.

Paul.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

If you take condition into age then that makes a big difference. History of the vehicle, previous accidents, storage etc. An 18 year old dry stored car is not the same as a car kept outside in damp conditions used day in day out with rust etc.

you are not as familiar as I am with examining probably 300,000 + volvo bodies of all versions in my life time V70's from 2000 do not rust they have zinc coated steel ... and will be as strong as they were new today ...

[Clan]

Originally Posted by green van man

Do you seriously belive that?

I renewed the chassis on my landrover. In order to get it onto the trailer to dispose of it ,I cut it up with a chop saw. I knew it was corroded internally,the reason I changed it, what horrified me was the amount of unseen corrosion, sections of closed Web that looked like lace. I seriously doubt that outwardly sound chassis would of survived a heavy crash. Welding plates into it did not reinforce the weakend surrounding area but it passed mot every year.

And yes I have seen rusty volvos.

Paul.

Hi paul , We are not talking about Landrovers but 2000 - V70 bodies ... It is a pity to see some 700 and 900 cars with quite serious rust now but that is still not the norm ... there are even quite a lot of 300 series cars with no rust ! yes its about the fittest surviving and they could rust, but not before giving years of trouble free service and no galvanising anywhere .

[Bendolfc]

Originally Posted by Discombobulated

At work we had to recover two cars from an accident, an R registered (1997/98) BMW 7 series and a 2013 Suzuki Alto, the 2 had had a head on collision overlapping by about 20 percent, imagine the engines slid along side one another and the offside front wheels hit each other head on. The Little Suzuki’s passenger compartment was completely undamaged whereas on the BMW the floor around the pedals was badly crumpled. I think both drivers walked away but surprisingly the Suzuki came off a lot better than the BMW.
I’m not saying it would put me off being in a V70, just trying to say car safety has come on a long way recently. I’m sure there will be Ncap crash tests for both of your vehicles online.

But comparison with a BMW is meaningless, BMW like most manufacturers didn't/dont care about crash tests and only bothered with them when they became pretty much compulsory & even then they designed to handle those specific crash tests. That meant, for example, that when the small overlap test was introduced most manufacturers performed extremely poorly in that test, Volvos did well as Volvo were already designing to handle that type of crash from their real world accident investigation data.

The 2012 5 series is an example of this - https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle...oor-sedan/2012 compate that with the S60 that was already designed to handle that crash scenario - https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle...nt-driver-side

[john.wigley]

I will bow to 'Clan's superior knowledge of Volvo bodies, but my understanding was that any ferrous metal, no matter how well protected, will - eventually - rust.

My own 1987 745, which I had owned since 1998, succumbed to severe under-body corrosion in 2016. I say that, not to disparage Volvos; on the contrary, I think that was an excellent achievement for a car that was kept outside and used in all weathers. In contrast, I can recall cars from the '50s and '60s that rusted out in well under 10 years!

Time will tell how long my present 2000 V70 will endure. It is showing no (external) signs of corrosion and could well outlast me!

Regards, John.

[tofufi]

I work in vehicle safety and see at least 10 crash tests a year.

I'd pick the 2013 Jazz over the 2001 Volvo any day.

There's no way the 20 year old Volvo will perform as well as when it was new (think about lifespan of components such as airbags as well as the bodyshell).

The design of vehicles to improve safety has moved on a long way since 2001.

I drive to work in a range of cars from 1960s to 1990... and am fully aware they are not as safe as a new vehicle.

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by Clan

There were many rumours going around 10 or 15 years ago when this test was carried out that the volvo had been doctored , no engine for example .

Seriously, 'Clan'? Would they be allowed to do that?? Would they be allowed to get away with it ???

Unless the demonstration was sponsored by Renault, who would possibly gain from the deception? I really don't think that Volvo, would start or condone such 'rumours', even if they were disappointed by the 945's showing, do you? Or do you think that it was just a publicity stunt by the producers of the programme?

Regards, John.