Read a newspaper story quoting RAC saying parents should help get their kids into safer, newer cars rather than the old bangers that most of us made do with when we bought our first cars (burnt orange '73 Corolla, bought from my mum - at least it was RWD...).
Fair enough.
The RAC then went on to say that didn't mean parents had to spend big dollars to get something with all the right safety gear, and listed their top ten safest cars under $15,000 as a guide to what to get your kids ($15K still sounds like a lot to me - my 1st car cost me $500).
Have a look at the list, especially No2 - Hyundai iLoad!!!!
What self respecting teenager wants a bloody delivery van for their first car? Not to mention how any dad might feel if their daughter's prospective boyfriend arrived to pick her up in the geek equivalent of a shaggin' wagon.
I note that with respect to their number 1 choice, Ford Focus, the RAC also makes no comment about the tendency for complete transmission/gearbox failure either...
;D ;D ;D
I think I want to sell all my cars and buy an iLoad!! Imagine the perfect 50/50 weight distribution with perfect handling and an exterior no one can resist! I wonder if there is a Spettacolo event for the iLoad???
This brings me onto another topic, why spend 15k on a van when you can pick up an older 2000's model Mercedes (for example) with a V8 for probably less than 15k with much more character, a ton of features and would be just as safe.
Today's cars have just lost all personality. They have gotten bigger, heavier, safer and loose all sense of actually driving and controlling the machine.
Andrew.
Or you could just go for a post 2002+ 156 V6 with 190 bhp, 7 airbags, ABS and ESC - usually for less than $7k.
Even my first series 1 (late 2001) had all of the above, except the ESC, which became standard thereafter.
My current '99 model has to make do with 2 airbags and ABS...
Quote from: poohbah on January 06, 2017, 01:05:01 PM
My current '99 model has to make do with 2 airbags and ABS...
MY GOD! A DEATH TRAP! ::)
For the reasons mentioned above, is why I help so many parents get their kids into a decent 147, cheap as chips, more safety features than a teenage can spell, and brilliant handling for a FWD Hatch.
AND most importantly, because it has an air of "eliteness" a car that the kids WANT to drive, how many of their friends can say "I drive an Alfa Romeo". Lets face it, it does sound better than a Camry! ;D
Baz
How cool would you look pulling into the school car park in this? ... and for only $2500!
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/ascot/cars-vans-utes/2001-alfa-156-2-5-v6-6-months-rego-/1134819217 (http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/ascot/cars-vans-utes/2001-alfa-156-2-5-v6-6-months-rego-/1134819217)
Well somebody must have, its sold already! ;D
Baz
You snooze you lose...
Haha, I've had half a dozen cars and a couple of motorcycles in the ten years I've had my license, but never one even close to 15k. I'm sure RAC means well, but to me 15k is a serious amount of money for any car, especially a first car.
Just going back to that RAC list - only 3 of the ten are even cars. All the rest are SUVs or commercials. Again, must be some good sheeeeet getting smoked at RAC headquarters if that's their idea of ideal teenager transport.
Quote from: poohbah on January 06, 2017, 10:46:44 PM
Just going back to that RAC list - only 3 of the ten are even cars. All the rest are SUVs or commercials. Again, must be some good sheeeeet getting smoked at RAC headquarters if that's their idea of ideal teenager transport.
In their defence my first car was a beat up panel van and it really taught me how to drive. I had to learn to drive on my mirrors, look over my shoulder really well, that sort of things. No crap in the cabin to distract me. There has never been a car, van, truck or whatever I had trouble driving after that.
Quotebeat up panel van
Sandman or Drifter (or the completely forgotten Sundowner)?
Another good theory from an organisation with vested interests but, as usual, completely ignoring the much cheaper and vastly more beneficial alternative, one that could actually save lives - TEACHING people how to drive properly and not simply putting them through the licence testing process.
Perhaps if more emphasis had been placed on actually teaching people how to drive properly years ago the automotive industry may not have had to resort to spending billions on safety features that have become required because of the abject failure of all governments to address the subject of driver education.
This has resulted in successive generations of drivers believing that all the safety features in their cars will save them. A bit like Get Smart's Cone of Silence.
All the safety features in the world will simply not protect drivers/passengers or overcome lack of driver skills and inadequate training.
BE
Hear Hear..Barry.....!!
Well said matey.
There's 90% apathy , 8% informed ,knowledgable & conscientious who's opinion are disregarded and suppressed.......by the 2% indebted and in bed with government beauracracy and 'expert' law manipulators.
Its , give out a licence...provide substandard driving conditions , then whack the transgressors and get them off the roads physically and financially. Brilliant.
Quote from: poohbah on January 06, 2017, 11:57:39 PM
Quotebeat up panel van
Sandman or Drifter (or the completely forgotten Sundowner)?
Haha, nah I'm from Europe, so nothing like those unfortunately. I had a green manual 1996 Peugeot Partner with faded paint and a 1.9 non-turbo diesel. Was the company car of my parents and when trading it in they got a lowball offer of 500 euros or something, so they gave it to me instead. Awesome first car.
After my first hand-me-down car from Mum (I only kept it for about 6 months) I mostly owned big old Aussie station wagons for the next 15 years - 71 Valiant Safari, 75 Valiant, 78 Kingswood, and 59 Holden FC. Brilliant for lugging band gear around, going bush, sleeping in the back, and cool looking with their own special beat-up retro style.
The driving experience was not exactly dynamic - but they did teach me to be a bit more patient in traffic, especially spatial awareness. The 71 Safari also had a big 245 Hemi with extractors, and with no load in the back, could get pretty squirrelly when you put your foot down, so it also taught me how to control a fishtail!
Quote from: poohbah on January 08, 2017, 11:37:33 AM
The 71 Safari also had a big 245 Hemi with extractors, and with no load in the back, could get pretty squirrelly when you put your foot down, so it also taught me how to control a fishtail!
Oh, you're not a "Hoon" . . .noooooo. ::) ;)
Baz
We should all embrace our inner Bogan.
Going from Valiants to Alfas has provided a thin veneer of respectability more fitting for my age. Like wearing an Armani jacket and double-pluggers...
I remember when I was 18 and looking for my first car I came across a Charger with the 245 under the hood, the idiot in me just wanted something that would drag off my friends . . . . . .fortunately the intelligent being inside decided on a 1300 Corolla . . . . that one decision probably saved me from killing myself at an early age. ::)
Funny thing, is the 245 Hemi only put out 120kw in its day, about the same as a my 156 JTS, a car soooo much lighter.
Probably explains why after driving with me for a week or two as the passenger in my 156, my wife had a drive, put her foot down as we went up the big hill next to our place, and with surprise uttered to herself "oh it's not you . . . .it is the car!"
I didn't know whether to take it as a compliment to the car, or an insult to her believing I was driving like a hoon! ;D
Baz
Nooooooooo. You had a chance to buy a charger and you went for the corolla 1300 (same as my first car)????
At 17, a proper E49 six pack charger was my dream car. Would still be in my dream 10 car garage. Yep, I am a hoon.
Quote from: poohbah on January 08, 2017, 05:32:39 PM
Nooooooooo. You had a chance to buy a charger and you went for the corolla 1300 (same as my first car)????
Topic should be retitled: what is the bazzbazz smoking?
Hehehe ;D
Quote from: poohbah on January 08, 2017, 05:32:39 PM
Nooooooooo. You had a chance to buy a charger and you went for the corolla 1300 (same as my first car)????
At 17, a proper E49 six pack charger was my dream car. Would still be in my dream 10 car garage. Yep, I am a hoon.
My brother bought at 19 a Ford Fairmont 302in V8 XA. He did it to impress his g/f (whom he eventually married). He did not have a drivers license at the time of delivery so the salesman dropped it off at our place and then we sat in it in the driveway. A few months later he had to sell it because he could not afford the re-payments. But hey, he had bigger dreams than a Corolla 1300!
Quote from: As the day goes on January 08, 2017, 06:51:43 PM
My brother bought at 19 a Ford Fairmont 302in V8 XA. He did it to impress his g/f (whom he eventually married). He did not have a drivers license at the time of delivery so the salesman dropped it off at our place and then we sat in it in the driveway. A few months later he had to sell it because he could not afford the re-payments. But hey, he had bigger dreams than a Corolla 1300!
Better love story than twilight
Quote from: V AR 164 on January 08, 2017, 06:34:55 PM
Quote from: poohbah on January 08, 2017, 05:32:39 PM
Nooooooooo. You had a chance to buy a charger and you went for the corolla 1300 (same as my first car)????
Topic should be retitled: what is the bazzbazz smoking?
Hehehe ;D
I just new if I had bought it I would have gotten the rear end "all squirrelly" right up a light pole! ::)
Baz
QuoteI would have gotten the rear end "all squirrelly" right up a light pole!
Funny you should say that - I got my first lesson in opposite lock steering in my corolla, hanging it out on a bend in the rain and finding myself heading for a nearby wall. But thanks to the mighty 1300 I was probably only doing about 30kph.
ahh memories.
What I had at 17, and what I dreamed of having ...
At least they are the same colour!
From a distance they look similar haha
Yeah, I wonder how my GTV would look in burnt orange?
"burnt orange" - Hmmmm, a bit like your old 156? ;D
Baz
B**tard...
Maybe I'll go for Fireball Yellow.
You could get 10 equally "safe" cars for half that price. I guess the RAC does have a vested interest in not promoting relatively inexpensive cars. The RAC provides vehicle insurance. The more expensive the vehicle......usually the higher the premium......especially if driven by an 18yo! Put the fear of god into overprotective parents and coerce them to purchase readily available cars and then have them comprehensively insured. Stats confirm the car will be involved in a prang at some early stage. What would be the insurance premium post claim for an 18yo driving a $15k car? Seems more like a cynical grab for cash than constructive advise on vehicle suitability. Its always about the money!
Quote from: poohbah on January 08, 2017, 11:37:33 AM
After my first hand-me-down car from Mum (I only kept it for about 6 months) I mostly owned big old Aussie station wagons for the next 15 years - 71 Valiant Safari, 75 Valiant, 78 Kingswood, and 59 Holden FC. Brilliant for lugging band gear around, going bush, sleeping in the back, and cool looking with their own special beat-up retro style.
The driving experience was not exactly dynamic - but they did teach me to be a bit more patient in traffic, especially spatial awareness. The 71 Safari also had a big 245 Hemi with extractors, and with no load in the back, could get pretty squirrelly when you put your foot down, so it also taught me how to control a fishtail!
Traveling with a herd of other kids in the back of a Kingswood with the tail gate window wound down was better than Christmas! ;D
Young things today. Send 'em out in one of them old station wagons - a pre-rollbar model and cross ply skinny tyres. That's teach them something about cornering. Drum brakes on the front might cure any tendency to tail gate too.
Druuum brakes? Luxury!
In my day, we used our heels, wearing sandals if you were lucky, sticking out from both sides of the vehicle, pressed into the melting bitumen, to stop.
QuoteDrum brakes on the front might cure any tendency to tail gate too
You guys crack me up.
I remember wondering (back when I was still a youngster) why the front wheel on my '59 FC locked up while reversing out of the driveway one day. Opened up the drum, and the lining of the shoe just fell out ... it had completely separated from the shoe itself.
I replaced the shoes on that wheel but never even bothered checking the other front drum. Drove the car as normal for another year or so without any problems and ended up selling it to a bloke who arrived in a FC ute.
Quote from: As the day goes on January 10, 2017, 01:45:49 PM
Druuum brakes? Luxury!
In my day, we used our heels, wearing sandals if you were lucky, sticking out from both sides of the vehicle, pressed into the melting bitumen, to stop.
Well when I say Drum Brakes what we really had were Paper Bag in middle o road.
Quote from: poohbah on January 10, 2017, 04:01:00 PM
QuoteDrum brakes on the front might cure any tendency to tail gate too
You guys crack me up.
I remember wondering (back when I was still a youngster) why the front wheel on my '59 FC locked up while reversing out of the driveway one day. Opened up the drum, and the lining of the shoe just fell out ... it had completely separated from the shoe itself.
I replaced the shoes on that wheel but never even bothered checking the other front drum. Drove the car as normal for another year or so without any problems and ended up selling it to a bloke who arrived in a FC ute.
Had a Boss who told me the story of when his brakes failed totally on his Austin 7 and he sailed straight across the McIvor highway in Bendigo, narrowly being missed by a driver on the Highway who yelled: "Why didn't you stop you Mongrel", he yelled back "I would have loved to if I could."
Quote from: Al Campbell on January 11, 2017, 02:55:28 PM
Quote from: As the day goes on January 10, 2017, 01:45:49 PM
Druuum brakes? Luxury!
In my day, we used our heels, wearing sandals if you were lucky, sticking out from both sides of the vehicle, pressed into the melting bitumen, to stop.
Well when I say Drum Brakes what we really had were Paper Bag in middle o road.
And you try telling that to the youth of today!
Quote from: As the day goes on January 11, 2017, 04:19:23 PM
And you try telling that to the youth of today!
Well, that's your first mistake, you were foolish enough to try! ::)
Quote from: poohbah on January 08, 2017, 08:44:27 PM
ahh memories.
What I had at 17, and what I dreamed of having ...
Memories! My mother had a new KE20 corolla exactly the same in '72. The name of the colour is Big Bad Orange. Always stuck with me. When I was 18 my best mate bought and restored an ex Eastside Chrysler E49 race car, also in orange. We used to pool as much money as we had to put in the 40 gal tank in the boot & enjoy the sound of the triple webers sucking it down. So cool to drive on P plates! Lucky for me, dad bought an Alfetta which I learnt to drive in, before buying my first car, a 67 VC valiant. 225 slant six with drum brakes on retread tyres....I am still alive. :D
On hearing the news piece on the card radio, I had a loud conversation with said radio about the stupidity of governments' attitudes to driver training. The cynic in me says thats theres more profit in metering out fines. TV news last night about the three melbourne cameras raking in about $2m each in 3 months, all 40k zones with 75% of fines levied at under 10k over the limit. We are all soooo much safer.
We must live in parallel worlds Craig! I had a good mate when I was about 19, who had a beautiful red E49 lookalike. We had a basket ball team, and he used to pick us all up in the Charger each week. Beat the average team bus for sure. Still remember what seemed like incredible acceleration in that thing.