Non Audi advice needed

[Doyt W. Echelberger]

You are doing all the right things to keep you young driver out of trouble, 
Dave. Driving school, cross training on other vehicles. And you are asking 
around.

In looking at crash tests over the years from 1987 to 1994, AIR BAGS stand 
out as a major innovation and resulted in large reductions in crash 
injuries for drivers. No need here to get into their effect on children or 
passengers. And special winter tires are probably a good idea in the snow 
belt. Young drivers tend to have lots of trouble with slippery surfaces. 
Maybe ABS would be a good idea in those areas.

You can get crash test results on any of your final candidates at

                            http://www.crashtest.com/

and I hope you do that before making the final decision.

I looked over that web site and used some other data to eliminate some 
candidates, based mainly on crash test results. At the bottom edge of this 
air bag era, among the 1991-92 small cars and compacts, I'd stay away from 
the Eagle Summit, Hyundi Scoupe, Izusu Stylus, the Passat thru '94, the 
Prelude, the BMW 3 series before 1992, the Mazda MX-5, Miata and Protege', 
the Mitsubishi Mirage, the Nissan Stanza or Sentra, Saturns, the Subaru 
Legacy, the Mercedes 190E, the Lexus ES250, and the Olds Calais. The Toyota 
Corolla, Paseo, and Tercel scored poorly, as did the Olds Cutlass Supreme 
and the Pontiac Grand Prix. I'd stay away from the 4000 and the 5000 series 
also, because the model 80/90 and the 100/200 had better crash numbers.

If I were putting my 18 year old son today into a car that he had to be 
driving in a serious head-on crash, I'd have him in one that was equipped 
with reliable air bags and seat belts. I'd look at the insurance costs for 
the car I was interested in, because those costs tend to reflect claim 
rates, which include personal injury cost factors. A high insurance cost 
factor would not be a desirable feature or predictor, combined with a young 
male driver status. And I'd screen the car at  http://www.crashtest.com/ or 
some other place that I had some confidence in.

If I could afford it, I'd consider any year Ford Bronco, or a Ford Taurus. 
The 92-95 Crown Vics look pretty good also in the crash tests. These are 
heavier cars/trucks and tend to fare better in two car collisions and have 
average to low insurance ratings. For smaller cars, the Buick Skylark 80-91 
has some very good numbers, as does the 89-93 Park Avenue. Cars that got 
through the crash test screen were the Audi 100/200, the 80/90(1988-1991), 
and the Honda Accords(1990-1993 4 dr). Avoid the 2 door Accords 1990-1993.

So, if I could find and afford an air bag Audi 100/80/90, I'd consider it 
for my son as a first car. I think I'd steer clear of the VW Rabbit class 
for a first car, after looking at the numbers.

Hope this viewpoint can be helpful.


Doyt Echelberger
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
 > At 06:44 PM 7/31/2001 -0400, you wrote:
 > >Anyone have expertise on Rabbit Pickemups? I'm looking at an 83 with 84
 > >GTI transplant, 5 speed, 4 wheel disk brake conversion and Cabrio nose.
 > >Has some rust on one rocker and a wheel well. Haven't seen it yet, but
 > >of course the rust is my worry. Around 1600... This one would be the
 > >son's first car...