After a minor crash which left the bonnet of my Almera deformed and with barely a scratch on the back of the Peugeot 106 which I had bumped against, I was left thinking whether Japanese car panels are in some way weaker than the German/French counterparts.
After all the Almera is bigger in size and perhaps more sturdier,but I was proven otherwise!
After all German cars are supposed to be extra sturdily built, Renault cars are mostly 5 star NCAP and Volvos are said to be built like trucks and are supposed to be extra tough!
In buying a Japanese car, are we sacrificing safety for reliability and good performance?? Maybe not with the newer cars but those have prices upward of 10k,which are beyond my pocket!
After a painful back and neck following this minor accident, I have been thinking about the next car.
Budget of £8k-10k, with an extra reliability and extremely safe as well??
I have been thinking about the possibilities
Volvo-questions about reliability issues but otherwise perfect.
Honda Accord diesel-Too costly
Toyota Avensis diesel-same as above!
Any suggestions gratefully received, at all.
Thanks
John
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Your bent bonnet was the crumple zone doing its job. I dont think Japanese cars are noticeably less safe than the competition of a similar age.
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Remember, body panels are there for cosmetic reasons only. It's what's behind them (impact beams and the like) that provide the strength.
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It used to be the case 20 odd years ago that Japanese cars had very thin panels when compared to European cars. That has since changed considerably.
Bear in mind that depending upon angle of impact and speed of impact, your car may have come off totally differently. I had a big solid car, and a Fiesta Van decided to reverse into the driver's side at full speed. Fiesta just had a damaged light cluster, my car was undriveable and needed a new wing and door. Go figure!
Euroncap gives a very bad rating to a 1999 Almera they tested, with a 4 star rating for a 2001 Almera.
Look at a Toyota Avensis now, and they have knee airbags fitted, a first in it's class.
My experience of owning Japanese cars is limited to Lexus models. I had a J reg LS400 that had no airbags, I wasn't wearing a belt, and the car skidded, hit a tree at 50mph and rolled over, yet I walked away without even a scratch. The 4 inch square steel girder behind the plastic bumper took most of the impact. The
Just yesterday I picked up my new car, a 1999 GS300. Upon stopping in traffic, a 52 reg Renault Scenic decided to hit me from behind at around 10mph. Got out of the car, and shocked to see no damage to both cars.
Finally, bear in mind that a model rated 5 stars by NCAP may not be 5 stars in every single type of accident. It's gone through specific tests, which may or may not represent all possible accident scenarios! You can't beat the laws of physics, get the biggest car you can afford, if safety is your new mantra...
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>>Just yesterday I picked up my new car, a 1999 GS300. Upon stopping in traffic, a 52 reg Renault Scenic decided to hit me from behind at around 10mph. Got out of the car, and shocked to see no damage to both cars.
Erm, just because you saw no damage, doesn't mean there is none. Most of the modern bumpers have an egg-crate structure behind them that is destroyed progressively, leaving the outside untouched. I was hit from behind in a Mazda 626. The bumper looked untouched. When the car was repaired, and the bumper replaced, I saw that the damaged bumper only had its outer skin intact. All the interior structure had been shattered.
You might well want to have a look inside the bumper on your GS300.
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.. my Almera deformed
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Japanese weaklings? No
almera = nissan = renault = french :: ;-) not japanese. ::
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almera designed & built before almera=nissan
so
almera=nissan=japanese not french.
--
RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family
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