Safest cars for kids....

[irodger]

Help please!

A friend has been telling me how his wife wants to trade in their Quashqai thing for a big 4x4. Her reasons being its becoming increasingly difficult to get to either sets of grandparents in the worsening Scottish winters (both sets live at the top of steep hills, one of them next to a farm in the countryside) and she thinks they are safer for the baby. We're already starting to see snow up here in Scotland btw.

Their train of thought is along the lines of "its a big 4x4, it'll be safe for the baby, easy to get baby stuff in/out of and it'll be good in the winter".

My train of thought is "buy a Scooby/Legacy/RS4 estate" and stop being a blouse. Or buy winter tyres and fit them for 4 months of the year. I know its common to think 'the bigger the tank the, safer it will be', but Euro NCAP doesn't seem to test big 4x4s for child safety. Surely these should now be expected to carry kids in the back and as such should be tested?

Anyways, I don't have kids and know little about them or what they need :P Driving enjoyment isn't a consideration as he'll be buying an older M3 or new Type-R soon. So, learned PHers, whats the most useable child-safe car around? MPV on winter tyres? Estate car? Small 4x4 ala Freelander? Big 4x4 ala Range Rover?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Edited by irodger on Wednesday 20th October 22:56

[V88Dicky]

Something like a Quashqai I'd imagine. Apparantly they're available in 4wd too.

[littleandy0410]

Yep, Qashqai is one of the safest cars around:

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/nissan_qashqai_2007/...

[hesnotthemessiah]

Get a Defender IMHO, go anywhere in any weather and no-one argues with a Defender but maybe a bit agricultural for the missus?

[anonymous-user]

In those States where kids are allowed to drive from the age of 14 many families choose either a small Chevrolet or something from Hyundai.

[Beyond Rational]

Keep the current car, winter tyres, advanced driving/skid control lessons if they feel at risk on the roads.

They sound like they are functioning on baby logic though and are probably too far gone. Do not enter into an arguement unless you already have children.

[irodger]

V88Dicky said:

Something like a Quashqai I'd imagine. Apparantly they're available in 4wd too.

This I did not know! I thought they were all just wrong wheel drive. He must know this though, I'm sure he'd have checked the available specs when buying his current one. I shall ask.

As for the Defender, not sure what it'd be like in a smash, possibility of kids getting thrown all over the place with the force of a rear impact? They don't diisipate the energy around the chassis/shell do they?

[irodger]

Beyond Rational said:

They sound like they are functioning on baby logic though and are probably too far gone. Do not enter into an arguement unless you already have children.

Hahahahaaa! I have experienced this with people before.....don't mention parent & child parking

[EDLT]

irodger said:

V88Dicky said:

Something like a Quashqai I'd imagine. Apparantly they're available in 4wd too.

This I did not know! I thought they were all just wrong wheel drive. He must know this though, I'm sure he'd have checked the available specs when buying his current one. I shall ask.

As for the Defender, not sure what it'd be like in a smash, possibility of kids getting thrown all over the place with the force of a rear impact? They don't diisipate the energy around the chassis/shell do they?

For when he says "I don't know", the 4x4s come with a switch (its either to the left of the steering wheel or on the centre console iirc) to select 2WD, 4WD or AUTO.

Getting rid of a (possibly) 4x4 just to buy a slightly larger 4x4 seems like madness to me, especially as "the baby" implies that they only have one child.

[Hip2Bsquare]

TVR Moneypit said:

I'm not really in the mood for bks this evening, so forgive me if I am being a little too blunt.

Tell your mate to stop being a dhead. Tell him to tell his mrs to stop being a silly bh. Tell them both to fit some snow tyres to their 4x4 Datson and learn how to fking drive FFS!

Spelling for Datson is Datsun - glad to be of help

[irodger]

TVR Moneypit said:

I'm not really in the mood for bks this evening, so forgive me if I am being a little too blunt.

Tell your mate to stop being a dhead. Tell him to tell his mrs to stop being a silly bh. Tell them both to fit some snow tyres to their 4x4 Datson and learn how to fking drive FFS!

Aww, are the painters in, pettle? I'll assume so and let you go and tend to the little red blobs in the front of your pants.

To those with the sensible replies, thanks. And its definitely not a 4x4 Quashqai they currently have, its the 2WD. I remember asking him what the point in it was at the time. "So it looks like a 4x4, but it isn't?" was my wonder.

As someone mentioned previously, 'Baby-mode' is not something which can be taken lightly these days. I sent him a link to a Impreza Turbo Estate, UK car, unmolested, lovely. Wasn't even considered for a second. A 911 C4 and a buspass were not entertained either.

[twazzock]

Flog the Qashqai and err... buy a 4WD one and some winter tires. Sorted.

[davepoth]

They even do a LWB Qashqai +2 if you want a big one...

[FamilyGuy]

If child safety is their top priority then they will need to ensure that whatever they buy has ISOFIX and buy child seats accordingly. Seatbelt held seats are rubbish in side impacts compared to ISOFIX which are fixed to the seats by metal bars.

[PIGINAWIG]

TVR Moneypit said:

I'm not really in the mood for bks this evening, so forgive me if I am being a little too blunt.

Tell your mate to stop being a dhead. Tell him to tell his mrs to stop being a silly bh. Tell them both to fit some snow tyres to their 4x4 Datson and learn how to fking drive FFS!

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Pints]

irodger said:

I sent him a link to a Impreza Turbo Estate, UK car, unmolested, lovely. Wasn't even considered for a second. A 911 C4 and a buspass were not entertained either.

Surprised he didn't consider an Impreza. Their 4wd system is incredible and AFAIK are rated very highly when it comes to safety.

In South Africa, where the RTA statistics and related deaths are very high, there has only been one death in a Subaru.

[dictys]

Can't see what is wrong with a big 4x4, it will get you where you want to go, lots of room for the kids and if new then safe.

I would go for either a Land Cruiser V8, Nissan Patrol or Land Rover Discovery or Range Rover, why not if you can afford the fuel.

[Vytalis]

As a parent you have every right to completely over react and go slightly insane. I did and found the 'safest' car I could by trawling YouTube for crash test results. Ended up with an xc90...

In my defence, I do live in the middle of nowhere so do actually need 4x4.

Check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpL7DmNSzrU&fea...

[Hip2Bsquare]

FamilyGuy said:

If child safety is their top priority then they will need to ensure that whatever they buy has ISOFIX and buy child seats accordingly. Seatbelt held seats are rubbish in side impacts compared to ISOFIX which are fixed to the seats by metal bars.

Qashqai has Isofux as standard.

I used the Qashqai in deep snow & ice earlier this year & on the standard bridgestone dueller tyres & only front wheel drive it coped extremely well. I can post pics

Get some winter tyres on a Qashqai & it'll be unstoppable!

[madala]

...lol.....read this thread completely the wrong way.....was thinking something like a peddle car....I'll get my coat.....