Which wagon would you buy for $4500?

In reply to tuna55:

Perceived safety or actual safety? I was under the impression that Volvo had ridiculously high safety ratings and engineering.

Petrolburner wrote: In reply to tuna55: Perceived safety or actual safety? I was under the impression that Volvo had ridiculously high safety ratings and engineering.

That was my argument as well. She said "prove it" and I could find exactly zero data points regarding safety testing in rear facing seats for the brick. You may have better luck searching, though.

In reply to tuna55: I use them all the time. The kids fight over them, and I've even seen adults scramble to get the preferred tailgunning seat. Driver is responsible for keeping an eye on the rear view. Are they safe? When did this become the Nader Fan Board?

In reply to Petrolburner:Just to clear something up, old Volvos really are not very safe by modern standards. You are actually better off in any recently made sub-compact.

AaronBalto wrote: In reply to tuna55: I use them all the time. The kids fight over them, and I've even seen adults scramble to get the preferred tailgunning seat. Driver is responsible for keeping an eye on the rear view. Are they safe? When did this become the Nader Fan Board?

In my brick I could not even get in it, neither could my 5'6 (??)" wife.

And yeah, I do care a lot about safety now more than ever.

V70 by a mile. I may consider a V70 as my next car.

We do have a vehicle that will seat 5 comfortably while hauling a washer and a dryer- my crew cab F350 long bed. But then it's 23 feet long and gets 15 mpg.

My 850 netted me around 18mpg in town and 27 on long freeway trips. It's not a gas sipper. Same engine as the V70 but the V70 has better gearing - especially with the manual - and probably better engine management.

Edit: Oh, and the rear facing seats in this platform are child sized. I am 6'0" and couldn't even think about getting in them. No way. Not even as a joke. My shoulders are higher than the roof line. You want a rear facing seat that's usable, get a Roadmaster.

Just to be different I would BUILD the following.

1979 zepher wagon.

Add

302

T5

Upgrade brakes and suspension and wheels as needed/wanted.

Safety.

Sigh.

Perceived, or actual?

We have been absolutely inundated by that new Subaru commercial- the one where they're dragging that hopelessly mangled corpse of a Subie wagon to the scrap yard, and the various blue collar workers handling the wreckage tell the next, "They Lived".

Of course I don't want myself, my wife, or my soon-to-be daughter to die in a fiery crash. If I knew for a fact that in 2 years a head-on coming UPS truck was going to swerve into our lane, would I make sure we were driving the highest 5 star safety rated car possible? Sure.

But we don't know these things. And people do still die in Subarus, every year. Someone on here implied recently that recklessless was the new manliness. Is it reckless to put your children into a 10 year old Volvo? How about a 15 year old Ford Taurus? A 20 year old Roadmaster? A brand-new sport bike? At what point does recklessless start?

Moreover, when did we, as a society and culture, start valuing safety over everything else? From a Constitutional standpoint, the Right to Life supersedes all else, because without life, all other rights cannot exist. But, is Life itself the most important thing? Do we value Life so highly that we must do whatever it takes to protect it? I realize that 4 pages into a thread is no place to drop such a deep, involving discussion like this...

This just got too deep for me

In reply to volvoclearinghouse:

Real easy answer there, Mike.

You're the Dad. It's up to you. You asked opinions. You got mine, as a Dad of my kids. Everyone has a different line of "acceptable risk" for me, driving a boring car is well worth the safety gain over an exciting but equally expensive "family" car.

I let my kids load themselves up into a wagon and ride down both hills in my yard while I was inside cooking dinner. Both older boys (5 and 4) ride bikes with no training wheels and I don't mandate helmets. I agree with Tunawife, though, and for daily use, a rear facing seat is not good enough when there are so many better options out there. I'll drive them around in the pickup when it's done, but on good roads, in good conditions, on my terms. Not in daily grind, snow sleet rain, dark, whatever conditions.

Anyway, I'm the parent, so I made those calls.

Now you're the parent. You've heard our opinions. Make your call.

1992 to 1995 Buick Roadmaster wagons are my favorite cars. I have had a couple of Subaru wagons (still have one) but for a cross country trip on all manner of roads from expressways to forest tracks the Roadmaster wagons rock. With the 350 V-8 they surprise a lot on newer cars at a stop light.

I am now looking for a rust free Roadmaster wagon to replace the one the rust dragon ate.

PS: Drop a LS3 or better aluminum block GM V-8 in the Volvo and stiffen the suspension and the results could be very interesting.