<p>My wife wants a car that gets > 40 mpg, but those few options are small cars with light bodies. We live in an area with lots of deer and have a son who’ll get his learner’s permit this fall. The Honda Insight gets huge gas mileage and could be fun to drive, but I’d fear for my son if a deer jumps in front of him driving an Insight. Big, safe, tank-like vehicles with low mpg are not going to be something we’ll consider.</p>
<p>So, if I modify my needs from huge mpg or extreme crash safety to just high mpg with good safety ratings, what models would give me the best of both?</p>
<p>I read a report on a car safety study several years ago and they concluded that, in terms of fatality risk, small cars fared better than SUV’s. The authors concluded that while small cars were higher risk in a collision, their nimbleness and control in sudden manuvers allowed them to avoid serious accidents that, under similar circumstances, large SUV’s could not.</p>
<p>I’d go with the new Ford Fusion Hybrid—best mid-sized car on the market, bar none. It gets outstanding crash-test ratings, better gas mileage than the Toyota Camry Hybrid (Fusion 41 city/36 highway v. Camry 33 city/34 highway), virtually identical interior space (i.e., plenty of leg, shoulder, and head room both forward and aft), and more cargo space than the Camry. Oh, and for those who care, it seems to be pretty much a consensus among car reviewers that the Fusion handles more nimbly and has a little more zip than the Camry, making it a fun car to drive. The Camry is a great car, but Ford’s got Toyota beat in this market segment.</p>
<p>originaloog, what if they hit you? Every accident I had but one was where I was hit by a driver who ran a red light, was drunk, was reckless, or otherwise put me in a situation where I could not avoid the accident. I’ve had a Ford Maverick <a href=“rammed%20by%20a%20driver%20with%20no%20license%20or%20idea%20how%20to%20drive%201984”>i</a>, Buick LeSabre <a href=“hit%20by%20a%20woman%20behind%20me%20trying%20to%20beat%20the%20light%20but%20could%20not%20stop%20in%20time%20after%20crossing%20the%20intersection%201986”>i</a>, a Dodge Shadow <a href=“broadsided%20by%20a%20drunk%20driver%20at%20an%20intersection%201994”>i</a>, and a Honda Accord <a href=“stolen%20by%20thieves%20who%20wrecked%20the%20car%20while%20using%20it%20in%20a%20robbery%20later%20that%20day,%202005”>i</a>. </p>
<p>Give me steel and weight and superior clearance anyday!</p>
<p>Bunsenburner, add my vote to the Camry, it runs well, and is safe and economical.</p>
<p>My wife has been hit 2 times while stopped at a traffic light. She did not stop suddenly. She had been stopped for a while. Recently she was hit again while waiting for a break in the traffic so she could make a turn. I think we want a pretty heavy vehicle. Maybe a full sized hummer or a big pickup?</p>
<p>How about the Mercedes clean diesels? From an environmental standpoint they are much better than hybrids because there is no place to put the used batteries from the hybrids. Some call the batteries the new nuclear waste. From a safety standpoint it’s hard to beat!</p>
<p>We have been very happy with our Honda CRV. Rides high like the SUV that it is, feels much bigger than it is. Decent gas mileage on regular gas (30 mpg highway).</p>
<p>Volvo S40 or S60 - both incredibly safe cars with beautiful handling that offer nice, but not “over the top” amenities and great gas mileage. PLUS, while other car manufacturers no longer offer leasing on new vehicles, Volvo continues to lease new cars through VolvoFinance, and they’ve been offering a lot of lease incentives lately that make these cars incredibly great values. PLUS, we also live in an area with lots of deer, and I have 2 college-age drivers at-home … both love driving the S40, and we feel as though our kids are in a safe vehicle that could withstand the impact of a deer or other large animal.</p>
<p>My son drives an X60 and I was pleasantly surprised at what good gas mileage it gets. We have taken to sometimes taking it on longer car drives just for the gas mileage.
I don’t know about official test but the 2 CHP officers I know do not let their kids or wives drive small compact cars.</p>
<p>Europe, where fuel is at least twice the cost compared to the U.S., is embracing new technology diesel powered cars which are supposed to both efficient and eco-friendly. I’d look in that direction.</p>
<p>Volvo S40 is EPA rated at 20 mpg city/28 highway, NHTSA crash test data similar to but not quite as good as the Ford Fusion. S60 is roughly the same as S40 but 1 mpg less, 19 city.</p>
<p>Suburu Outback AWD is rated 19 mpg city/22 highway, NHTSA crash test data the same as Fusion (for the 2009 models; 2010 data not otu yet).</p>
<p>Honda CR-V is rated 20 mpg city/27 highway, about the same as the Mercedes. NHSTA crash test data isidentical to the Fusion.</p>
<p>I guess it might depend how much city driving you do versus highway driving. Even if you do all highway driving, the gas mileage difference between the Fusion Hybrid’s 36 mpg and the 27-28 you’d get with the Mercedes or the CR-V should be noticeable—the Fusion getting almost 30% better mileage. (The Subaru is the dog of this group for gas mileage). If you do a lot of city driving, it’s no contest; running mostly on its electric motor the Fusion will roughly double the gas mileage of these other vehicles. Gas mileage of 20/27-28 isn’t bad, but it’s not great. We looked closely at Subarus a few years ago because of their reputation for being safe and economical, but we ended up going with the Honda CR-V, a much more spacious vehicle with a larger cargo capacity, similar crash test ratings, and better gas mileage than the Subaru Outback. But now with D1 off to college soon we don’t need as much space. I’d go for the Fusion Hybrid and that spectacular gas mileage in a decent-sized car with excellent crash-test characteristics.</p>
<p>I was interested to see these suggestions because one of my kids is driving a Volvo V-40 (the wagon or “vagon” version of the S-40) and the other drives a Honda CRV. That little Volvo was one of the best things I ever bought. We got it new in 1999 and all three kids learned to drive on it. It’s fun to drive, safe, and has had very few expensive repairs (knock wood). While it seemed a little crazy to buy a new car for a kid with her Learner’s Permit, we hoped we’d be able to keep it through all three kids and indeed, the youngest took it to college. When I was shopping for the “kids” car I mentioned to a friend that I was looking for that combination of safety and MPG. She told me that all I should care about with three teenagers was safety. We’ve been really happy with our decisions.</p>