Why I drive an 8,000 pound suv for work in Michigan...

[Kcrebel]

In order of the 4 car accident. Teal green Ford driver fell asleep and hit the next car in the photos at about 45 mph at a stop light from behind, careened off of her car and into the next car that was sitting behind me which propelled her about 50 feet and into the back of my qx. I heard the first crash, looked in the rearview mirror just in time to see the debris from the first crash and the second crash occur and the lady coming at me. With a car directly in front of me and thankfully a good 1.5 car links ahead I just stood on the brake. Other than my coffee get splashed all over the console, dash and windshield it was just a good jolt. The hitch absorbed all of the energy and crushed the front of her car.
$2600 in damages is the initial estimate. May be more if they find more damage than the initial inspection. I'm concerned the spare tire rim may be warped as her car was sitting against it. I will have it checked to make sure. Muffler and exhaust system is bent. Unsure if it's crimped. I think it's just bent which should be repairable or worse case replaceable.
Remarkably no one was injured. Airbags deployed in the teal vehicle. Turns out they had a couple of reports of his vehicle driving erratically earlier that morning. Crash was at 9 am Thursday morning.
The ironic thing was that I just washed the qx and finally remembered to take pics for you guys on here last Saturday and Sunday. Four days later....
Thankful no one was injured. Not sore at all which is a good thing as well.
One of the cops made the remark about the qx being such a large vehicle. He says why do you drive such a large suv? I told him because a tank was too slow which was about the only thing safer on the streets in this area with these fools.
He chuckled and then asked me where I bought it.

 

[Kcrebel]

Hitch punched holes it the hitch cover. Guess I have a great template now for the cutouts...

 

[dimapb]

Sorry to hear about your accident. I'm glad everyone is ok. QX is definitely a tank and this is one of the main reasons we purchased it.

 

[Begone]

This is one of the reasons why my wife drives this beast.

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[Silverback]

First off glad to hear you are okay and that the damage to your QX was minimal.

However I want to correct the misconception that shear bulk makes a vehicle safe. It does not. There are a lot of factors that contribute to making a vehicle safe and just for the record, the QX has not been rated by the two major companies that conduct crash tests.

Now with that said, I do believe that the QX is a relatively save vehicle, or else I would not have bought one.

 

[Punisher]

Ouch! Glad you're OK.

First off glad to hear you are okay and that the damage to your QX was minimal.

However I want to correct the misconception that shear bulk makes a vehicle safe. It does not. There are a lot of factors that contribute to making a vehicle safe and just for the record, the QX has not been rated by the two major companies that conduct crash tests.

Now with that said, I do believe that the QX is a relatively save vehicle, or else I would not have bought one.

True but with all the safety technology built into the vehicle (Crumple Zones, Driver Air Bag, Passenger Air Bag, Side Head Air Bag, Rear Head Air Bag, Side Air Bag, 4-Wheel ABS, 4-Wheel Disc Brakes, Brake Assist, Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control) you can surmise it's a safe vehicle.

 

[Silverback]

Do you know what will kill you in a Smart Car?

And no, it's not hitting a large fly.

 

[neuneleven]

^ @ Silverback; falling asleep with the electronic nannies turned on?

^ KC; Truly sorry about the beast. Thankfully you are safe though. I hope they do not uncover other issues after the initial inspection. Take heart, the beast shall be back in shape soon

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[Silverback]

Believe it or not, the passenger compartment of the Smart Car is very strong and for the most part the driver and passenger will not be killed by that area crumpling around them.

The problem is there is very little crumple zone so all of the G loads are transmitted to the driver and passenger, and it's the sudden deceleration that will do you in.

I guess on the plus side you will leave behind a relatively undamaged corpse. At least on the outside.

 

[neuneleven]

Believe it or not, the passenger compartment of the Smart Car is very strong and for the most part the driver and passenger will not be killed by that area crumpling around them.

The problem is there is very little crumple zone so all of the G loads are transmitted to the driver and passenger, and it's the sudden deceleration that will do you in.

I guess on the plus side you will leave behind a relatively undamaged corpse. At least on the outside.

You're right Silverback. I still vaguely recall some bloke stating on German TV in the late nineties that the safety cage of the initial SMART was as good as the then Mercedes C class. I would only imagine it has improved since which indeed may make occupants susceptible to decelerations trauma.

 

[Dread_Parrot]

Tank

" I told him because a tank was too slow which was about the only thing safer on the streets in this area with these fools. "

LOL Hell yeah ! Yeah Glad you are OK Kcrebel. That frame should be fine on the QX. Uni-body, would have been totaled.
Its a wonder our insurance rates are not more.
You need to get plate steel inside the doors
We traded our 2007 'new Beetle' for our QX. Yahoo in a pick-up almost 'T-boned' my wife on the way to work one day. She drove my truck for a month afterwards (diesel) LOL , So we went looking for a QX.
Don't want to get to political, but the 'government' can have their 'clown cars'.
Screw that !

Have a good one
Parrott
2011 QX, Black on black, 20 inch wheels, new air filter and a Real Frame.

 

[Gumbey]

This is literally the main reason I got a full size SUV. Google Highway 63 Fort McMurray and you will see what I have to put up with driving around here. It's dangerous and people all drive very large vehicles. I wouldn't want to be in a 3 series or even a G37x when an accident occurs.

Sure I could have had a Denali or an Escalade at a price reduction compared to the QX, but I also preferred having something that was more unique. Both those GM twins are very popular up here. QX not so much.

Now if I could only do better than 15 or 16L per 100kms in town....I'd be real happy.

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[dmd2005]

That's why when I finally had kids we went from a VW GTI to a Toyota Tundra and from an Acura RDX to an MDX and finally to a QX56. Will never go back to a compact vehicle as an everyday driver. Know a guy who almost got killed in a rear ender in his subaru impreza and now owns a Suburban and won't get into a small car anymore, otherwise he panicks.