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Here’s the good news. If you have the misfortune of being in a collision in a later-model car, your chances of survival are better than ever. For a long time, people thought that the mass of sheet metal and drivetrain in a 60s or 70s-era car inherently kept the driver and passengers safer. That’s now been definitively proven wrong.
Vintage cars have been crash-tested with newer, much smaller and lighter vehicles, and it’s the vintage cars that always come out much worse in these encounters. With no seatbelts, no airbags, no padded surfaces, old-style safety glass and doors that could pop open and eject the occupants, older cars were pretty lethal, really. With 50s-era cars in particular, their rigid frames and bodies might hold up fairly well in a collision…but the passengers, not so much.
Newer cars, on the other hand, are designed with airbags for front and side impacts, protecting occupants as they’re knocked around in the vehicle. They also feature crumple zones of sheet metal and frame members that give way easily to absorb the tremendous energy of a collision before it can be transmitted to the passenger compartment. In addition, with vehicle stability control and antilock brakes, it’s easier to avoid a collision in today’s vehicles. Volvo, in particular, is so proud of their safety record that they promise a “deathproof” car by the year 2020 – one in which no passengers will die in a collision.
When it comes to buying (or hanging onto) a car that’s been in a collision, though, it’s a different story.
If you’re lucky, you’ll end up with no bigger problems than a door that won’t open and shut quite right, or some painted body panels that don’t quite match and look correct. The impact of a collision, though, can lead to a lot of other problems. It can stress or break motor and transmission mounts, or cause internal problems with the transmission or drivetrain components like the differential, U-joints or CV joints. Front-end impact might bend the radiator core support and other underhood structures, damaging engine assemblies or resulting in a hood that never lines up and shuts right. A car with frame damage may never drive or handle properly and may “dog-track” down the road, constantly skewed somewhat from a straight line. Even if the frame is straightened on a straightening machine, it might never be quite the same again.
Vehicles with unibody construction, where the frame and body are one assembly, tend to come out worse in a collision. The crumple zones of a unibody vehicle, even if they’ve been repaired, are permanently weakened and may fold up unpredictably if the vehicle is ever in another collision.
If your car’s been in a collision, however minor, and you decide to hang onto it, remember that all collision info is now reported through Carfax and your vehicle’s resale value will take a serious hit. It doesn’t take much of a collision to cause these kinds of problems – even a hit at about 20 mph can be enough for an insurer to call the vehicle a total loss. Total loss generally means a repair cost that’s 75-90 percent of the vehicle’s resale value.
On the other hand, if you do a complete and thorough checkup of the vehicle before buying, a car with a salvage title can present a fairly good deal (as long as the vehicle wasn’t flooded!). Just be aware of what you’re getting into with one.
If you’re buying a vehicle that has a collision on the Carfax report, there are various signs of the extent of damage and the quality of the repair work that might not be apparent to the casual viewer. If you suspect a problem or just have questions about auto repair, give us a call and make an appointment at Goodyear of Buckhead.
Buckhead Tire & Auto Repair
*Tire installment package required for online only. Goodyear Credit Card offers are subject to credit approval. Get up to $100 back by mail-in or online rebate on a qualifying purchase of a set of 4 select Goodyear tires with any form of payment method; plus get an added rebate of up to $100 more when the purchase is made on the Goodyear Credit Card from 4/1/2024 to 6/30/2024.
Get a $100 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase or $200 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase on the Goodyear Credit Card of: Assurance ComfortDrive®, Eagle Exhilarate® and Wrangler DuraTrac® RT.
Get a $75 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase or $150 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase on the Goodyear Credit Card of: Assurance WeatherReady®, Eagle® Sport All-Season Family (includes ROF and SCT), Wrangler® All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar® and Wrangler Steadfast HT®.
Get a $50 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase or $100 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase on the Goodyear Credit Card of: Assurance MaxLife®.
Get a $25 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase or $50 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase or $50 Visa Prepaid Card with purchase on the Goodyear Credit Card of: Assurance® All-Season.
Limit one (1) mail-in or online rebate per qualifying purchase, per visit. Limit one (1) rebate form per tire purchase, per envelope. Limit four (4) rebates per individual consumer, per promotion period. Tire rebates are on a set of four select tires. If your vehicle requires six tires, rebates are available on a prorated basis for the two additional tires. The prorated rebate amount, per additional tire, is 25% of the rebate amount listed above. The minimum purchase is a set of four tires, and the maximum purchase is six tires per invoice. Complete purchase must be made on the Goodyear Credit Card to receive maximum rebate offer. Offers available only at authorized participating U.S. Goodyear retailers and websites. Offer valid only for U.S. residents who are individual consumers with mailing addresses in the U.S. and U.S. territories. Offers valid for consumer accounts in good standing. Not valid on previous purchases. Cannot be combined with other Goodyear tire rebate offers. Base portion of rebate offered by Goodyear, and bonus portion of rebate offered by Citibank, N.A. The Goodyear Credit Card is issued by Citibank, N.A.
Completed rebate forms must be postmarked or submitted online no later than 7/31/2024. Invoice must have eligible tire name and proof of purchase on Goodyear Credit Card (when applicable) clearly indicated. Online purchases must include copy of the online purchase invoice and the installation invoice from authorized Goodyear retailer. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for Visa Prepaid Card/Virtual Card delivery. Goodyear reserves the right to substitute a check of equal value in lieu of a Visa Prepaid Card at its discretion. For additional questions, or to check the status of your rebate, you may visit www.Goodyear.com/rebates or call the Goodyear Rebate Customer Service at 1-888-683-8724 Monday to Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. ET and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. Fraudulent submissions will not be honored and may be prosecuted. Sponsor is not responsible for noncomplying rebate submissions or for lost, late, illegible, postage-due or undeliverable mail. Noncomplying rebate submissions will not be honored, acknowledged or returned. Void where taxed, restricted or prohibited by law. All decisions made by Goodyear (or its authorized representatives) relating to the validity of any submissions are final and binding. This promotion is subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Retain copies of the materials you submit. Additional terms and conditions apply. Ask participating retailer for complete details and rebate form.
Rebate paid in the form of a Goodyear Visa Prepaid Card or Virtual Card. Prepaid Card/Virtual Card is issued by Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. No cash access or recurring payments. Prepaid Card can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. Virtual Card can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted online or for phone/mail orders. Prepaid Card/Virtual Card valid for up to 6 months; unused funds will forfeit after the valid thru date. Prepaid Card terms and conditions apply. Pathward does not endorse or sponsor the Goodyear Credit Card offer.
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