Date:         Wed, 23 Feb 2000 18:24:43 -0500
Reply-To:     Donald Baxter <onanov@MINDSPRING.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Donald Baxter <onanov@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon safety and design?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

----- Original Message -----
From: Jennifer Jones <jj1@MAIL.TDS.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 3:22 PM
Subject: Vanagon safety and design?


> Hello - I will update further on this in another message, but I am just on
> the brink of buying an '85 Westy with 75K original miles, in excellent
> condition (haven't seen it in person, but was sent about 5 pictures and it
> looks immaculate), for $6500.  I'm planning on having the owner take it in
> for a compression test, leak-down test, and maint. inspection.  Anyway...
>  was just on the phone with my insurance agent to see about rates for the
> Westy.  He spent about 20 minutes trying to talk me out of buying it!
>
Gawd this really astounds me.  All I can think is that not only is the
insurance agent a victim of bad information--he's probably a victim of
innumeracy as well.  Considering he deals in and industry based on actuarial
science his ignorance of how to interpret statistics is amazing.  While
crash testing in the front and in the quarter front the Dodge and Ford
minivans probably do fare better--the fact of the matter is that they are
involved in more accidents than Vanagons per mile driven.  People who drive
Vanagons are simply the key to their safety.  This isn't a car I see people
doing stupid things in.  Dodge Caravans on the other hand... well you see
people doing plenty of stupid things in them.

This reminds me of a friend who got her teenaged daughter a New Beetle just
because it crash tested better than a new Jetta.  Regardless of the fact
that the Beetle only has two usable seats... I'll bet the New Beetle still
has a fatality rate higher that cars that test much more poorly just because
of the population driving them.


_________________________________________________________
Donald Baxter
onanov@mindspring.com  (home) 404 325 1991
donald.baxter@transcore.com (work) 770 246 6261
    www.mindspring.com/~onanov

"It's not the end of civilisation--it is, however, the end
of civility."
   Mrs. Cage