Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

My brother in law the jeep/dodge/chrysler salesman tells me that full size trucks are preferred by those using the highway a lot just because they offer better survivability in the event of a moose/vehicle interface. Apparently, normal cars tend to take the moose's legs out from under them so the body crashes down on top of the car on top of the occupants. With a truck the body connects with the front of the vehicle which is still bad but usually less fatal.

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

I better find out what Highway 2 Edmonton - Athabasca stretch is like for hairy beasties then as it would be stupid to ignore advice from the trade
S

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

Just bear in mind that the 'trade' would rather you bought a truck (higher margin) than a car so his advice should be taken with a pinch of salt. There does seem to be some logic behind it though....

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

No doubt Subaru are heading up market, but they could well end up losing a lot of existing customers. Sure, they are nice vehicles, but they dont carry the cachet of say an Audi. When they reach Audi prices, noone will but the Subaru, even if its a better vehicle.

I have a regular legacy, and have never had an issue driving in Ontario snow. Thats on all seasons, although I might get snow tires this year if funds allow, based on the difference it made to our other car.

Ground Clearance in the outback is about 1.5 inches more than the legacy, and is the same or more than most SUVs, although approach angles are probably lower. I wouldnt worry about it though, It will be plenty capable for regular getting around in the winter.

If I was in the market for a new car in Canada and had UK equity burning a hole in my pocket, I would go for a SE spec Legacy wagon, its well speced, good value, reasonable (but not great) economy, and great winter and summer driving capability, with a fair amount of space in the back and a good reliability record. but its not a truck, thats for sure.

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

Really, how often do you hear about moose related fatalities? What are the numbers like, maybe one or two a year? The Bears and Cougars kill more than that ;)

I'd be surprised if there were not more fataliaties from people losing control and hitting into the scenary while trying to avoid a moose, than with actual car:moose contact.

You might as well stay at home in your basement for fear of being hit by a meteorite.

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

Where abouts are you going to be driving in Alberta?

If it is mostly on Highway 2 between Edmonton and Athabasca I don't think you're going to have to wait long for snow removal. It is a main highway after all.

Also keep in mind that in the rural communities the kids get to school by bus so they do a reasonably good job of keeping most of the secondary roads clear.

On average in the Athabasca area they don't usually have much more than twelve inches (30 cms) on the ground throughout the winter months.

Link to Climate Normals 1971-200 for Athabasca. The second section on "Precipitation" has the snow depth info.:)

Cheers
Steve

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

A quick search has failed to product any empirical data but there are several moose / vehicle accidents in NL each year and fatalities/serious injuries do occur. The reluctance of some to wear seatbelts is undoubtably a contributing factor!

The government of NL goes as far as publish moose information: http://www.roads.gov.nl.ca/moose/default.stm and there are notice boards detailling # moose/vehicle accidents so far this year at various points around.

Whether the risk - slight to be sure - is justification to drive a big truck / SUV is down to the individual! I did say my bro-in-law is a salesman!

EDIT: Just found this. Old data but 133 injured and 3 died!!

During 1987 and 1988, in Newfoundland, there were 661 motor-vehicle accidents involving a moose; 133 people were injured and three died. This constitutes a major problem for the provincial health-care system. In 95 per cent of the patients who were involved in fifty-five primary collisions (the vehicle hit only the moose), the injury-severity score was less than 9 (mean and standard deviation, 3.2 +/- 4.6). There were thirty-six secondary collisions: in eighteen, the vehicle hit other objects after avoiding the moose (group A), and in the other eighteen, the vehicle hit the moose and then hit other objects (group B). In group A, the mean injury-severity score was 4.2 +/- 2.9 and in group B, it was 19.6 +/- 27.1. The three patients who died were in group B. There were more injuries to the thorax, thoracolumbar spine, and abdomen in group B than in the single-collision groups (primary-collision group and group A).

PMID: 1748697 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&Dopt=Citation

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

Is that the one he drove through a tiny English market town almost scraping other cars/walls and then had his shopping pinched out the back?! :D

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

So in short, its worse to crash while trying to miss the moose? Tends to vindicate getting a smaller more manouverable vehicle then. See, you can take stats and support whatever point of view you want to:D

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

Hi Stuarty, If you are on a work permit you will only get a deal from Ford for the length of the time of the work permit- as I found after a frutless day trying to do a lease deal with them! Good luck with the dream!
David

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

That is true for Nissan too.

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

Moose killed on of my employees (in a GMC truck), disabled another and other one was off work for 5 months. I was more worried hitting an animal in rural Canada that hitting another car? Scary driving home late at night and a number of time had to take evasive action not to hit a deer or moose.
In England the largest thing I had ever hit was a fox?

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

Waaaaaaaaay back when I came here I got a 30 month lease from Chrysler on a Jeep on the strenghth of my 1 year work permit. Had to stump up a large security deposit though, and the lease rate was nasty too as I recall. But I too wanted a large truck, and got it out of my system that way.

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

LMAO!!! Excuse the newbie getting in on so many threads so quickly but it's amazing - I have found a place where there are soooo many answers!! I had to reply to this one because I am desperate to get an F150 and trying hard to convince hubby that it is a REALLY good idea :) I also went on hols and took pics of truck (OMG am I a bit of a truck nerd of what?? LOL). I think I might be being a bit daft but I can't figure out how the leases can be so low - I gues this means they are never going to be your own??? Do I go to a Ford dealership to ask about these??

Thanks
Ki (truck enthusiast extraordinare)

Re: Dreaming of Trucks
 

Probably shouldn't stick my head above the parapet waving this particular banner, especially in this thread, but I'd be remiss if I didn't....

Am I the only person who thinks buying into this whole big truck lifestyle is, well.. pretty reprehensible? Granted in Canada more people have an excuse to ride around in larger vehicles because of the climate etc. but wthout wanting to sound like a bleeding heart liberal, these things are the worst news for the environment. Thanks to people like your parents (and the numpty that invented leaded fuel - depressingly he came up with CFC's too) scientists are talking about massive investment being required in British seaside destinations because by 2020 the people who live in the places we go to on holiday (Spain, Greece, N. Africa, S. France, Italy) won't be able to bear the heat in the summer and hence, holiday in places like Cornwall now that it gets 30 degree+ days for the majority of the summer.

The fact that excuses for purchasing them include fear of 'Moose Interface' or indeed, interface with another truck driver is laughable. Certainly it wouldn't be if I hit either in a Fiesta, but if everybody bought a big truck incase they hit a big truck then we're talking about a downward spiral til we're all driving tanks. Plus, SUV's and trucks come with their own safety risks that are just as valid - massively increased risk of rolling over, they generally get much worse NCAP results (so if you hit something, even if it wasn't a regularly shaped concrete block, the chances of your torso becoming intimately acquainted with the steering column, or your legs with the footwell etc are much higher) and considering the extra few hundred tonnes of CO2 you're pumping into the air your kids will be breathing surely the balance falls on the side of smaller, more fuel efficient cars?

Personally, I'd have hoped that people emigrating to automotively backward places like N.America from Europe would bring with them a greener idea about what people should be driving. A cohort of 4x4 hating expatriates would definitely be a positive force for change in Canada. When I see those hideous Ford things that are so massive they need four wheels on the back axle it makes me feel queasy, and I would genuinely lose respect for whomsoever was driving it. I'm normally far from the judgemental type but it screams waste, greed, and pointless social display to me.

In my defence, such as it is, my family have owned plenty of 4 x 4's but then, we were running a farm in Norfolk and regularly pulling horseboxes to and from shows all over the country. When we left it, we sold the Discovery and bought a KA ;)

Oh, and the of few Canadian families I've met, one keeps a Honda Civic and some hearselike ancient white Oldsmobile, and they've yet to hit a moose, fall foul of the weather, or come off worse in a traffic accident despite dozens of annual trips from the GTA to Montreal, their cottage in the Kelownas in all seasons and via some completely unmetalled roads, and numerous trips for holidays in Florida. The other, completely city-bound only keeps an old VW Golf.
The oldsmobile the first lot should definitely lose as I imagine it does more harm than your average new truck, but better a 20 year old saloon than a 20 year old 'Light truck'.

Anyway, I'd only ask that you give it a second thought before indulging, because for most of you I imagine, it's just that. An indulgence.

/rant.

@ Biiiiink - that's the one. 'Loading up' the back with a bag of candles before a chav half-inches them. The bestselling car of all time apparently.