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Tests Find Mid-Sized Car Bumpers Don't Do Much

March 1, 2007

IIHS-Auto Safety • Smart Fortwo Gets Top Marks In Roof Strength Tests • Bumpers On 4 Of 6 Midsize Sedans Improve • Crash Tests Of 2-Door Cars: Volvo & Ford Coupes Earn Top Safety Pick • IIHS Adopts Its Own Roof Safety Standards • Three Big Pickups Look Wimpy in Side Tests • IIHS Picks Safest Vehicles for 2009 • Insurance Group Adds 6 Small SUVs to Safety List • Luxury Sedan, SUV Win Insurance Industry Safety Award • Acura TSX Luxury Sedan Top Safety Pick • Nissan Murano Leads SUV Safety Test • Lexus EX35, Cadillac CTS Named Top Safety Picks • Nissan Quest Worst Performer in Minivan Bumper Test • Study: Crash Tests Predict Fatalities In Cars, Not Trucks • Top Safety Awards Go to 34 Cars, SUVs and a Pickup • Midsize SUVs Perform Poorly in Side Impacts • BMW 5 Series Performs Poorly in New Impact Test • Luxury Cars a "Mediocre Lot" in Low-Speed Collisions • Light Trucks Vulnerable to Whiplash --- • More IIHS Tests

Bumpers on most mid-sized cars provide little protection from fender benders that can cost thousands of dollars to repair, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

After a series of low-speed crash tests, the IIHS released cost estimates for the kind of accident that can happen in commuting traffic or the grocery store parking lot where cars travel roughly 6 miles per hour.

Only the Mitsubishi Galant, Toyota Camry, and Mazda 6 survived a fender bender with damages of $1,500 or less.

The IIHS used four crash tests to evaluate damage from front, rear, front corner and rear corner collisions.

"Our tests measure how well bumpers protect cars from damage in everyday bumps," said IIHS president Adrian Lund. "The whole purpose of bumpers is to keep damage away from headlights, hoods, and other parts that are expensive to repair but this purpose was accomplished in only 2 of the 68 tests we conducted. In the rest, what we found is that bumpers aren't up to the job."

Four test vehicles received more that $4,000 in damages from the low-speed front-end collision. The Volkswagen Passat was the most expensive to repair at $4,594, followed by the Pontiac G6 which cost $4,588. The Nissan Maxima had a $4,535 repair bill and the Hyundai Sonata sustained $4,312 in damages.

The new tests reflect the kinds of front and rear impacts that are common in the real world where insurance claims of $4,500 or less for damages in crashes total more than $6 billion each year.

IIHS was critical of changes in the federal government's low-speed crash standards, which it said were weakened in 1982.

To demonstrate the changes, the Institute included a 1981 Escort from Ford in the test The Escort had the lowest repair costs. The front corner and rear corner crashes produced no damage, and the cost to repair the front accident was only $86, while the rear collision repair bill came to $383.

"We want to encourage automakers to use bumpers with energy-absorbing bars that extend farther into vehicle corners to reduce damage to headlights and other critical and costly equipment," Lund said.

Here is the estimated cost to fix a car following all four of the IIHS tests.

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