Of seven minis and micros tested in crashes into barriers at 6 miles per hour or less by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, *none earned the top rating of "good." Curiously, the only one to rate acceptable was the teeny-tiny Smart ForTwowith a total of $3,281 in damage after the four crash tests
Bumpers are supposed to absorb the energy of low-speed collisions and slow vehicles before there’s damage to expensive-to-repair parts such as grilles, hoods and fenders. “Bumpers can be designed so there’s no damage in these low-speed impacts. At a minimum, repairs should cost less than the typical insurance deductible for a collision, which is $500," said Joe Nolan, the institute's senior vice president.
Because of their smaller stance, many minis lack bumpers high enough to engage with the bumpers on other vehicles in collisions, forcing crash energy to be absorbed by body parts. Another problematic trend among the smaller cars is that the bars underneath the bumper covers aren’t long enough to protect the corners of the body. Five out of seven cars in the full-front test and six in the front-corner test required headlight replacement.
“Bumpers are doing their job if the only damage is to the bumper cover. Bumpers aren’t doing their job when headlights get knocked out or sheet metal crumples after a low-speed impact,” Nolan said.
One reason the Smart ForTwo fared so well in the study was not because of the effectiveness of its bumper in crashes, but because of the affordability of its repairs. The Smart’s plastic body parts can be easily replaced. The front and rear bumper come in three sections and are prepainted.
"With consumers watching every penny, no one should have to shell out hundreds and even thousands of dollars to fix damages that shouldn’t happen in the first place,” Nolan said. “The ratings should encourage automakers to make improvements that help move cars off their lots."
i saw that news reel on the Smart and it's acceptable rating on the minor collision test. First thought was "OMG another Smart bashing clip".It was actually put in positive light this time.
Little do these bozo's seem to forget is that underneath those plastic body parts are well designed steel structures, example we see a crushed front fender, but there is a very strong steel bumper-guard underneath it.
I do commend the media for not doing the bashing of the Smart. My oldest nephew on the other hand had the nerve to call Mr Blue a death trap. I shall educate him with the safe and smart web site.
(2007)
This is kind of a long-known fact, but there's some new data to back it up. Just because you pony up those extra tens of thousands of dollars for a luxury car doesn't mean you will get bumpers that protect you from damage any better. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just released a new report on the amount of monetary damages suffered by some luxury and near-luxury vehicles in low-speed impacts - parking lot mishaps and fender benders at 3 to 6 miles per hour. They found that in this group of cars, repair bills could be as high as $14,000! While that doesn't mean the passengers are inherently unsafe in these vehicles, the high repair costs can get people, well, a little upset.
While we don't necessarily agree with IIHS VP Joe Nolan when he says "There shouldn't be much or any damage in collisions at these speeds," we were a little shocked by the numbers. While testing 11 different 2007 luxury vehicles, for instance, the IIHS found the Infiniti G35 had the highest repair bill. It totaled a whopping $14,000, which is quite a bit when the whole car retails for just $31,450. But in all fairness, this is a series of four different tests and labor and paint work often add a lot to repairs. Working down the list, the Acura TL and Mercedes C Class required more than $11,000 in repairs, the Lexus ES was just under $11,000, and the Lexus IS was about $9,500. Repair totals for some others were $8,224 for the Volvo S60, $7,554 for the Acura TSX and $6,681 for the BMW 3 Series. The best three vehicles in the tests were the Saab 9-3, Audi A4 and Lincoln MKZ, all with less than $6,000 in damages.
I thought if the Trideon was damaged that compromised the safety cell? The metal in that area will never perform exactly the same again after being pulled and kanoodled back into position.
The Tridion has several layers: outside fascia and a few inner structural layers. All of them can be repaired, sanded, welded, etc. per the Intro To Service Manual which recommends different welding techniques for each segment of steel.
So, the Tridion CAN be repaired depending on the damage it receives. Just like the frame of any other car - if those can be welded and pulled into square, the strength is often maintained.
The IIHS is so lame. They do a simple experiment and spin the results to create a narrative. Their crash test study presented no evidence that small cars have disproportionately higher repair cost for fender benders than larger cars. Actually, there was no new crash test study, but a continuation of a study starting in the 90s. The results of these new cars fall in line with all the other vehicles classes, yet they release portions of the experiment to single out a particular vehicle class. The IIHS is like school in the summertime.....NO CLASS!!!
According to the IIHS website here is the cost to repair some other cars:
Honda Odyssey: $1388
Audi A4: $1288
BMW 3 Series: $1888
Mercedes Benz C Class: $3378
the list goes on and on.
The only 2 cars cheaper to fix than the $899 Fortwo were the Ford Focus at $691 and the Scion XB at $892, both "small" cars. So, just for the record, these "mini cars" are actually the cheapest of any cars to fix.
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