The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) said bumpers on all but three of 17 new midsize sedans it tested did not protect the cars from expensive damage in the kinds of low-speed mishaps that happen in heavy traffic and in parking lots and result in more than $6 billion a year in insurance claims.
Among the worst performers were the Nissan Maxima and Volkswagen Jetta. Both cars sustained over $9,000 each in estimated damage from four simulated bumps - two each at three mph and six mph. The Nissan Maxima, VW Passat and the Pontiac G6 each sustained the most amount of damage. Over $4,500 worth of damage were sustained in just one of the tests - the six mph full-width frontal impact. The IIHS said hoods, fenders, headlights and air-conditioning condensers needed repairs.
Adrian Lund, the IIHS president, said that in only two of the 68 bump tests of the 17 cars did the bumpers fully protect other components from significant damage: one of a Saturn Aura and another of a Hyundai Sonata. "The whole purpose of bumpers is to keep damage away from headlights, hoods and other parts that are expensive to repair," Lund said. "In the rest, what we found is that bumpers aren't up to the job." Federal regulations require bumpers to protect only up to 2.5 mph.
If there are worst performers, there should also be the ideal ones. The IIHS said that the three midsize cars that did "comparatively well" in the tests does include the nation's bestseller - the Toyota Camry. Other top performers include the Mazda 6 and the Mitsubishi Galant. The cars sustained less than $1,500 damage in each of the four bumps.
In a statement, Nissan Motors said, "We believe Nissan vehicles perform competitively in terms of cost of repair. The cost to repair bumpers is just one consideration." The automaker claims that perform efficiently and reliably. General Motors Corp., on the other hand, said it was assessing the institute's test results. Volkswagen said it would take the tests into account in future designs.
The institute said the most costly damage occurs when the bumpers of colliding vehicles do not line up and ride under or over each other. In some cases, the relatively minor bumps required professional chassis straightening. Nonetheless, the institute added that the relatively high costs of replacement parts for some models - not just the amount of damage from the tests - accounted for some of the variation in repair costs.
The IIHS started testing bumpers in 1969 but recently modified the test to assess over- or underride. In doing the tests, cars are bumped into a steel and plastic barrier that mimics a car bumper. The lesser the damage a car gets, the better the bumper performance is.
