AWD*V70XC
09-14-2004, 03:03 PM
If this man thinks I am buying a Volvo, just to crash it, I think he is going to be out of a job in a very short time.
Because of bumper mismatches, even a love tap from an SUV can cause major damage to cars, an insurance industry group reported Monday .
The Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that in 10-mph crash tests of 10 pairs of sport utility vehicles and passenger cars, the cars were the big losers, sustaining as much as $4,984 in estimated damage.
Each pair consisted of a car and an SUV from the same manufacturer. In the tests, SUVs struck the cars in the rear and cars struck the SUVs in the rear. "We paired vehicles from a single manufacturer because we thought that, at a minimum, automakers should be paying attention to the compatibility of the bumpers across their own fleets," the insurance group said in a statement.
The group has long criticized the performance of many car and truck bumpers in protecting vehicles from body damage in low-speed crashes. Institute officials also have criticized the makers of SUVs for structural designs that often produce deaths and serious injuries among the occupants of cars struck at higher speeds by SUVs and other light trucks.
Damages to the cars in the new low-speed tests ranged from $555 to a Ford Taurus rear-ended by a Ford Explorer to $4,984 sustained by a Volvo S40 crashed into the rear of a Volvo XC90.
Damage to the SUVs in the crashes ranged from $701 to the Explorer crashed into the rear of the Taurus to $2,848 sustained by a Jeep Grand Cherokee run into the rear of a Dodge Stratus.
"The bumpers in some vehicle pairs completely bypassed each other in the tests," the group said. Test photos released by the group show the nose of a Nissan Altima sedan sliding beneath the rear of a Nissan Murano SUV. Resulting damage to the Altima's hood cost $4,507 to repair, the institute said. Similarly, the Grand Cherokee's front bumper overrode the rear bumper of the Stratus causing $3,281 in damage to the car's trunk lid and the rear fenders crumpled.
Federal regulations set minimum requirements for passenger car bumpers but none for those of SUVs, the group notes. In fact, some SUVs lack any bumpers, the institute said.
The Fords generally fared best in the low-speed collisions, the institute said. "This is almost entirely because the bumpers on the two Fords match up better than the bumpers on the other vehicles," the group said.
The institute said some of the cars suffered major coolant leaks in the low-speed collisions. "In real world conditions like these, the motorists couldn't even drive away," the group said. "So, in addition to paying for costly repairs, the drivers would face the aggravation of having to get their vehicles towed."
The institute also was critical of the performance of some SUVs when crashed into each other.
Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo unit charged in a statement from its New Jersey headquarters that the institute tests ignore the important issue of safety, which is Volvo's primary concern in designing bumpers and bodies to absorb energy. "What we look at is the safety of the vehicle, not the cosmetics of it," said spokesman Dan Johnston. "What we design for is crashing."
Luis Morais, senior manager of vehicle safety strategy for DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group in Auburn Hills, Mich., expressed similar sentiments and also noted that the Grand Cherokee tested by the institute was an '04 model no longer in production, replaced by a redesigned 2005 model. But Morais said Chrysler would work with the institute to try to improve designs. "You're always going to have vehicles of different sizes and heights," he said, "and we need to understand this test better."
The man is mad, or have I bought a Volvo for the wrong reasons
Because of bumper mismatches, even a love tap from an SUV can cause major damage to cars, an insurance industry group reported Monday .
The Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that in 10-mph crash tests of 10 pairs of sport utility vehicles and passenger cars, the cars were the big losers, sustaining as much as $4,984 in estimated damage.
Each pair consisted of a car and an SUV from the same manufacturer. In the tests, SUVs struck the cars in the rear and cars struck the SUVs in the rear. "We paired vehicles from a single manufacturer because we thought that, at a minimum, automakers should be paying attention to the compatibility of the bumpers across their own fleets," the insurance group said in a statement.
The group has long criticized the performance of many car and truck bumpers in protecting vehicles from body damage in low-speed crashes. Institute officials also have criticized the makers of SUVs for structural designs that often produce deaths and serious injuries among the occupants of cars struck at higher speeds by SUVs and other light trucks.
Damages to the cars in the new low-speed tests ranged from $555 to a Ford Taurus rear-ended by a Ford Explorer to $4,984 sustained by a Volvo S40 crashed into the rear of a Volvo XC90.
Damage to the SUVs in the crashes ranged from $701 to the Explorer crashed into the rear of the Taurus to $2,848 sustained by a Jeep Grand Cherokee run into the rear of a Dodge Stratus.
"The bumpers in some vehicle pairs completely bypassed each other in the tests," the group said. Test photos released by the group show the nose of a Nissan Altima sedan sliding beneath the rear of a Nissan Murano SUV. Resulting damage to the Altima's hood cost $4,507 to repair, the institute said. Similarly, the Grand Cherokee's front bumper overrode the rear bumper of the Stratus causing $3,281 in damage to the car's trunk lid and the rear fenders crumpled.
Federal regulations set minimum requirements for passenger car bumpers but none for those of SUVs, the group notes. In fact, some SUVs lack any bumpers, the institute said.
The Fords generally fared best in the low-speed collisions, the institute said. "This is almost entirely because the bumpers on the two Fords match up better than the bumpers on the other vehicles," the group said.
The institute said some of the cars suffered major coolant leaks in the low-speed collisions. "In real world conditions like these, the motorists couldn't even drive away," the group said. "So, in addition to paying for costly repairs, the drivers would face the aggravation of having to get their vehicles towed."
The institute also was critical of the performance of some SUVs when crashed into each other.
Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo unit charged in a statement from its New Jersey headquarters that the institute tests ignore the important issue of safety, which is Volvo's primary concern in designing bumpers and bodies to absorb energy. "What we look at is the safety of the vehicle, not the cosmetics of it," said spokesman Dan Johnston. "What we design for is crashing."
Luis Morais, senior manager of vehicle safety strategy for DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group in Auburn Hills, Mich., expressed similar sentiments and also noted that the Grand Cherokee tested by the institute was an '04 model no longer in production, replaced by a redesigned 2005 model. But Morais said Chrysler would work with the institute to try to improve designs. "You're always going to have vehicles of different sizes and heights," he said, "and we need to understand this test better."
The man is mad, or have I bought a Volvo for the wrong reasons