New IIHS tests: Mazda6 is the only midsize sedan with decent bumpers

[ifcar]

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-1017-DC-Car-Examiner~y2009m8d6-IIHS-Mazda6-is-along-among-midsize-sedans-with-decent-bumpers-others-allow-for-excessive-damage

[Cookie Monster]

The Maxima and Malibu look particularly bad.

[Secret Chimp]

The pictures are key for this test. Nobody's going to foot a huge "well yer whole bamper foameroni is shot" bill if all they can see on the outside is a paint scuff.

[ifcar]

The pictures are key for this test. Nobody's going to foot a huge "well yer whole bamper foameroni is shot" bill if all they can see on the outside is a paint scuff.

The car on the receiving end of the hit no doubt would get the full repairs, out of the other driver's pocket.

[Laconian]

GO TEAM GO

The Maxima pays a steep price for style. Man, that car's screwed.

[nickdrinkwater]

Who cares?  The insurance pays anyway.

[ifcar]

Who cares?  The insurance pays anyway.

Funny that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety might be concerned about that...

But from a consumer perspective, you get lower premiums when cars are designed better and you don't necessarily have to get the car repaired if the damage is only slight.

[The Pirate]

Who cares?  The insurance pays anyway.

Anybody who pays for auto insurance should care.  This will absolutely raise insurance costs.  Make a few claims and your rates go up.  And, you pay for it anyway, as insurance premiums are effected by a number of variables, including the cost to repair the car.  In 1997, when the C5 Corvette came out, cost to insure a Corvette dropped (all other variables being equal), relative to the outgoing C4 model.  Why?  The car had received design changes that had significantly lowered the cost of repair.  In particular, the C4 had a pretty complex hood that extended halfway down the side of the car.  Thus, hood replacement was fairly common (and pricey) for any front end damage on the C4.  That's just one example, there are more.

Insurance is a numbers game, and one of those numbers is how much something is going to cost to repair on the insured's vehicle.  My rates jumped a bit when I bought the Mazda - one reason is that parts cost significantly more on this car than they did on my last car.

I'm not sure how the insurance game works in the UK, but here, the whole 'The insurance pays' mentality is pretty naive.  And it jacks up the rates for everybody.  I view insurance as assistance for big incidents.  Anything that is relatively minor, I just pay out of pocket.

Not a dig on you, but that seems to be the mentality in the U.S. - Oh, it's okay, that's what insurance is for.  Well, it doesn't work like that.  We (the end customers) will pay for it.  Insurance companies are businesses like any other, and expect to post a profit.  Their expenses increase, then they will make the necessary adjustments to increase income. 

[hotrodalex]

I can attest to Mazda6's having good bumpers.

[USA_Idol]

Given the design of most modern cars and their attempt to "integrate" the bumpers into the car's design (which leads to inferior protection of pricey parts...including sheetmetal), such repair costs do not surprise me.  None escaped undamaged, even the "acceptable" Mazda 6.  That said, I'd rather pay $900 in repairs than $5,300 (G6).