Can small auto crashes result in big repair bills for SUVs?
Even though SUVs are often advertised as rugged vehicles that will be ready for anything on the road, that doesn’t mean that this is true. As a matter of fact, SUVs are less safe than the average sedan.
The president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Brian O’Neill claims, “Before this set of tests, only the Hyundai Santa Fe and previous Forester designs, among small SUVs, earned good overall crashworthiness ratings. Adding more small SUVs to those with good ratings is further proof that manufacturers are working to improve the performances of their new designs in offset tests. This will mean improved protection for people in serious real-world crashes.”
“If a vehicle's front-end structure absorbs and manages the crash energy so the occupant compartment remains largely intact, with little or no intrusion into the driver's space, then the dummy's movement during the crash is likely to be well controlled, and injury measures are likely to be low. In contrast, poor structural design means greater likelihood of poor control of the dummy and high injury measures,” claims O’Neill.
Adrian Lund, IIHS chief operating officer says, “Subaru is working to improve the bumpers on its vehicles to reduce damage in minor impacts. This, in turn, should reduce the cost and inconvenience for consumers involved in low-speed collisions. The new Forester's bumpers are a big improvement over those on the predecessor design, which we rated marginal with an average of $584 damage per 5 mph crash test. In contrast, the redesigned Forester sustained $355 damage per test.”
“The spare tires mounted on the backs of the CR-V and Freelander were driven into the rear bodies of these vehicles. This is an unacceptable way to design any vehicle because it all but assures that expensive damage will occur in minor bumps,” says Lund. Below are results and the damages from 4 popular SUVs:
- Subaru Forester – $355
- Saturn VUE - $847
- Land Rover Freelander - $1,618
- Honda CR-V - $1,652
“When Honda redesigned the CR-V, the manufacturer obviously didn't care about the bumpers. The result is that CR-V owners can expect a lot of costly damage, even in minor bumps,” says Lund.
If you want to purchase an SUV, keep in mind that there are certain risks and there should be certain educated decisions to make when purchasing. Look for crash ratings, and you should also look for ratings that will help you with building your opinion. Even though purchasing an SUV might seem like an easy decision, it isn’t.