Bumpers Have a BIG Job!

If you drive either a Civic or CR-V from Honda Salisbury, then you can rest easily at night knowing that your auto brand cares enough about your safety to pay special attention to your bumpers.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety took SUV and car pairs from seven different auto brands and put them in 10 mph fender benders with one another.  While we do not have results for the vehicles found at Chevrolet Dealer Medina, if they are anything like their domestic competition over at Ford then the results were costly and unattractive.  There are laws in place that require the bumpers on passenger cars to be between a height of 16 to 20 inches above the ground.  However, the SUVs, trucks, and minivans from Chevrolet Dealer Westlake and every other auto maker out there do not have any bumper height regulations in place. 

The IIHS tested these vehicle pairs so that one vehicle was standing still and the other one was traveling at only 10 mph.  The most expensive repair occurred when the Toyota Corolla sedan rear ended the Toyota RAV4 SUV; a total of $9,867.  The car sustained only $3,852 worth of damage while the SUV sustained $6,015 worth of damage.  This was because the car struck the spare tire on the back of the RAV4 rather than the bumper, and the spare tire is not designed to have that kind of force applied to it.  Bumpers actually do serve a purpose and their construction is meant to absorb impact so that the rest of the vehicle is not damaged. 

The other brands tested against each other were Ford, Honda, Nissan, Kia and Hyundai, Dodge and Jeep, and Volkswagen.  The two that had the best results were when the Honda CR-V rear ended the Honda Civic; a total of $2,995 damage resulted.  The other lowest cost repair was when the Kia Forte rear ended the Hyundai Tucson for a total repair bill of $3,601.  On average, the repair costs were higher when the car struck the SUV, and that is because there would be significant damage to the internal engine components of the car as it slid underneath the SUV. 

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Aftermarket Bumper Safety and CAPA

A lot of us like to save money on our Centre Ford vehicle by using aftermarket parts in the event of an accident.  Many consumers think it is perfectly safe to use an aftermarket bumper, grille, fender, or other cosmetic part.  Your car from Albany Honda Dealers comes with a set standard of parts that have been rigorously crash tested.  When you put on a foreign part from a mass producing company, there is no way to know if those parts are as safe as the original.  While some parts of your car truly are cosmetic and you can save a lot of money at Burton Ford Dealers by opting to upgrade your entertainment components through aftermarket companies, some pieces that you choose to replace should be from the original manufacturer. 

One of the most important pieces on your car in terms of safety is the bumper, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been telling consumers this since 1987.  The bumper is one piece of equipment that has a significant role in keeping you and your passengers safe.  The IIHS and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spend a lot of time, money, and resources when they perform their crash test ratings.  That fact alone makes them a trusted source and someone we will believe.

The IIHS is suggesting that aftermarket bumpers can be perfectly safe and will hold up in a crash as well as the original provided that the aftermarket is made identically to the original.  This means that there needs to be the same material used, the same dimensions all around, and the same construction assembly process.  This is entirely possible and the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) has begun setting standards and giving their stamp of approval to the products that match the original manufacturer parts.   

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NHTSA Ratings More Stringent

Out of 34 of the new 2011 car models tested under the new NHTSA crash test rating system, only two earned a perfect five stars: BMW 5 Series and Hyundai Sonata.  That doesn’t mean that your older car from Wayne Mazda Financing that did well in their relative year crash test wouldn’t do well in the new ones or that your vehicle is any less safe.  Out of the 34 cars that have been tested so far, the Nissan Versa received only two stars, the Toyota Camry received three, and the remaining 22 received four stars.  All of this is good news for places like Dodge Butler Rebate because the new crash test scores will help auto engineers make their vehicles even safer than before. 

It can be confusing looking at the crash test ratings while you are shopping at Peoria Chevrolet.  We are no longer able to compare straight across the board the ratings from 2010 to 2011.  A model that got a perfect 5 stars in 2010 is likely only going to get 4 stars for the 2011 model year.  The new car is not less safe, but too many vehicles were getting perfect scores all the time.  While that is good news for consumers and auto engineers alike, it also means that the test was too easy and was due for a face-lift.

The main changes to the crash test ratings include issuing a vehicle an overall score of one through five stars.  Also, a side-pole crash has been included in the data.  This new test will give engineers a new way to look at data rather than the traditional T-bone accident.  The NHTSA is incorporating a wider selection of shapes and sizes for the test-dummies.  The different size dummies will alert engineers to more areas of weakness in the event of a crash. 

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IIHS vs NHTSA.

When you go to Cincinnati Chevy with the hopes of picking out a new vehicle, there are several things you will take into consideration.  You will want to make sure you are getting a great price on a quality vehicle that you enjoy driving.  Not only will the vehicles from Honda Longview need to meet your expectations, but you will want to make sure that they meet the needs of you and your family.  One key item that several auto brands use to help sell their inventory is crash test rating scores.  So what is the big difference between someone saying a car is "good" or giving that same car four stars?

In America, there are two institutions that evaluate crash tests for vehicle safety.  They are the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Now both agencies might have tested the vehicles at Chrysler Dodge Jeep St. George, but perhaps the dealership is only using one set of scores as the selling point.  For those people familiar with college entrance exams, there is the SAT and the ACT.  Both do a fairly good job of predicting how well you will do in college and schools use it as a way to measure people from a wide variety of backgrounds.  But, a student might do better on one test than on another, and thus it would be assumed that they would report the higher score.  The same kind of thing goes on with crash test scores. 

Here is a simple enough example.  The NHTSA does their rankings in a star system, with five being the highest and one being the lowest.  Five stars means there is less than 10% chance of injury while one star means greater than 46% chance of injury.  IIHS ranks their scores as being good, acceptable, marginal, or poor.  While you can infer how safe the passengers of your car are by these terms, the IIHS also looks at how well the vehicle does under the crash test. 

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Small Car Safety for 2010.

How do you know if your car is safe?  There are a lot of Ford Specials going on right now, and Ford offers some great safe choices.  And what about if you want a smaller car, how do you know which one will protect you the best in the event of a crash?  Well, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is the trusted source for crash test ratings.  They award their Top Safety Pick award based on how well the vehicle is able to protect the passengers in the car.  There is front impact, side impact, rear impact, and new rollover crash test that all go into determining the safest car.  Plus, to earn the award these vehicles must come equipped with electronic stability control. 

Listed below are the ten most safe small cars for 2010.  Interestingly enough, we don't see any American models from Chevrolet Minneapolis and the list is composed entirely of import models.  The Subaru Impreza is a great safe choice, although some of the options on it can get costly.  Another staple small car that is incredibly safe for families and will last forever is the Toyota Corolla. You might be able to find a used one from Ford Macon, and most of the past years are also very safe models.  The Honda Civic has been a long time safe car, and many young drivers love it.

The 2010 Kia Forte also earned Top Safety Pick, and the base price is budget friendly.  The Kia Soul has an even lower price than the Forte, plus it is just as safe.  A car that looks a lot like the Kia Soul is the Nissan Cube, and this car is not only super functional with lots of storage, its outward appearance is just plain cute!  The cousin of Toyota puts out a safe car, the Scion xB.  With a base price of $16,700, the list of features makes it a great and safe small car choice.  Last on the list is the VW Golf; this sporty and fun to drive car is also a safe choice. 

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Ford: 2010's Safest Brand

Volkswagen Peoria is proud to offer you four of 2010's Top Safety Picks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but Richmond Ford can offer you 11 Top Safety Picks for the 2010 line up!  That makes them the brand to beat, with the most awards from the IIHS.  Ohio Ford Dealer employees should also be boasting to customers that their brand has the most 5-star ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

So how is Ford making their vehicles so strong compared to everybody else?  Well, they use a new Trinity Front Crash Body Architecture in building their vehicles.  This means that the exterior of the vehicle is stiff and strong enough to absorb most of the energy from an accident and direct it away from the passenger cabin, thus protecting the people inside.  Ford also has SPACE Architecture, which stands for Side Protection and Cabin Enhancement.  This specialized technology uses high-strength steel in the floor that is the entire width of the car, and this helps protect passengers during side-impact crashes.  For many years now, Ford has been using high quality products to build their vehicles, like high-strength steel, boron steel, and low-alloy dual-phase steel.   These steel portions are in key crash areas, like the A and B pillars, the rocker panels, and roof headers. 

Current Top Safety Picks include the Mercury Milan, Lincoln MKZ, Lincoln MKT, Ford Flex, and Ford Fusion.  Plus, the hybrid models of the Fusion and Milan also earned the honor.  All of these vehicles had already earned the Top Safety Award, but the IIHS created their new roof strength test, so the five Ford models had to be reevaluated to continue receiving the award.  So if you have a Flex, the award applies if it was built after January 2010.  If you have a Lincoln MKT, the award applies for models built following March 2010.  Lastly, owners of the Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln MKZ have the top award if their model was built after April 2010. 

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7 Unsafe Trucks!

If you are looking for a safe car for your family, the Ford Focus is a great choice!  It has consistently done extremely well in crash tests.  Even the iconic VW Beetle from any Volkswagen Dealer is one of the safest small cars available on the market today.  But, Americans tend to go for the bigger is better mantra, and truck sales are still doing better than economists predicted.  Listed below are the seven most dangerous trucks on the market according to a recent list compiled by Forbes.  Good is the best rating and it means you score 4 points and the crash test dummies inside did not have any trauma occur.  Acceptable earns 3 points, and a rating of poor means the dummies were severely or fatally injured.  There were a total of 12 points possible.  Luckily for Ford Dealer Kansas City, none of the Ford truck line-up made this list!
Dodge Ram 1500, receiving a good score for front and rear impact, but only a marginal score for side impact.  The rollover test was not done. 
Chevy Colorado Crew Cab did not do too well at all!  It was only acceptable for front impact, marginal for rear impact and rollover, and poor on the side impact tests. 
GMC Canyon Crew Cab got the exact same scores as the Colorado; poor for side impact, marginal for rear impact and rollover, and only acceptable for front imapct.
The boxy SUV Hummer H3 did not do as well as you might accept.  It received a poor score rating for rear impacts, and only acceptable for front and side impact ratings!  The rollover test was not performed.
This won't come as too much of a shocker, but the Jeep Wrangler 4-Door may be a bit safer than its two door counterpart, but still only received a good rating for front impact.  The rollover test was not performed and it got rated marginal for side and rear impact scores.  The Jeep Wrangler 2-Door fared a bit worse, scoring good for the front impact, marginal for rear impact, and poor for side impact; rollover test was not performed.
The large Nissan Titan isn't as safe as you might think, but not as bad as some!  It scored good for front and rear impacts, but only marginal for a side impact.  Rollover tests were not performed.

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