Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[IIHS praises Ford Focus for cheap crash repairs]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/09/iihs-praises-ford-focus-for-cheap-crash-repairs/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/09/iihs-praises-ford-focus-for-cheap-crash-repairs/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/09/iihs-praises-ford-focus-for-cheap-crash-repairs/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


click above image to view high-res gallery of the 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe

Reminding us once again that there's more than meets the eye when shopping for a vehicle are recent impact tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that measure how much it costs to fix a vehicle after after a low-speed accident. Sure, we're all interested in safety and styling, but we should also be concerned with how much these low-speed impacts will cost to repair. The winner of the testing was the Ford Focus, which scored light damage all the way around. The IIHS heaped praise on Ford for designing a bumper that can truly take a bump -- a novel idea.

Amazingly, some small cars like the Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Prius and VW Rabbit cost up to a third of the car's worth to fix from damage resulting from a minor impact. That's a big problem for any car, but especially so for those sold on the merits of economy. To prove that it's not too difficult for auto manufacturers to design a better bumper, the IIHS made a few simple changes to a Prius that didn't affect the looks of the car. After retesting, it made it through the impact tests with a fraction of the damage. For the complete rundown on the testing procedures and results, click past the break.

Gallery: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe


[Source: IIHS]

Continue reading IIHS praises Ford Focus for cheap crash repairs

IIHS praises Ford Focus for cheap crash repairs originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>crash testcrash testsCrashTestCrashTestseconomy car crash testsEconomyCarCrashTestsfocus crash testsFocusCrashTestsford focusFordFocusiihsinsurance institute for highway safetyInsuranceInstituteForHighwaySafetyprius crash testsPriusCrashTestssmall car crash testsSmallCarCrashTestsTue, 09 Sep 2008 12:59:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1308086/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/09/09/iihs-praises-ford-focus-for-cheap-crash-repairs/1308086/article-detail.xml 1308086 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/11/ab-garage_08focus_4501_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/11/ab-garage_08focus_4501.jpg -1 2