ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290049
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
DON'T RUN INTO anything, even at low speeds, with your sport-utility vehicle, an insurance industry study warns.
Sport-utility vehicles may tout a rugged off-road image, but they rack up costly damage in low-speed crashes typical of parking lot fender benders, according to a new insurance industry-backed study.
The 1996 Isuzu Rodeo had the highest repair costs - a total of $8,173 - in four 5-mph crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a Greene County, Va.-based institute backed by insurance companies.
Five other models of sport-utility vehicles sustained damage valued at $4,168 to $7,147.
In comparison, in the same test on 14 mid-size cars last year, only three accumulated more than $3,000 in damage. The Honda Accord LX sustained the least damage - $1,433.
``Utility vehicles may be advertised as rugged. Manufacturers are telling potential buyers they can drive these vehicles anywhere adventure leads them,'' said Brian O'Neill, the institute's president.
``But consumers can expect to pay thousands of dollars when they're unlucky enough to bump these so-called rugged vehicles into something at slow speeds.''
California-based Isuzu Motors America did not return phone calls seeking comment on the test results. However, Art Garner, a spokesman for American Honda Motor Co. Inc. in Torrance, Calif., discounted the validity of the tests, adding that they did not reflect the overall safety and quality of the Passport, which is nearly identical to the Isuzu Rodeo.
These ``tests don't really reflect real-world situations,'' Garner said.
Chuck Hurley, vice president of the institute, said they did mirror real-world claims. However, he acknowledged that the institute's giant insurance database - composed of vehicle claims from the 15 largest insurance companies - did not yet have enough claim data on 1996 vehicles.
The institute ran the same four 5-mph tests on the six sport-utility vehicles that they have run for years on other vehicles.
In the first test, the sport-utility vehicles hit a concrete-and-steel barrier head-on. In the second test, the vehicle was backed straight into the same barrier.
In the third test, the vehicle was driven into the barrier at a 30-degree angle. In the final test, the vehicle was backed into a vertical pole similar to a parking meter.
The rear window of the Isuzu shattered in the two rear tests, and the entire tailgate had to be replaced, the report said.
``The insurance companies that funded these tests are seeking to force manufacturers to build damage performance into vehicles in the absence of specific performance criteria or government regulation to do so,'' said Morry Markowitz of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers.
``It's a major consumer cost issue,'' Hurley said. ``These types of fender benders happen all the time, driving up insurance rates.''
Only one of the six sport-utility vehicles, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, could be driven away after it crashed into the barrier at an angle. The damaged part could be pulled away on the Blazer, but in the other cars it had to be pried away with tools, the report said.
The 1996 models of the sport-utility vehicles carry sticker prices of about $26,000 to nearly $33,000.
Utility Vehicle Repair Expense
Doug West, general manager, Vinton Motor Co., a Ford dealership: "I've not had any of my customers who have had this type of problem. It's never been brought up in conversation. ... We probably sell 60 to 70 Explorers a year. We sold eight last month, and we're a small dealer.
"There's no question in my mind that this won't scare people away."
George Adams, salesman, Pinkerton Chevrolet Geo Inc., Salem: "In head-on or side collisions, Blazers are as tough as they've ever been. But they're made to crush like an accordion. If nothing gives, the driver's gonna move. And that's when you start getting broken bones. So you want the car to crumple.
"Back in the '50s and '60s, when they had all-steel bumpers and such, nothing gave. So the driver was the next thing to move."
Compiled by Megan Schnabel
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart: Comparing damage costs. color.by CNB