The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rated Toyota Prius among the most expensive small cars to repair after a low-speed impact. Eighteen of twenty cars subjected to the same series of tests boasted less expensive repair costs than the Prius.
The world’s most popular hybrid car, Toyota Prius, didn’t fare so well in a recent series of crash tests performed on small cars by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Of the twenty cars tested by the Institute the poor performance of the Prius netted it a spot at the bottom of the roster, just ahead of the VW Rabbit.
What the test confirmed for Prius owners is this … if a Prius suffers a minor bump, such as a light tap in a parking lot at less than six-mph, bills at the auto body repair shop could be staggering – higher than they would be if the owner had chosen to drive any of the other small cars that were tested, sans the Rabbit.
The total damage suffered by the Prius in four low-speed crashes – two of them at 3mph and another pair at 6mph – was $9,070, nearly the same amount as the damage estimates for repairing most luxury cars in a similar series of IIHS crash tests last year. IIHS believes cars should not suffer damage from minor low-speed impacts such as those mimicked by the crash tests.IIHS laid blame, in part, on more expensive Toyota parts citing this example … a taillamp costs $65 for the Ford Focus, the car at the top of the roster with the least expensive repair costs. A taillamp for the Prius was $205, more than three times that of the Focus. Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall when the Institute tests the 2010 Prius Touring Edition with its expensive HID headlamps? That’ll give em’ heartburn!
The Institute also showed through alterations performed with the help of Allstate Insurance’s research facility, Tech-Cor, that damage to a Prius could be reduced dramatically with minimal changes in the car’s design. By lengthening the front bumper reinforcement bar and pad, then retesting, damage suffered in one quadrant of the test fell from $1,200 to only $254. For more on this story, a copy of the IIHS report and video of the four Prius crash tests, visit Safe Collision Repairs.
