Weak Bumpers on Luxury Cars

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently conducted low-speed impacts tests where the bumpers of several luxury cars failed to prevent costly damage. In one case, a Mercedes-Benz C-class sedan sustained almost $5,500 in damage when hit in its front bumper at a speed of 6 miles per hour. The group conducted four separate low-speed impact tests on 11 popular luxury cars. The vehicle sustaining the most total damage was the Infiniti G35, made by Nissan, which had total estimated repair costs of $14,000. In the straight-on front impact test alone, the G35 sustained $5,223 in damage. The best-performing vehicle in the test was the Saab 9-3, its total estimated repair costs for all four tests was $5,243.