September 28, 1999
Web posted at: 5:35 p.m. EDT (2135 GMT)

ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) -- Seven full-size and luxury cars sustained more than $1,500 damage in a series of four low-speed crash tests, indicating their bumpers are not protecting the cars, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Tuesday.

Six of the seven cars in the tests, conducted at 5 mph (8 km/h), sustained more than $2,000 in damage, two exceeding $2,700, according to IIHS president Brian O'Neill.

"With all this damage, it's obvious that car bumpers still aren't being designed to do what they're supposed to do, which is bump and absorb the energy of a low-speed impact," O'Neill said.

The results for the specific models: MODEL / YEAR TOTAL DAMAGE LARGE LUXURY CARS Buick Park Avenue 1999-2000 $1806 Cadillac Seville 2200 $2735 Lexus GS 400 1998-2000 $2746 LARGE FAMILY CARS Buick LeSabre 2000 $2084 Dodge Intrepid 1999-2000 $2115 Chevrolet Impala 2000 $2342 Chrysler LHS 1999-2000 $2406   MESSAGE BOARD Rules of the road

"One problem is that some of the bumpers are simply too close to the car body. This puts styling before function because there's not enough room to absorb energy and prevent damage. The result is huge repair costs," he said.

The tests compared how well bumpers resist damage in the kinds of impacts that frequently occur in commuter traffic and parking lots.

Every car sustained damage extending beyond the bumpers to expensive sheet metal parts. In some cases, the collisions damaged tail lights, brake lights and blinkers, the IIHS said.

The more recent models of the Cadillac Seville, one of the worst performers, fared worse than the 1997 model.

"This means the bumper could have been improved but they weren't," O'Neill said.

The repair cost estimate represents the total damage from all four tests, which consisted of front-into-flat barrier, rear-into-flat-barrier, front-into-angle barrier and rear-into-pole collisions.

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