Mini Cars = Big Repair Costs
The Associated Press wrote an article about the repair costs of mini cars. Even a fender-bender at speeds of 3 to 6 miles per hour could cost anywhere from $474 to $3701. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted crash tests on the front and back bumpers as well as the front and rear corners of seven 2009 mini cars. The Kia Rio had the most damage among the mini cars. It had $3701 in repairs to the front bumper. In four separate tests, the Rio averaged $2705 in damages. The Smart Fortwohad the lowest average repair costs at $899. In one of the tests, the Smart Fortwo had $507 worth of repair costs. The Chevrolet Aveo had the second lowest bill, averaging $1155 in damages.
The automakers are saying that the insurance industry tests were more focused on “repair costs of low-impact, low-injury collisions while their companies placed a greater priority on safety.” I guess there are always pros and cons to any car. The major pro for the mini cars is fuel efficiency, and I guess a con is the cost of repairs. Consumers just need to determine which is more important. If you listen to the automakers and do research, these mini cars are fairly safe, but personally I just think they are too small to be safe enough for me. Fuel efficiency doesn’t outweigh the cons in my mind. To each his own though…..