IIHS: Some Replacement Bumpers Protect Like Originals, Others Don’t
Aftermarket repair parts are almost always much cheaper than original-equipment (OEM) parts, so if you're in a minor fender-bender, going with a budget replacement part—like a bumper—instead can be tempting.
But there's a lot to be wary of. Turns out, many parts don't comply completely with the original tolerances and dimensions, let alone materials. And they might jeopardize your safety if you have another crash.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), "the collision market is a hodgepodge of domestic and overseas suppliers who build structural parts to their own internal guidelines, so there's no guarantee the parts are equivalent to original equipment in terms of quality and safety." If a bumper—the first area to make contact—doesn't yield in the same way, the rest of a vehicle might not crumple in the right way if you have another accident, potentially resulting in a greater chance of injury.
And in the down economy, according to industry data cited by the IIHS, collision shops have had greater pressure to keep costs down and have increased the use of aftermarket parts from 11 percent in fourth-quarter 2007 to 13 percent in second-quarter 2010.
The IIHS just found, through a battery of tests, that fenders, grilles, and bumper covers might vary in fit, finish, or wear, but they don't affect a vehicle's collision performance.
For bumpers, they do, however. And for that, the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) has established a new certification standard, called CAPA 501, to make sure auto bumpers meet the same dimensional, material, and construction standards as their original equivalents. The standard is being extended to include surrounding structural parts as well.
To show how the new standard works, the IIHS tested three vehicles—a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500, a 2009 Toyota Camry, and 2005 Ford F-150. They fitted the Ram pickup with an aftermarket bumper that conformed to the new certification requirements and ran it through their 5-mph bumper test, then their 40-mph frontal offset test. The results were nearly identical to those of the pickup with original bumpers.
"This is what we expected," says Adrian Lund, the Institute's president. "It shows that aftermarket parts can be reverse-engineered without compromising safety. An aftermarket bumper that meets CAPA's new standard should perform as well as the original."
Likewise, a CAPA-complying bumper on a Toyota Camry performed nearly the same as an original, but testing another aftermarket possibility that didn't comply ended up buckling in the center even in the low-speed bumper test; the IIHS notes that it could affect airbag deployment or force dissipation at higher speeds.
On the F-150, the IIHS tested an aftermarket bumper that didn't meet the new standard and actually found the monetary damage lower with it ($1,777 versus $1,909 for the original) because the fog lamp recesses were in the wrong place.
The tip to take with you when you need to do some repairs after a fender-bender: Make sure that collision-repair uses either original components or certified replacement parts. If they don't, take your business elsewhere, and inform your insurer about the potential compromise in safety.
[IIHS]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2012 Buick: Is GM Building an American Lexus?
If you're reading this article in 2012, congratulations. Thanks to the miracle of Google search, Web longevity and ultra-fast fiber-optics, you already know if the renaissance that started in the summer of 2009 at Buick was successful.
From our perspective, here in the dark ages of 2009, Buick has a long way to go. Along with the rest of GM and the auto industry in general, the brand is hoping for a miracle in sales, and not just a ground-rule double like the current sales spurt coming from the Feds' cash-for-clunkers program.
Recovery starts with admitting what you've done wrong. And today, Buick general manager Susan Docherty pointed out what GM and Buick had done wrong in the past--mostly, trying to feed too many brands with too few products.
At a special event in Detroit, Docherty took TheCarConnection off the digital record for a backgrounder on the Buick lineup we'll see in place in 2012--and shone a little sunlight on the brand's intentions, now that's it's part of the "core four" nameplates making the migration into the New GM.
Docherty points to the latest new Buicks for clues to the future. For 2010, the oldest GM brand already has a taste of what's to come, in the 2010 Buick LaCrosse. Built alongside the Chevrolet Malibu in Fairfax, Kan., the LaCrosse has been called an "American Lexus" by the Los Angeles Times. High Gear Media's own Nelson Ireson reports "fans of Lexus, Acura and Infiniti...will find themselves envious of the solid construction, (mostly) whisper-quiet ride and superior switchgear found in the LaCrosse."
It's a good start to a renaissance, along with the 2008 Buick Enclave seven-passenger crossover. It's far from "mission accomplished," though--the mission being beating Lexus in quality, a mission assigned by GM's Bob Lutz when he joined the automaker early in the decade. GM's rollercoaster ride since then has delayed new vehicles and canceled others, leaving Buick with just three cars for this model year--LaCrosse, Enclave and Lucerne.
What's missing? More core products, more small vehicles and hybrids. Over the next 24 months, Buick will add two new sedans and two new crossovers to beef up its showrooms, and each will be smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles than Buick buyers may be used to seeing behind the triple-shield badge.
When you venture into a Buick showroom in 2012, Docherty says, here's the lineup you'll see:
Buick LaCrosse: The brand-new LaCrosse is positioned as the mainstream large sedan, the Buick Lucerne aside. With a choice of four- and six-cylinder engines and a suave new shape, the LaCrosse goes on sale shortly.
Buick Enclave: By 2012 the seven-passenger Enclave will be the oldest vehicle in the Buick lineup. A mid-cycle refresh could appear in the next 24 months, though no major changes have been confirmed.
Mid-size sedan: The Opel Insignia had been planned as a new addition to the Saturn lineup; with Saturn out of the GM picture, the new four-door is being adapted by Buick. The side strakes in the doors are unmistakable Insignia cues, but Buick details like the waterfall grille have been added. Designers are on the fence about putting portholes on the fenders or the hood. It's a little more anodyne than, say, the Chrysler 300--and it's specifically targeting a Lexus shopper as a result.
Compact sedan: The Buick version of the compact 2011 Chevrolet Cruze turns out very well. With a deep waterfall grille, portholes on the hood (not the side of the fenders, really, but the top), a roofline kink that BMW owners might mistake for their own, and a very smoothly integrated shape, the compact sedan's biggest challenge will be telling it apart from the mid-size car.
Small crossover: a version of the Saturn Vue with a Buick grille, the crossover gets a plug-in hybrid powertrain not long after it's launched in the 2011 calendar year.
Compact crossover: An all-new architecture underpins this small crossover, which bears a strong resemblance to a drastically shortened Enclave. It could be related to the new 2011 Chevrolet Orlando, but execs were not forthcoming about its underpinnings.
Buick also showed sketches of a concept four-door coupe. Designers say it's an evolution of the Buick Riviera and Invicta concepts shown in past years at China's auto shows, but it's clearly still in the vaporware stage, probably waiting on sales traction for other new Buicks in the pipeline.
Missing from the calculations? A replacement for the large Buick Lucerne sedan. While Cadillac will get a new sedan to replace the DTS and STS, Buick's plans for a vehicle larger than the LaCrosse remain unstated.
In terms of timing, all the vehicles from today's preview are to appear in Buick showrooms in the next 24 months. The sedans are the clear priorities, Docherty said, with the crossovers following, though no calendar years or model years were divulged. Along with the new products are new hybrids--a must for both Buick and for GMC, the truck brand tied in showrooms to Buick, Docherty says.
With GM's bankruptcy comes the negatives of public perception, but it's also brought Buick some freedom. GM doesn't have to support the Saturn brand, which was to offer some of the vehicles that Buick now has in its future. Going back to GM's unsuccessful sales turnaround at Oldsmobile in the early part of the decade, it's hard not to see a pattern of ideas carried forward, from Olds to Saturn, and now to Buick.
With Buick, however, it could be a different story. For the first time, all of GM's best ideas for a near-luxury brand will be focused in one showroom--and will be put to work on its oldest remaining nameplate, which coincidentally is a strong seller in China, too. Is the combination of new products and a new image enough to truly make Buick into an American Lexus? That remains unclear, but for sure, a big part of GM's future hinges on it.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
2011 Bentley Arnage Is Brewing
Bentley waved goodbye to its Arnage sedan last year with a Final Series, and now the Volkswagen Group ultra-luxury brand may be ready to reveal its plans for an Arnage replacement--at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
The Arnage replacement, reports a Dutch Web site, will be shown in Monterey this August, as the classic-car world convenes for the richest automotive weekend on the planet. They offer no details on what the new vehicle may look like, or what powertrains it may offer.
Other sources speculate the new version might be pitched at a higher price point than today's car--which would make it a direct challenger to the 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom, at a time when a new Rolls-Royce Ghost is preparing to take on the Bentley Continental Flying Spur head to head. The British brands were once part of the same automotive group, but these days Rolls is BMW-owned, and Bentley controlled by VW/Audi.
We expect an aluminum space frame car will replace the Arnage--just as the Phantom has acquired lightweight construction techniques. The aged Bentley 6.75-liter V-8 will likely be ditched for a new V-8 with similar displacement, and an eight-speed automatic transmission is a good bet. In all, the Arnage may be a little less distantly related to the forthcoming 2010 Audi A8 than before.
In the meantime, the Arnage Final Series sports that same V-8, with 500 horsepower acquired through twin turbochargers. You may still be able to get one, but hurry.
[AutoTelegraaf via Autoblog]
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
