Interesting report...whoever wrote it was smoking crack!!
Looks like the S-10 probably did the worst. Anyone who has shopped for
parts knows that you can pick up aftermarket fenders for an S-10 for next
to nothing....probably 70 to 80 bucks (maybe even less). A Dakota on the
other hand, costs about 50% more. Simple supply and demand. There have
been a lot more S-10's sold than Dakotas (so far)
Therefore, a dollar to dollar comparison does not measure actual damage.
Hell, I would venture to guess that a broken grille on a Mercedes would
cost a lot more than a broken grill on my Dakota....Same amount of damage,
differing dollar amounts.
What we really need to measure is if you throw a 190 lb AP reporter
headfirst at 20 mph into the bumpers of compact trucks, which truck bumper
has the biggest dent?
The Duck!
*************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: JEdmo123 <JEdmo123@AOL.COM>
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net <dakota-truck@buffnet.net>
Date: Tuesday, April 07, 1998 6:35 PM
Subject: DML: WRECK(???)
>Small Pickups Fare Poorly in Study
>
>.c The Associated Press
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) - Pickup trucks have the image of being rugged and
>dependable, but a study released today has found that some small pickups
are
>also susceptible to sizable damage in 5 mph crash tests.
>
>The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the Toyota Tacoma,
>little brother to Toyota's T-100 full-size truck, sustained $4,361 in
damages
>over four tests. They included driving forward and backwards into a flat
>barrier, forward into an angled barrier and backwards into a pole.
>
>Even the best of the five small pickups tested, the Chevrolet S-10 LS,
>sustained $2,246 in damage. The other trucks tested were the Ford Ranger
XLT
>($2,952 in total damages), the Dodge Dakota Sport ($3,863) and the Nissan
>Frontier XE ($3,867).
>
>The institute, which is sponsored by the insurance industry, said the
trucks
>sustained the damage because most are equipped with rigid bumpers. Cars
have
>bumpers that contain energy-absorbing materials such as foam.
>
>``People may think that pickup trucks are tough. But they quickly find out
>this isn't true when they bump into something at a slow speed and then have
to
>shell out thousands of dollars to repair the damage,'' said Adrian Lund,
the
>institute's senior vice president.
>
>A General Motors spokesman took issue with the tests, noting they were
>conducted at 5 mph when the current bumper safety standard is 2.5 m
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:08:36 EDT