Tests Show Sport-Utilities Not So Rugged

Sport-utility vehicles may look rugged, but a low-speed crash typical of parking lot fender benders produces several thousand dollars’ worth of damages in them, according to an insurance industry study.

The 1996 Isuzu Rodeo incurred the most costly damage--about $8,000--in four 5-mph crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The Rodeo, which is nearly identical to the Honda Passport, was followed in total damage cost by the 1996 Toyota 4Runner, $7,147; the Land Rover Discovery, $6,555; the Jeep Grand Cherokee, $5,763, and the Ford Explorer, $5,639.

The Chevrolet Blazer, which is similar to the GMC Jimmy, incurred $4,168 in damage in the four tests--the least of any of the six sport-utility vehicles tested.

“This is very different from the rugged image Isuzu and other utility vehicle manufacturers are selling,” Brian O’Neill, the institute’s president, said Tuesday. “Instead of rugged, a more appropriate description for these vehicles is flimsy.”

By comparison, in the same tests on 14 mid-size cars last year, only three accumulated more than $3,000 in damage. The Honda Accord LX sustained the least damage--$1,433, or about 18% of the damage to the Rodeo.

The report says only one of the six sport-utilities could be driven away after it crashed into the barrier at an angle.

All of the vehicles except the Jeep Grand Cherokee had a damaged part jammed into the front tire. The damaged part could be pulled away on the Blazer, but in the other cars it had to be pried away with tools, the report says.

California-based Isuzu Motors America did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Art Garner, a spokesman for American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance, said the institute’s tests did not reflect the overall safety and quality of the Passport. These “tests don’t really reflect real-world situations,” he said.

“There is no question in our minds that the Ford Explorer performs very well, whether we’re talking about safety or [amount of] damage,” said Terry Bresnihan, a spokesman for Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich.

Chuck Hurley, vice president of the institute, said the tests mirror real-world claims submitted to insurance companies. However, he acknowledged that the institute’s giant insurance database--composed of vehicle claims from the 15 largest insurance companies--did not yet have enough claim data on new 1996 vehicles.

“It’s a major consumer cost issue,” Hurley said of the sport-utility vehicles, which are designed to be driven off-road and in bad weather. “These types of fender benders happen all the time, driving up insurance rates.”

The institute noted that domestic sport-utility vehicles sustained the least costly damage.