Well the Audi did do better, but try a 2k repair bill for two of the tests vice 1k and look the G35 actually did better in the side rear.


Front Front Rear Rear TOTAL
full corner full corner DAMAGE
Saab 9-3 $1,476 $1,076 $1,722 $969 $5,243
Audi A4 $976 $2,038 $918 $1,899 $5,831
Lincoln MKZ $1,001 $1,966 $2,330 $669 $5,966
BMW 3 series $3,658 $1,256 $989 $778 $6,681
Acura TSX $ 1,693 $1,274 $3,430 $1,157 $7,554
Volvo S60 $4,517 $543 $2,142 $1,022 $8,224
Lexus IS $4,695 $2,223 $1,922 $737 $9,577
Lexus ES $3,921 $2,093 $3,709 $1,101 $10,824
Mercedes C $5,486 $963 $3,728 $877 $11,054
Acura TL $4,985 $1,244 $3,814 $1,156 $11,199
Infiniti G35 $5,223 $3,544 $4,035 $1,181 $13,983

 

Couldn't agree more. Who cares about cost...as long as I'm safe and/or whoever else is in the car.

 

I would not get too worked up over this report, even the Lexus guys are blowing it off.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=297924

Did anyone notice how high the ES350 repair bill was which is essentially a Toyota Camry. Now if I was paying premium insurance for a Camry, that is something to be pi$$ed about. LOL.

 

There's no real percentage formula to determine if a car is a total loss. The percentages are used as a rough guideline. The actual calculation is based on things like the true market value, the value of the salvage (car in it's damaged state), and length of repairs and rental costs involved.

Market value - salvage value > repair costs + rental costs = repairable
Market value - salvage value < repair costs + rental costs = totaled

There are several reasons why one would be concerned about a car being expensive to fix when involved in low-speed, minor accidents:

1. If the accident is your fault (you barely tap a wall or some other object) and you don't want to turn in a claim since your insurance rates will go up, you would prefer to pay for fixing it yourself. If you found out it would cost $6,000 to fix a minor dent to your vehicle caused in a 3mph impact, you'd be super pissed off.

2. The more expensive it is to fix your car, that means the more labor and parts are required to fix it. How happy would you be to drive a Chevy Malibu rental car for 2 months while your G is in the shop for repairs and you're still making your car payments every month? Even if I was only out of pocket a $500 deductible, I'd still be pissed that a minor impact requires my car to be in the shop for a long time.

3. As others have pointed out, the more expensive it is to fix a car, the more expensive the collision and comprehensive coverages will be. These coverages are not affected in any way by how much safer the car is. The car's safety affects other coverages like medical payments and uninsured motorist bodily injury coverages.

And if you don't think people take repairs costs into consideration when buying a car, just visit the BMW 5 series forums. E60 BMWs are notoriously expensive to fix. The most minor bump requires the car go onto a very expensive BMW specified frame machine. There are many E60 BMW owners who swear they will not buy another BMW due to the headaches they have encountered in having minor damage repaired.

 

Actually it highlights the 2007 model in the video.....

I read the previous reports too. The G35 does great in the front and side saftey
test...but since 2003 the rear bumper has been described as a disaster....:lol
It provides little protection and splits in the middle according to one report...

When a new model car comes out...I kinda avoid the 1st year...because it
always seems to have bugs.... I waited to buy the Infiniti for this reason...

I got the 2006 model G35 sedan....it would appear that even when that model
was tested, Infiniti didn't improve the design...... It is kind of hard to excuse
no redesign in 3 years after the first bad report of the 2003 model from the Crash tests. $14000 is really outrageous for a minor fender bender. It basically offsets the good reliability maintence record that the G35 overall enjoys and gives ammunition to the critics of the car.


This does give me pause in my next purchase....from this company.

It would be nice for Nissan and Infiniti to address this....but then some
folks are still waiting about the oil burning issues with the 6 speed rev-up engines...:lol


All I can think of is that Infiniti should offer a kit to reinforce the bumper like Audi had built into it...:lol


High maintence cars is just something to avoid no matter how much money
you have.....

 

I think the odds of being tapped from all 4 sides for the 14K total are quite remote. Maybe in a car crusher.

 

i read the first sentence and thought to myself how retarded is this article. like i'm going to buy my car looking forward to getting into an accident. oh yeah, insurance is also mandatory in most parts of the western world. guess how much a porsche cayenne costs to fix after hitting a cast iron mailbox

 

:lol Yeah, demolition derby..... But think of $3000 plus for each corner.....hit.

And it would be a remote occurence....like getting struck by lightning.


But still...excellent performance in crash tests should be Infiniti's passion too.
Hope Nissan will do it better with the GTR..

 

True and a very valid point. My point was simply that if we have to choose then I would take safety over repair cost. I wonder how much more expensive the car would be if it were designed for both or if it is just a matter of them not doing it? There are so many factors to everything like that.

 

It may not even be that much, but the point is true. This kind of data is used to set rates for "physical damage" to the vehicle, aka "collision". It has no effect on the rates for "liability", which is typically the most expensive piece of the auto insurance premium, which is based on location and driving record.

The best way to control insurance costs is to have a clean driving record (residing outside of an urban area or having a short commute to work helps).

The easiest way to reduce the physical damage premium is to take a higher collision deductible. If you don't have $500 or $1000 deductible call your agent and ask how much your insurance will go down if you increase the deductible. The savings is likely to be substantial.

 

Ok, I will sale my 07 G35x because of this article. I can afford buying the car with cash but cannot afford high bill to repair damage from fender bender.
I sale it for $20K, any taker?

 

Cheaper parts will make the car cheaper overall, no? But cheaper parts also means our cars wouldn't look as nice either. Like the article stated,

 

I honestly couldn't give a rats @ss about this report. Now if this report indicated that the G had the lowest safety ratings, than I would be quite concerned. The G has top safety ratings by the IIHS (found here) and that is what counts to me. As long as I know that my Wife and Daughter stand a better chance at surviving a crash, cost means nothing to me......end of story.
The TL didn't fair much better than the G, but would that stop me from buying a TL......nope!

And yes, I know this test was dealing with low speed impacts.......so don't bother commenting on that regarding my post.

 

why can't they put massive steel bars under the bumper, attached to massive springs to absorb the impact? the plastic bumper can still cover all that....

are they cost cutting?

 

the 07 has outstanding braking and handling... which is meant to make it avoid accidents and lessen the chances of having one. does this report take into account the costs avoided by having no injuries to its passangers?