Small vehicle repair costs

An expensive repair on a damaged bumper bar could add insult to injury after a crash.

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Last updated: 2 Sep 2014

When buying a new car, do you ever think about how much it might cost you to repair if it’s involved in a crash? Some cars will notch up a higher repair bill than others, so it pays to know if the car you have your eye on could cost more than you expect down the track.

Bumper to bumper

The NRMA Insurance Research Centre tested nine top-selling small cars to see how their bumpers fared in a low-speed collision. The goal was to urge car manufacturers to improve bumper bar design to help keep the cost of collision repairs affordable. Lower repair costs could save you hundreds of dollars each year in insurance premiums.

Small doesn’t mean affordable

The Holden Barina was by far the cheapest car to repair bumper damage on. After that it was a substantial jump to the Nissan Micra, and a steady climb from there to the most expensive small cars for bumper repairs, the Honda Jazz and Toyota Yaris.

What’s really eye-opening is the cost of the repair compared with how much it costs to buy the car in the first place. The cost to repair both bumpers on the Toyota Yaris amounted to 70% of its purchase price.

Vehicle	Frontal test repair costs	Repair cost (%) of RRP (frontal)	Rear test repair cost	Repair cost (%) of RRP (rear)	Total repair cost	Repair cost (%) of RRP (overall)	Purchase price
Holden Barina	$1,405	7.8%	$1,168	6.5%	$2,574	14.3%	$17,990
Nissan Micra	$3,311	19.5%	$2,745	16.2%	$6,056	35.6%	$16,990
Ford Fiesta	$4,784	22.8%	$4,066	19.4%	$8,850	42.4%	$20,990
Suzuki Swift	$4,198	22.8%	$4,730	25.7%	$8,929	48.6%	$18,390
VW Polo	$6,658	31.0%	$4,379	20.4%	$11,037	51.4%	$21,490
Hyundai i20	$5,750	33.8%	$3,281	19.3%	$9,031	53.2%	$16,990
Mazda Mazda2	$6,641	34.3%	$4,679	24.2%	$11,320	58.5%	$19,340
Honda Jazz	$6,098	30.8%	$7,655	38.7%	$13,754	69.5%	$19,790
Toyota Yaris	$6,584	34.7%	$6,855	36.1%	$13,440	70.8%	$18,990

Source: Information provided by the NRMA Insurance Research Centre in November 2012

Testing process

The NRMA Insurance Low-Speed Crash Test Program used a new international standard bumper test (1.2MB) from the Research Council for Automobile Repairs (RCAR). A ‘roller coaster’ type device simulates a 10km/h collision with another car – the most common type of accident on our roads.

Front and rear bumpers were tested. Even travelling at 10km/h, many of the cars had poor-performing bumper design which resulted in high repair costs.

The NRMA Insurance Low-Speed Crash Test Program is a collision repair cost test and is not an indicator of vehicle safety features. All of these cars, except the Nissan Micra, have been awarded five star ANCAP safety ratings.