IIHS Measures Higher Cost of Crash Repairs for Aluminum F-150

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety added a repair-cost study to its crashworthiness evaluations for the unique, aluminum bodied 2015 Ford F-150 pickup truck

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
[VIDEO]First IIHS Test of Aluminum-Bodied Ford F-150 Pickup

Since the 2015 Ford F-150 pickup truck is a unique vehicle with its aluminum body, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety added a repair-cost study to its crashworthiness evaluations for the model. Damage to aluminum body parts can be more complicated and pricier to repair than steel, analyses by the Highway Loss Data Institute have shown.

The Institute ran crash tests at 10 mph with the new F-150 crew cab and its 2014 steel-bodied predecessor. Engineers crashed the front left corner of the aluminum pickup into the right rear corner of the steel pickup at a 15 percent overlap, and then flipped the test and ran the steel pickup into the back of the aluminum one.

In both test scenarios, the aluminum F-150 had more extensive damage than the steel model. Total repair costs for the front and rear damage combined were 26 percent higher for the aluminum F-150. Extra time to repair the aluminum body accounted for the higher price to fix frontal damage, while higher parts costs pushed up the repair bill for the rear damage.

"From a simple bolt-on parts replacement to a more-involved removal and installation of entire body panels, fixing the aluminum F-150 is more expensive than repairing a steel-body F-150," Zuby says.

The IIHS fender-bender tests show the potential implications for out-of-pocket costs as well as insurance premiums when consumers opt for vehicles built with more aluminum.

(more on IIHS crash testing 2015 Ford F-150 . . . )

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