In recent low-speed crash tests conduected by the IIHS in the US, it found that bumpers on the 2009 Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda6 and Nissan Maxima all performed better than their 2007 predecessors. However, that doesn't mean they scored a "Good" rating. Bumpers on the 2009 Chevy Malibu and 2010 Ford Fusion actually did worse than their 2007 predecessors. No sedan tested earned the top rating of "Good" in a series of tests that are designed to assess and compare how well bumpers resist damage in everyday fender-benders.
Most notably, the Mazda6 has improved from Marginal in the 2007 test to Acceptable in 2009. Unfortunately the Accord and Sonata have earned a rating of Marginal for the 2009 test, but that's still better than their 2007 models' Poor rating. The Fusion slips to poor from marginal and the Maxima and Malibu remain poor.
“Consumers buy mid-sized cars for practical reasons. There’s nothing practical about a US$1,000-plus repair bill after a minor bump in commuter traffic,” says Joe Nolan, senior vice-president of the IIHS.
This is the second group of vehicles that the IIHS has evaluated using a new bumper ratings protocol that is based on repair costs averaged and weighted to reflect real-world damage patterns and insurance claims frequency. The IIHS rates bumpers good, acceptable, marginal or poor based on performance in four tests — front and rear full-width impacts at 10 km/h and front and rear corner impacts at five km/h. Each vehicle is run into a steel barrier designed to mimic the design of a car bumper, with the barrier’s plastic absorber and flexible cover simulating typical cars’ energy absorbers and plastic bumper covers. These tests, says the IIHS, are designed to drive bumper improvements that lead to better damage resistance in a range of real-world crashes.
“Although mid-sized car bumpers still allow way too much damage in minor impacts, it’s encouraging that some manufacturers are designing better ones,” Nolan says. He points out that the front and rear bumpers of the 2009 Mazda6 are wider, taller and higher off the ground than the 2007 model.
Mazda, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai improved the bumpers on their 2009 mid-sized cars so the bumpers would better resist front underride, which exacerbates collision damage. Bumpers, says the IIHS, have to be tall enough to engage — and to stay engaged — with the bumpers on other vehicles in collisions, even during emergency braking, or they will bypass each other when the vehicles collide. Preventing override and underride means crash energy is absorbed by bumpers instead of pricey vehicle parts such as hoods, grilles and fenders or safety items such as headlights and tail lights.
Here's a cost breakdown on all the models:
| | Rating | Front full | Front corner | Rear full | Rear corner | Weighted Average |
| Mazda 6 | Acceptable | $742 | $1,437 | $768 | $767 | $871 |
| Honda Accord | Marginal | $941 | $1,461 | $974 | $1,507 | $1,133 |
| Hyundai Sonata | Marginal | $1,791 | $1,019 | $1,131 | $729 | $1,265 |
| Nissan Maxima | Poor | $997 | $1,787 | $2,494 | $1,352 | $1,687 |
| Ford Fusion | Poor | $2,529 | $1,889 | $2,610 | $1,073 | $2,207 |
| Chevrolet Malibu | Poor | $2,092 | $1,685 | $3,494 | $1,116 | $2,329 |