NU Online News Service, June 11, 1:14 p.m.EDT

Small, fuel efficient mini and micro-cars have a cost of repairfor bumper damage that's big, a report by the Insurance Institutefor Highway Safety said today.

The IIHS tested seven mini and micro-car's bumpers anddetermined that none garnered a good rating and only one achieved arating of acceptable. Five of the seven earned poor ratings and oneearned a marginal rating.

The Smart Fortwo, manufactured by Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz),was rated acceptable with weighted average repair cost of $899.

The Chevrolet Aveo was rated marginal with a weighted averagerepair cost of $1,155.

The Mini Cooper, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent and KiaRio were all rated poor.

The Rio performed the worst with an average repair cost $2,705.Of the seven cars, damage to the front bumper from a front endcollision to the Rio was the most expensive to repair at$3,701.

The IIHS said the tests were performed at low speeds betweenthree to six mph to simulate real world accidents and covered fullhits to the front and back bumper and corner hits to the bumpers.The cars hit a barrier shaped like a bumper and set 16 to 18 inchesfrom the ground. The tests take the weighted average for repair todetermine the rating.

The IIHS said a good rating is given to vehicles with averagerepair of less than $500. Less than $1,000 in repair is consideredacceptable. Less than $1,500 comes in as marginal and more than$1,500 earns a poor rating.

The IIHS said auto manufacturers have the knowledge andtechnology to build better bumpers and should be putting thatexperience into building these vehicles.