New Generation Corolla costs less to repair

10 December 2001: The new Toyota Corolla is not just a better-looking car than its predecessors, it is also stronger and cheaper to repair.

The accompanying photographs show this clearly. All three cars were subjected to a 'typical' urban crash situation, with an impact speed of 10mph and at a 40% offset from head on. The exercise was specifically for the German insurnace industry, to show that the latest Corolla could be granted the most advantageous insurance classification for its class.

After the impact, the 'previous generation' Corolla (blue car) shows major damage to the bumper, assembly, bonnet, wing and light cluster. There was also significant unseen damage. The estimated cost of repairing the car was EUR 2,500.

The 'current generation' Corolla (yellow car) also showed major damage to the bumper, bonnet and grille panel, though wing damage was less. Again there was a lot of unseen damage. The repair cost is estimated at EUR 1,900, a considerable improvement.

"For the design of the 'new generation' Corolla, Toyota targeted getting the repair cost down to EUR 1,050," says Brendan Steer, technical manager at Toyota Ireland. "If you look at the results, you'll see an extraordinary improvement."

Indeed, the only damage visible on the 'new generation' Corolla (wite car) was some minor scratching of the bumper assembly and a slight pushing back of the grille surround panel. Underneath, the end of a structural beam was also damaged, but only the damaged section needed to be replaced because of specific design for cheaper repair. The estimated repair cost for this car was EUR 1,001, better than the target figure. BB