Visiting the Home of the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray - Motor Trend
ok, not a Ford...but read about the factory's challenges in dealing with aluminum and the new fasteners involved.
We may be getting better mpg, but what if our comprehensive/collision premiums go up thirty percent?
All passenger vehicles and most small trucks have an insurance symbol, a number, that as the complexity of the vehicle and repair costs
go up, so does the symbol number and so do the premiums. They have to...
My suburban and my late wife's Cadillac XTS were about the same cost new to us. One, the old dinosaur, had a symbol of about 15. The XTS, which is a rolling
electronics juke box on wheels, was a symbol 45. So even though the value of the vehicle was almost the same, the complexity of repair is carefully evaluated when
the Insurance Services Office sets the symbol for your model car or truck. 4wd? higher symbol. Largest engine option? higher symbol.
made out of aluminum? unknown.
Actually, I'm going to email my insurance agent(who I brought into the business and trained...) to give me the physical damage symbols for this new Ford p/u, if they are out yet. Would be very curious to see if the insurance industry is concerned or not concerned over the use of aluminum in modern construction.
Until these vehicles start getting into frame benders, and real world experience is learned, after of course the entire autobody industry is forced to buy another round of expensive specialized equipment..., it's just guesswork and computer analysis.
I think the benefits are clear. It's the cost I'm not so sure of.