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(Washington-AP) -- The insurance industry is out with the results of more tests on vehicle safety.
In bumper crash ratings, the new tests show the new Ford F-150 pickup will cost owners an average of 15-hundred dollars in repairs from low-speed crashes.
It got the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's lowest rating. The Ford 2004 Freestar minivan got the second-lowest rating in the bumper crash tests.
The institute says the 2001 F-150 and the 1999 Windstar actually did better in previous bumper tests. The F-150 got the institute's worst rating both years, but its repair costs were slightly lower in 2001.
A Ford spokesman stresses the focus of this test was on repair costs and had nothing to do with safety.
The institute tries to release results from newly-redesigned vehicles as soon as possible, and both of these were re-designed for 2004. The institute will test other vehicles at a later date.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
