in the low speed bumper crash test, the average repair bill for the nissan maxima was about $1,600.ord fusion is more than 2200, and the chevrolet malibu is about 2300. >> you've got vehicles that get damaged in everyday little fender-benders at 3 to $5,000 worth of damage, ultimately you're going to be paying more for insurance for that car. >> 2009 nissan maxima's rating remained poor, the institute says bumper improvements did lower the cost of damage, and this was an improvement from the 2007 model. >>> merchants are worried about back to school shopping season. it comes after reports of sluggish retail sales in july. mall-based chains seem to be hit the hardest, and that's because shoppers are focusing more on the necessities than the wants. the latest numbers compare sales from this year to last year and is said to be key indicators of retailers' health. >>> a newly bride wanted to get out of the marriage, but she wasn't thinking of divorce. the bride is accused of hiring a hitman to kill her husband. why her plan did not go off without a hitch. >>> and if you can't decide wha

from around $1500 for a mazda 6 and honda accord in these crashes, to more than $2400 for the nissan maxima and ford fusion in rear enders. >> it doesn't have to be this way and didn't used to be this way. >> reporter: he's right. this 1981 ford escort incurred only $86 in damage in a recent test. >> this entire unit is new. >> reporter: mark boudreau owns a collision repair shop in arlington, virginia. does this mean bumpers are less safe than they used to be? >> no, cars are far safer than they've ever been, but as we've improved the number of technologies that vehicles have, those technologies have to be crammed somewhere in the car. not as much on the back but in the front of the vehicle there's less distance between the edge of that bumper and where these very expensive components reside. >> reporter: defending the malibu's hefty repair bill, g.m. told cbs its focus is on occupant protection and crash avoidance. with not make a bumper that is a little stronger that can withstand a little fender bender? >> depends on what you want. would you like a less-expensive car that aways less, th

el nissan máxima. ford y malibú chevi. el que más protección brinld es el mazda 6. ganemos también. con un buen papel. >>> es una maravillah@h@tw]dyl@a a mis tigres. porque no sé, pero yo me siento super feliz. >>> vamos a ver esto y más ahí está. por telefutura. peleándose un millón de dólares. y apenas se jugaban 9 minutos, y patrick nyarko puso a festejar a chicago fire. y antes de final square el primer tiempo itamar baptista con esta jugada y a dentro para el empate. no cabe duda que itamar es una fiera con su nuevo equipo. que lleva a dentro. y terminó el partido se fueron directo a los penales. >>> chicago falló 2 tigres 1 y la figura fue para no varear. son los nuevos reyes de la superliga. >>> y el delantero omar bravo, les cuento, regresara a su equipo sus amores, las chivas. y faltan pequeños detalles para la presentación. pasamos con la fase preliminar de la concacaf. está... ganó revancha. calificaron a la fase de grupos. cruz azul cumplió con el trámite y empató sin goles la vuelta. a favor de la máquina. el defensa rafa márquez se volvió a lesionar. f

needed pricey repairs from around $1500 for a mazda 6 and honda accord to more than 2400 for the nissan maxima and ford fusion. >> it doesn't have to be this way. it didn't used to it be way. >> reporter: he's right. this 1981 ford escort incurred only $86 in damage in a recent test. >> this entire unit is now. >> reporter: this man owns a collision repair shop. does this mean the bumpers are less safe? >> no. the cars are far more safer. as we improve the number of technologies that the vehicles have, those technologies have to be crammed in the car. not so much in the back but in the front of the vehicle, there's less distance from the bumper to where these very expensive components reside. >> reporter: gm told "eyewitness news" the focus on occupant protection and crash avoidance. why not make a bumper that's a little stronger that can withstand a little fender- bender. >> it depends on what you want. would you like a less expensive car that weighs lot that has a lot of great options and features or would you like a bumper that costs more, weighs more and gets less energy? >> of the six top

. >> and on the poor end of things were the nissan maxima, the ford fusion and the chevy malibu. >> ik on ford right now, but this fusion, when it came to front end tests at 6 miles per hour, this seems like a ridiculous amount of money. >> it is. it's $2,500 in damage in just this one 6 mile-per-hour test. ford has weaken the the bumpers on this vehicle and they crumple and twist too much to provide any protection. >> and the way that you're seeing the tests here, that barrier that they're hitting is to look or appear like it's another exactly. >> and the nissan maxima did not do better. the chevy malibu got a poor rating and now we're talking about the toddler bumpers at 3 mile-p-hour even more costly to repair. >> right. and people don't realize it, but to protect in a low-speed crash, it's pretty simple. you just have to have a bumper that is reasonably tall, and you have to have one that goes out to the corners of the vehicle so that the expensive things like head lamps aren't damaged. >> and i think that was the problem with the other ones when you had the front end, is you woul

and the nissan maxima, ford fusion, and chevy malibu received poor ratings. their average cost hit $1500 or more. >>> robert has a big fish story to tell. the charlotte, north carolina man beat a maryland record yet at the white marlin open. are you looking at this thing? he snagged a blue marlin weighing in at 1,062. >> that's one fish? >> that's one fish. that exceeds the previous record of more than 100 pounds. he says it took him more than three hours of fighting to reel it in. that big blue marlin is worth about $550,000. >> i was going to say, you don't cut that up and eat it. that's too big. >> that's going to be a lot of meals. a lot, a lot of meals. >> i was just talking about that, how do you get it in the boat? who is pulling it in the boat? that's what i want to know. >> his back had to hurt after all of that. >> that tournament is a huge tournament down in ocean city. a record setting catch, kind of cool. weather wise for us, a little bit of rain this morning. brett was talking about that, and i'm sure all of you that had to drive to work, you kn

in the low speed bumper crash test the average repair bill for the nissan maxima over $1,600. all three received a poor rating. there's more to consider. >> if of vehicles that -- if you have vehicles that get damaged at little fender-benders ultimately you're paying more insurance for that car. >> reporter: i'm elizabeth manresa for "consumer watch." >>> thank you to andrew. look at the mugs. the cup of joe, from the children's guild. this is a nonprofit organization that serves emotionally disturbed children in the city, anne arundel county and prince george's county. more than 700 students they take care of. they prit schools, group homes, foster homes, mental health centers and other services for children with special needs. how about the children's guild. thank you so much. and thank you, andrew for sending the mugs in. to join the club, cup of joe, 6400 york road, baltimore, 21212. we'll make sure they are mentioned on the air. >>> we have a featured event now. to put this up on the screen -- today's when the kickoff for baltimore restaurant week begins. they are kicking

while the nissan maxima, ford fusion, and the chevy malibu rated poor with over $1,500 in damages.nstitute says manufacturers should help protect buyer pocketbooks by improving their bumpers. >> they need to be tall so they interact with other cars on the road. they need to be wide so you got protection in the corners. and they need to be stronger. >> reporter: when we contacteded the poorly rated companies, they said these tests weren't related to passenger safety and they meet or surpass safety regulations passed by the federal government. it's not all bad news. 4 of the 6 cars improved over earlier models and were able to lower the repair costs. nancy cordes, cbs news, washington. >> it is 7:21. here's harry. >> thanks very much, russ. >>> still to come, if you're dealing with back pain, surgery may not be the answer. we'll tell you why. >> announcer: this portion of "the early show" sponsored by purina. your pet, our passion. [ kissing ] come on. good girl. mollie's never looked better. i really was amazed to see the change in her coat. people stop us when we're walking, and th

nissan maxima, chevy mall i but graded poor. >> the moral of the story is be very careful. >> you know, there are some statistics that say most accidents happen in parking lots. they're little tiny scrapes and phone ger benners burke they can cost a lot. >> $3,000 worth. >>> it is one of the biggest decisions and most expensive. which college will give your kid the biggest boost as an adult. there's a new rank aing out and you might be surprised who is in first. @rr >>> if you want to send your kid to the best college, check out west point. the u.s. military academy topped the best colleges. princeton ranked two followed by california institute of technology, williams college and harvard. rounding up the top ten, wellesley, the air force academy, amhurst, yale, and stanford. >>> pro golfer phil mickelson is back on the course after his wife and mom had breast cancer surgery. here is rafer with more on that. >> you really feel for the guy. he said he doesn't care how he does on the course because he's so happy to be out there because he didn't think he would be. he and tiger woods both