How cameras, sensors, and radar affect collision repair

Hey folks! This is Mike and Tom from Pacific One Collision and Restoration.

Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from you all on the internet.

Today's question is:

"How cameras, sensors, and radar affect collision repair"

Summary:

Mike describes how today's cars carry an enormous amount of electronics, including cameras, radar, sensors, warning systems, collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control, and adaptive headlights, with each vehicle potentially having 35 to 40 separate computer modules controlling specific functions. He points to headlights as a prime example, now routinely computer-controlled, high-projection, adaptive, and auto-tilting, with one he recently saw priced at 2,600 dollars for a single unit, a far cry from the 10- or 20-dollar Mustang headlights of the past. This technology significantly raises both repair costs and insurance premiums. Whenever the shop replaces a headlight, front radar system, blind spot monitor, or even a mirror, the vehicle must be recalibrated. Recalibration can be costly, and Pacific One currently hires a third-party company to perform all calibrations and certify that the safety restraint systems and other systems are working as they should.

Answer:

Today's cars have tons of cameras, radars, sensors, warning systems, collision avoidance systems, adaptive cruise control, and adaptive headlights. There are so many electronics on new cars today that it still baffles me. Each car now can have up to 35 or 40 different computers on it. And what I mean by a computer is not a tower or a laptop; it's a little module about this big that controls a very specific function for the vehicle, and there are a lot of them on cars. Headlights are notorious now for having their own computer, and some of the headlights we're seeing, I saw one the other day, was 2,600 dollars for one headlight. It is mind-blowing. I come from the old Ford Mustang days where you could buy a headlight for 10 or 20 bucks, but now they're all computer-controlled, high-projection, adaptive, they auto-tilt, and they're amazing. That said, it adds a significant cost to a repair, and it also adds cost to your insurance premiums. If the insurance company knows you have a nice new car with all these electronics, your rates are probably going to be a little different, because the cost to make repairs is so much more. Anytime we replace a headlight, a front radar system, a blind spot monitor, or even a mirror, we have to recalibrate the vehicle. Recalibrating vehicles can be somewhat pricey, especially with ADAS and all those types of systems and the radars. We don't actually do it here yet; we hire a third-party company to come in and do all the calibrations for us and certify that all the systems, including the safety restraint systems, are working as they should be. But it does end up costing extra money for those types of systems.