What pre-repair and post-repair scans do

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:

"What pre-repair and post-repair scans do"

Summary:

Mike confirms the shop performs both pre-repair and post-repair scans using its Autel system, plugging into the vehicle and downloading the computers to see what they report as wrong, since anything related to the impact needs to be addressed. The pre-scan often surfaces errors such as safety restraint faults, forward collision avoidance system errors, seatbelt warnings, and blind spot monitor errors. Downloading the entire system and seeing what's stored in the computers becomes the pre-scan, which then drives the repair by showing which systems need focus. Once the repair is complete, the technicians go back into the computer, reset everything that should be reset, and perform a post scan. Because the post scan documents the date, time, and VIN, the shop can make that record available to customers and insurance, and it protects everyone from liability by confirming the systems were addressed and functioning.

Answer:

Do we perform pre-scans and post-scans on our vehicles? Yes. We have our Autel system, where we'll plug into the vehicle and download the computer to see what the computers are telling us is wrong with the car, because anything related to the impact is going to need to be addressed. A lot of times it'll say safety restraint, forward collision avoidance system errors, seatbelt warnings, or blind spot monitor error. So what we try to do is download the entire system and figure out what is stored in the computers. That's our pre-scan, and it helps us drive the repair: what systems do we really need to focus on, what do we see here, and then we make the repairs based off of that. Once we're all done, we go back into the computer, reset everything that should be reset, and we do a post scan, because it documents date, time, and VIN number. Then we have that available for our customers and the insurance company, and it also protects everybody from liability. It's an important part of the process on modern vehicles, because so many of the systems tie back to occupant safety, and confirming they're functioning correctly after the repair is just as important as fixing the visible damage.