By Gideon Scanlon
Newport Beach, California — January 10, 2017 — In the mind of Repairify CEO Doug Kelly, the collision repair industry is letting consumers down when it comes to calibrations.
“Many, if not most [repair centres] are not doing it correctly,” Kelly said on Thursday’s Verifax’s Guild 21 conference call with fellow industry stakeholders. Repairify is the parent company of asTech, a leading provider of diagnostic solutions and services to the collision repair industry.
While Kelly is concerned about the state of calibrations, he viewed the issue as stemming from a lack of familiarity and concerns about engaging with the so-called black box diagnostic systems found in modern cars.
“A lot of customers are concerned about having that information become available to insurers, and some shops are worried that if the system reports no repair codes, the insurers might refuse to pay for the work.”
Kelly said anyone who felt scanning was too time consuming, was in for a surprise, predicting that advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), in which a vehicle’s various cameras, radar and sensors are retrained to assess their surroundings after a repair, would become a far more important aspect of diagnostic assessments in the coming years.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” according to Kelly. He believes in the future, a vehicle’s camera network and sensors will assess their surroundings after each and every repair, and ADAS data will be needed for virtually every aspect of diagnostic assessments.
While Kelly is convinced of the importance of using vehicle calibration technology, he has first-hand experience of ADAS data causing confusion as well. His own team was flummoxed by a Toyota with trouble keeping to its lane. While a scan tool revealed no trouble codes, the problem remained unfixed until they worked out the root of their own mistake: a misprinted calibration target.
Jake Rodenroth, asTech’s director of industry relations, also spoke on the Guild 21 conference call. Advising listeners to pay close attention to bumper covers and windshields, he indicated that deviations from new OEM parts on either could throw off a car’s calibration system. To highlight his point, Rodenroth challenged listeners to look all the ADAS procedures involving just a bumper. “You’d be amazed.”
Founded by the late National Auto Body Council chairman Dale Delmage in 2012. Guild 21 is dedicated to bringing collision repair industry leaders together in order to better serve the public.
