Washington, D.C., United States — CNN Business shared an article last week that appears to attempt to educate consumers on the complexity and cost of collision repairs on modern vehicles.
“Auto body repair was a pretty straightforward business not that long ago. When metal got bent in a crash, someone needed to unbend it,” the article begins.
“It was a craft. These days, it’s high-tech,” continues author Peter Valdes-Dapena.
Valdes-Dapena goes on to explain the presence of technology and its impact on the industry, explaining that sensors cannot be “bolted or welded back on.”
The article cites a quote from Todd Dillender, COO of the U.S. collision company, Caliber Collision, who said, “the change we’ve seen in the last five years is greater than we’ve seen, probably, in the last five decades.”
Valdes-Dapena also uses a study from the U.S. consumer automotive group AAA to educate readers that fixing sensors and cameras now accounts for more than one-third of collision repair costs in new vehicles. According to AAA, ADAS procedures can increase repair costs as much as 37 percent.
He also notes that “no one, including AAA, recommends not getting these features because of the repair costs.”
The article also describes how different automakers could have starkly different repair methods, outlining the differences between static and dynamic calibration and particular conditions required to effectively complete each.
Finally, Valdes-Dapena touches on the fact that special training is required to work on many components on modern vehicles, from technicians to claims adjusters.
“We’ve invested heavily into training and development, more than we ever had,” Dillender is quoted in the article.
As for claims adjuster training, “those annual training are more quarterly and ‘as needed’ right now,” said Mike Bunda, director of Allstate’s U.S. auto repair network.
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