Why cars need a high-tech version of Jiffy Lube
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
When your high-tech car gets in a crash, the repair bill could easily top $5,000, in part because electronic sensors often need replacement or recalibration.
Why it matters: As vehicles become more software-driven, sensor accuracy is increasingly critical to safety — and it's driving up the costs and wait times of repairs.
The big picture: Most new cars are equipped with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) such as blind spot detection or lane-keeping assistance.
- Repairing ADAS technology is expensive not only because the sensors are pricey, but also because they need to be carefully calibrated in controlled environments by trained technicians whose labor rates are higher than those of typical body mechanics.
By the numbers: A 2023 study by AAA found that ADAS systems can add nearly 38% to the total repair cost after a crash.
- A simple side mirror replacement on a 2023 car, for example, cost roughly $1,500 — 70% of which is for the tiny camera built into the mirror assembly, AAA found.
What they're saying: "After a crash, even a slight shift in a sensor can compromise how a vehicle detects risks on the road. Recalibration restores those systems to the precision they need to help prevent the next accident," said Janet Ruiz, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute.
Friction point: As vehicle technology becomes more complex, traditional repair shops are struggling to keep pace with standards required by insurance companies and auto manufacturers.
- Many lack the expertise, space, lighting or equipment to do the high-precision recalibration themselves.
- Some shops rely on mobile services or outsourcing to specialists.
- Either way, it's a time-consuming, manual process that involves painstaking measurements that are unique for every model.
Zoom in: A Silicon Valley startup called Kinetic is looking to streamline ADAS calibration using AI-enabled robotics.
- It just opened three new service hubs — two in Phoenix and one in Los Angeles — for a total of 11, with plans to open 100 calibration hubs nationwide.
- CEO and co-founder Nikhil Naikal characterizes his company as "a high-tech version of Jiffy Lube."
How it works: Kinetic, which counts Allstate and Liberty Mutual as investors, works closely with insurance carriers and body shops to speed up repairs and lower costs.
- First, its scanner passes over the vehicle to assess physical or digital damage and produce a repair estimate.
- The body shop then picks up the car to complete physical repairs like replacing bumpers or fenders and repainting, before returning it to the Kinetic hub.
- Kinetic's robots then scan the vehicle again on a turntable while recalibrating the sensors.
A human technician needs about 90 minutes to do the calibration manually, Naikal said; Kinetic's robots do it in less than 10 minutes.
- Insurers save as much as $750 per vehicle, and drivers get their car back up to four days faster, the company says.
What we're watching: Even when a vehicle hasn't been in an accident, sensors can drift out of calibration over time, notes Tech Probe columnist Junko Yoshida.
- Calibration could go from being a one-time repair procedure to an ongoing maintenance issue, creating a potential safety risk when ignored.
That creates opportunity for tech-oriented repair shops like Kinetic and others, like Germany's Obsurver.
- Obsurver's software can detect the silent degradation of a car's sensors and let the driver know when the calibration has drifted beyond a certain threshold.
- Kinetic is focused for now on restoring factory calibration settings for ADAS vehicles, but longer term the company is eyeing ongoing maintenance for autonomous vehicle fleets.
The bottom line: For decades, keeping a car safe mostly meant maintaining its mechanical parts. Increasingly, it could mean maintaining its sensors.
