The business of ADAS for general repair shops, after suspension repairs or wheel alignment, January 2021
This is additional information to my previous post on the the subject of what Adas resets or calibrations might be required after chassis and alignment service in general repair shops. This is not about the technical aspects of performing those operations, but the business of performing resets or calibrations, after routine service.
It is comments like this (from the archives of this forum) that cause me great apprehension:
"The mobile tech set the aftermarket target and did the initial capture/calibration, the advice after that was done was to drive the car for about an hour for a dynamic calibration. The tech drove for an hour and a half, car was not finishing up with any success. Next day he borrowed the proper target from the dealer, went back and repeated the capture/calibration, and drove the car for less than an hour."
We bill by the minute in this industry. When I first started saying that, we were just over $1.00 per minute. Now, we may as well call it $2 a minute. When I see time thrown around like it is a “cost of doing business”, it concerns me. I know we could not survive in our store with that approach. It is profitability (or lack of) that causes most of the severe issues we face in the automotive service industry.
I also get concerned when I review reams of Adas content, and I see very little that address's what will likely be the most common need for an Adas reset or calibration, Imo. Just imagine the number of suspension repairs/alignments that occur on a daily basis, compared to the amount of accident repairs and other reasons for Adas considerations. Routine suspension repairs and alignment wins hands down, 10 to one, or better, Imo. Yet I watched a well done Adas video recently that spent 10 minutes on lifted/lowered suspensions and Adas considerations when performing those modifications, and a couple sentences on chassis repair and alignment.
So that was the rant, now here is info I hope others find useful:
This all started for me, while I was looking for a front counter resource for my service advisors, so they could speak efficiently and intelligently with consumers about the additional cost of services as a result of Adas. I have now reviewed many of the common resources. In my store, we are moving forward with Hunternet (not Hunternet 2, which serves a separate purpose) and Mitchell as our primary front counter resources. Hunternet (image attached) lays out the needed information quickly by YMM(still lacking actual labor times), and appears to duplicate much of the information included with their latest alignment equipment. It does require a user/password that must be secured through a Hunter rep, so not the answer for everyone. The Hunter Safety Systems paper guide would be my second choice, and i suspect available to all.
Mitchell will be our backup source, where we need to find actual labor times. Their Adas tab provides a summary chart (image attached), but they still lack convenient labor times, and do not address resets/calibrations required post routine chassis/alignment service. Labor times still require drill down.
Other resources discovered as follows:(the archives of this forum are also filled with great information)
mechscansolutions.com/home nice image of various radar/lidar on a modern vehicle. will be good to use with customers to help them understand the additional costs.
ciclink.com/wp-content/upl….pdf 07/2020 great power point, very complete, great images
youtube.com/watch?v=_omIai… 1/7/2021 Opus adas interview. need to at least listen to the following 8:00(question we better get good at asking) 11:50(can't back up) 15:00(considerations)
mycardoeswhat.org/manufacturers good links to manufacturer websites talking about safety systems on the car
facebook.com/BodyShopBusine… dave fox adas video, not aapex
aapexshow.com/attendee-porta… free aapex access to complete Dave Fox complete adas video, requires free signup
linkedin.com/pulse/adas-cal…
How to Prepare for ADAS Repairs adas bay setup
vehicleservicepros.com/home/article/2… very complete looking targeting fixture
adaptautomotive.com/articles/304-d… check list for an adas bay.
ratchetandwrench.com/articles/10804… … two shop owners talk about setting up an adas center
tech-cor.com/wp-content/upl….pdf good links page for adas
hunter.com/training/hunte… free Hunter courses