For a long time, it’s been an easy assumption that cars from luxury vehicle manufacturers are more costly to repair than standard vehicles. In today’s world, that may be changing.
Historically speaking, the cost of repairs for vehicles has varied depending upon make, the availability of parts, whether or not an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) part is used, and the complexity of how the vehicle is built. As vehicle technology continues to expand, so does the cost of repairs following accidents — giving a car’s “smartness” more of a bearing on repair costs than its make.
You may be familiar with automatic emergency braking, lane drift prevention and blind spot monitoring to name a few. These are known as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAs for short). According to new research from AAA, these systems and other ADAs can cost twice as much to repair due to the calibration requirements of expensive sensors.
The technologies found behind windshields, bumpers and door mirrors in modern cars can add up to $3,000 in extra repair costs, even in minor accidents. Think about all of the fender benders and minor accidents you’ve seen on the road or experienced first-hand; even though the damage may appear to have been minimal on the exterior, looks can be deceiving when ADAs are involved.
To give you a better idea, AAA reports that there are more than 14.5 million windshield replacements annually. Many don’t realized that vehicles with ADAs or other safety systems typically rely on cameras that are positioned behind the windshield, and these require recalibration if the windshield gets replaced. Consider the other sensors that require recalibration to function properly after a repair or replacement. Vehicles may have radar, camera and ultrasonic sensors located either in or behind the front and rear bumpers, built into side mirrors or in other various places on the vehicle’s body. Some folks may be lucky enough to never find themselves in a collision, but these parts can easily be damaged from accidents that don’t involve another driver, such as hitting a mailbox, backing into a fence or scraping the garage wall with a side-view mirror.
AAA did some research behind a range of repair costs that are typical for these ADAs. For this study, AAA evaluated three top-selling models in popular categories. They were selected from AAA’s 2018 Your Driving Costs study and include a small SUV, medium sedan, and full-size pickup truck. All replacement parts discussed were OEM parts charged at suggested list prices. There are a handful of variables that come into play with pricing (as mentioned above) but this should give you a good general baseline of the additional repair costs.
| Sensor | ADAs That It Relies On | Price Range |
|---|---|---|
| Front Radar Sensor | Automatic Emergency Braking Adaptive Cruise Control |
$900-$1,300 |
| Rear Radar Sensor | Blind Spot Monitoring Rear Cross Traffic Alert Systems |
$850-$2,050 |
| Front Camera Sensors | Automatic Emergency Braking Adaptive Cruise Control Lane Departure Warning Lane Keeping Systems |
$850-$1,900 (Does not include replacement windshield) |
| Front, Side Mirror or Rear Camera Sensors | Around-View Systems | $500-$1,100 |
| Front or Rear Ultrasonic Sensors | Parking Assist Systems | $500-$1,300 |
These are sizable additional costs that, unfortunately, now get added to the headache of being involved in an accident. ADA technologies may keep us safer — but they bring the burden of aincreased accident costs, too. If you’ve got questions about your current automobile policy coverages and limits, please do not hesitate to reach out to your local risk consultant.
Denny Jacob. “New vehicle technologies result in costlier collisions, AAA finds,” PropertyCasualty360.com, 2018.