Today’s car industry is a competitive one with each manufacturer trying to provide enticing new models to please their customers. Simply doing what the competition is doing won’t be enough, and can make a manufacturer look like a copycat. So, as each manufacturer uses more advanced technologies, they’re doing so in different ways—with vehicle systems getting increasingly more complex.
According to a vehicle publication, the average car now contains about 30,000 parts and more than 100 million lines of codes. As technology evolves, many predict that these numbers will continue to rise. Here’s just one way that future vehicles are expected to have new technologies: eco-friendly hydrogen fuel cells that burn cleanly, releasing only water and oxygen. Numerous companies have experimented with hydrogen fuel cells and this may be on the brink of being incorporated into new models.
Whether hydrogen fuel cells debut soon or not, the point still stands. Already complex vehicle technologies are continuing to become even more intricate with manufacturers each doing so in unique ways.
So, where does that leave auto repair shops? That’s the concept we’ll explore in this post.
More Manufacturer Advancements
Here’s an overview of even more technology advancements that will appear in vehicles that may come to your repair shop in the future.
Self-Driving Technology
Self-driving or autonomous driving has reached level 3 out of five. According to SAE International, here are levels and their definitions:
- Level 0: No autonomy
- Level 1: Driver assistance
- Level 2: Partial automation
- Level 3: Conditional automation
- Level 4: High automation
- Level 5: Full automation
Some experts believe that technology may reach level 4 or even 5 within the year. This will radically change the world of auto repair, and a McKinsey Report predicts that 15 percent of new vehicles will be autonomous by 2030. This report also advises automotive players to “Prepare for uncertainty” in this era of rapid change.
Artificial Intelligence for Vehicle Safety
Manufacturers are focusing on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in numerous ways, including in driver monitoring. This includes an analysis of a driver’s eye movements, vital signs, and behaviors to monitor the degree of attention. This can clearly help to avoid accidents, which makes it an important area of research and development for vehicle manufacturers.
Increase in Connections
Connected vehicles wirelessly leverage the internet of things (IoT) to communicate with systems outside of the local network. In other words, they send and receive signals with devices both inside and outside of the vehicle itself. This can include vehicle health reports, WiFi hotspots, directional information, and more. By 2015, more than a billion customer requests were processed. In 2022 and beyond, this technology will take huge leaps in predictive intelligence and more.
Manufacturers and Car Repair Shops
As vehicles become increasingly more connected, car manufacturers are becoming increasingly specialized in the technologies they offer—which means that repair shops must try to offer an increasingly wide scope of services.
Here’s the problem. It isn’t practical for a typical auto repair shop to have brand specialists from all of the different manufacturers on site, and for them to keep up with all of the ways in which forty-some manufacturers are programming hundreds of vehicle models each year.
Repair, Sublet, or Decline the Customer
When a customer wants you to repair your vehicle, there’s traditionally been three ways that you can respond (we’ll share, later in this post, a fourth option: AirPro Diagnostics’ diagnostic scan tool).
You might inspect the car and determine that you can handle the job. Or, after inspection, you may tell the customer that this isn’t the type of repair work that you can take on. Or, as a third option, one that’s increasingly more common as vehicle technologies become more complex, you sublet repair work to a specialty shop.
Subletting allows your repair shop to say “yes” to the customer, which is a plus. No business wants to reject paying work. However, subletting comes with its own challenges, so it should be done only after you’ve reached the limitations of your repair shop’s technical capabilities. When you sublet a vehicle that you could have addressed in your shop with the use of our technology, here are two unwanted things that occur:
#1: This revenue stream is going to another shop, not yours.
#2: When presenting a bill to your customer, you’ll need to cover the costs of the third party and include a markup in price for the logistical and administrative work involved in subletting.
So, here’s more about collision repair scanning by AirPro Diagnostics and how the system works.
Collision Repair Scanning
Consider the 100 to 150 million lines of codes in just one vehicle’s system—compared to about 25 million code lines associated with an F-35 fighter jet. (The vast majority of the computer codes in a car are part of the complex ADAS network that help to keep drivers and passengers safe.) The sheer number of the codes and the unique ways in which individual manufacturers program their vehicles make it extremely challenging for an auto repair shop to have technicians who are proficient in all of the vehicle brands.
With our diagnostic scan tool, though, they don’t need to be. Our system allows you to keep auto repairs in house. With our system, you no longer need to sublet as many repairs to a third party with all the challenges that poses. Instead, our comprehensive remote system allows you to keep most auto repairs in-house, adding this revenue stream to your business.
Our system allows you to handle all four of the key technological steps of modern repair processes, streamlining and optimizing them:
To accurately diagnose and perform ADAS calibrations, you’ll need appropriate technology: our proprietary, laser-targeted collision repair scanning technology. This is only available through AirPro and it leverages the power of our ORION cloud-based diagnostic management system for a complete solution.
Here’s the process to get started:
- Choose the most effective/compatible scanner software for auto diagnostics.
- Strategically use best practices for scanning.
- Receive and use recommendations from our diagnostic experts.
- This will include subletting when that’s the appropriate route to take.
Within ten minutes of your shop requesting a service, we’ll be remotely in the vehicle. Time is a valuable resource, and we won’t waste yours with long wait times. In fact, our average response time this year has been one minute and twenty seven seconds!
Key Differentiator
With AirPro Diagnostics, you’ll have far more than the advanced technology of our diagnostic scan tool (although that’s amazing, all by itself!) You’ll also have ready access to brand specialist technicians who have in-depth expertise in the vehicle being scanned and diagnosed. They’ll provide the services and support you need throughout the quick and accurate scanning process; high quality diagnostics; and laser-targeted programming and ADAS calibrations.
No matter where you are in the process, you have direct access to OEM licensed software along with multi-brand diagnostic applications that are resident, directly connected to the vehicle. This gives your shop a more complete blueprint, one that allows you to diagnose additional issues and include them in your comprehensive report and repair plan.
Benefits of the diagnostic scan tool include:
- Reduced cycle time
- Improved quality control
- Ability to provide the ultimate in service and vehicle safety
- Ability to repair vehicles to manufacturer specifications
- Increased customer satisfaction
- Additional revenue streams
Here are high level steps in the process:
- Conduct a pre-scan visual inspection of the vehicle while also documenting undesirable sounds. Do the type of inspection you would have before diagnostic scan tool software was available.
- Perform an inspection/pre-scan. Our system will provide the necessary fault codes for our technicians to assist you if embedded systems are not fully operational. Our brand specialist will perform additional assessments.
- You’ll receive a clear, concise, and complete downloadable report of the findings.
- Post-repair, perform a completion scan. This will verify the success of the repairs. If all is not completed, then our collision repair scanning system will return to diagnostic mode to conduct additional troubleshooting.
Our technology meets the most rigorous manufacturer requirements because the OEM licensed software and third party applications are directly connected to the vehicle. ORION software and AirPro’s hardware is seamlessly updated at no charge to your business. This means that you’ll never need to worry about outdated technology. That’s our promise to you: our Ever-Green Warranty that has your shop covered for life.
Choose AirPro for Your Collision Repair Scanning
As the trusted global leader in diagnostic scan tool technology, we never rest on our laurels. We’re never satisfied. So, you can count on us as we continue to innovate our technology and enhance services to keep up with the ever-evolving ADAS advancements in vehicles.
The results? Increased productivity, profitability, and satisfaction in your auto repair shop along with reduced levels of risk and limited liability—with a strong focus on motorist safety. To get started with AirPro’s world-class solution, please contact us online or call us at 904-717-1711.
