As ADAS features become more prevalent on new vehicles -- and more advanced -- entrepreneurs are stepping up to centralize recalibrations in their own collision repair shops, or provide services to other shops that might not have the space, equipment or technicians to properly complete them.
Greg Peeters, founder of Car ADAS Solutions, a consultant specializing in the startup and success of ADAS calibration centers, recently appeared on The Collision Vision podcast, driven by Autobody News and hosted by Cole Strandberg, to give an overview of the ADAS shop process, vehicle safety, and the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Peeters said he founded Car ADAS Solutions after he realized about seven years ago the automotive industry did not have a solution to calibrating vehicle safety systems correctly.
“Our mission is to ensure vehicle safety systems perform exactly as they were engineered to perform post-collision repair, or windshield replacement or mechanical repair, anything that interrupts those systems,” Peeters said.
“We have some corporate-owned, but for our 80-plus centers, they're all owned and operated by by others,” Peeters said. “We just help set them up and keep them running, and keep them growing.”
Car ADAS Solutions’ top clients are typically small, regional MSOs concerned that calibrations are not being performed correctly. Once the operators start learning more from Car ADAS Solutions about the proper way to recalibrate ADAS features, Peeters said, “they can't do it halfway anymore. They've got to go full into it.”
When contacted by a potential client about opening a calibration center, Car ADAS Solutions’ first job is to help develop a business plan to ensure it makes financial sense, looking at return on investment (ROI) and expected cash flow from start up to 12 months, among other factors.
Then the client can start looking at locations. Car ADAS Solutions has its own commercial real estate broker and does market research to help identify the best place to establish a center.
Car ADAS Solutions then analyzes the chosen space to create a detailed renovation plan to ensure the proper lighting, space and equipment to meet OEM requirements. Peeters said finding the right technicians and keeping them up to date on training is just as important to being OEM compliant.
Why is ADAS Calibration Important?
Peeters said there are far more lawsuits and out-of-court settlements related to ADAS than most people realize.
“Don't believe for one minute there isn’t legal stuff going on right now, and there has been for quite a while,” he said.
Peeters said he read a study by the NHTSA that said one degree of error in a recalibration of certain ADAS features could equal an extra 67 feet in stopping distance. That error could be caused by something as simple as not ensuring the fuel tank is full or the tires are properly inflated to OEM specifications before recalibrating.
“If a sensor is looking just a little bit too far down during calibration, because the fuel tank was empty and it's supposed to be full, so the rear of the car is sitting higher than it should -- well, what does that mean for that automatic emergency brake system to recognize the [other] vehicle, measure that speed and stop in time,” he said.
“There's a lot going on there,” he added. “It has to see [the other vehicle] by a certain time, but if it's a little too low, it doesn't see it until it's way too late.”
Strandberg asked if ignorance is a defense for collision repairers.
“Definitely not,” Peeters said. “Honestly, there's so much information out there. Ignorance is no excuse at all. Because you should know better.”
Peeters said shop owners should “get in the game, or partner with a vendor who is in the game -- and that doesn't mean ‘I've got a van and I can show up.’”
Collision shops that sublet ADAS recalibrations should ensure they use a vendor that follows OEM procedure and documents everything.
“Demand a certificate of calibration that shows it was actually completed” in a certified environment, he said, adding that a simple invoice from a dealership is not sufficient.
Strandberg asked if a parking lot counts as a certified environment.
“No, you can very much do an improper calibration and probably do more harm” in a parking lot, Peeters said.
ADAS recalibration equipment is continuing to get bigger and more expensive, but it’s playing a role in documenting that a vehicle was recalibrated correctly, Peeters said.
For example, newer equipment can record and compare the level of the floor at both the vehicle and around the target, measure and record lighting conditions and document target placement.
“It isn't a picture of a tape measure anymore,” Peeters said. “It's an optical picture that's in development…that shows exactly where that target was placed compared to where it was supposed to be placed per OEM standard.
“It's time to really get our stuff together in this industry and do this right,” he said.
Challenges of Opening an ADAS Calibration Center
One big challenge is space, Peeters said – not only having enough, but being able to set it up to be OEM compliant.
Another is finding the right technicians and training.
Whether calibrations are performed in-house or sublet, whoever did it is “the final checkpoint,” Peeters said. “It doesn't go get checked somewhere else to make sure the calibration center did it right.”
He likened it to packing parachutes. “It either works, or it doesn't work and somebody gets hurt,” Peeters said.
For that reason, training can’t be on the job. “Shame on anybody that thinks they can figure it out on the job, because obviously you're messing up a lot of cars along the way,” he said.
A third challenge is keeping up to date on developments in ADAS features themselves and the equipment used to recalibrate them.
What Makes a Good ADAS Technician?
Peeters said there about 300 certified technicians employed by Car ADAS Solutions licensees. He said the majority have been recruited from outside the automotive space, but they love cars.
“If I could give you the profile, it's a 25- to 35-year-old that's working at Best Buy, perhaps in the Geek Squad, and drove to work in a Subaru with loud exhaust,” Peeters said. “They've had jobs. They're good employees. But they've never had a career. They've never had something they could sink their teeth into.”
Those people are motivated by the intricacies of the processes required to recalibrate vehicles, Peeters said, and understand the importance of doing it correctly to protect the people who travel in that vehicle.
“Our turnover coast to coast right now is low single digits,” he said. “We’re thrilled with that.”
Future Opportunities in ADAS
The calibration industry is “just the start of it,” Peeters said.
Car ADAS Solutions licensees do a lot of work in auto glass already. “They know doing it out in the parking lot isn't right,” he said. “Their theory is, if I need to do it in brick and mortar, why don't I just get in the game? Really do it.”
He said there are also used car reconditioning centers. “I think certified calibration is going to become mandatory -- not just saying it was calibrated,” Peeters said.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 127 mandates all new light vehicles must be equipped with AEB systems, including pedestrian detection capabilities, by September 2029.
That means repairers will have to recalibrate those systems to meet the same standards, Peeters said. “It's coming.”
Automakers are engaged in a “race to autonomous” vehicles, Peeters said. He said there are vehicles being sold today that have the hardware to achieve Level 4 autonomy, meaning they can handle most driving situations without human intervention, but don’t have the software -- yet.
Someday, when that software update happens, “the liability shifts from the driver to the manufacturer,” Peeters said. “Obviously the manufacturers can be pretty dialed in from a legal standpoint. If somebody is accessing our modules, we have to track them. It's not a free for all any longer” -- meaning manufacturers will record which technician works on a car.
Advice for Entrepreneurs
Peeters estimated there are a few hundred standalone calibration centers in the U.S. He said people thinking about opening a calibration center should look at the local market and develop a business plan.
“I think when done right, it's so rewarding,” Peeters said. “There's so many benefits for a collision repair owner. No. 1 is quality. You can go to bed at night knowing you repaired the car correctly, including the calibration process. Second is, you own the whole repair process so you can control not only the quality, but the cycle time, etc.. And of course, financially, it's very rewarding. There's a great ROI when you do it right.”
Car ADAS Solutions is growing rapidly coast to coast, Peeters said, opening several new centers each month.
Its current footprint has already attracted “national players,” who are in negotiations with Car ADAS Solutions to contract service work at their centers.
“It just keeps adding this tremendous value to our network…that, hey, when I join, I also get an automatic book of business,” Peeters said. “That's always been our vision and that's the phase we’re at right now.”
Abby Andrews