Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:05]:
This is automotive repair news today. I'm Braxton Critcher. Thanks for being here. Just a few days ago, the US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That's a mouthful. NHTSA announced that starting in 2029, automakers must make automatic emergency braking standard in cars and light trucks. Of course, there's a ripple effect for manufacturers, also for drivers on the road, but additionally, and on this podcast for independent repair shops. So what does it look like? Could this increase repair costs? What does it look like for the technician and the type of training they'll need to start taking? And could this increase workloads for repair shops? Lucas Underwood joins me to talk about this and more.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:01]:
Here's our conversation. What's your take on that from an owner's perspective?

Lucas Underwood [00:01:06]:
You know, anytime we talk about technological advances in our field or emerging technologies in our field, especially when it comes to regulations, everybody tends to get a little bit nervous about it. What I can tell you is, is that in most of these cases, it's fairly well thought out. And, you know, we, for instance, in the UK, they were just talking about alcohol sensors in cars, and we know that driving under the influence is a major contributor in car crashes. And so we know that that would probably be a positive technology in the long run. But there were questions of privacy, there were questions of efficacy, and so they stepped back away from that. I don't think we're going to see that with emergency braking, and I do think it would be a positive thing. And in some instances, we're seeing some of that technology right now with the ADAS systems that are already in automobiles. My biggest fear, especially for the automotive aftermarket, is what effect is it going to have on some of the shops that aren't prepared for this? Because the reality is, is we have to take data and we have to convert that data into something that a computer can use, and we have to tell the car when to stop, when not to stop.

Lucas Underwood [00:02:14]:
And where does that data come from? It comes from sensors on the automobile. And my greatest fear is that there's a number of shops, there's a number of technicians who aren't prepared for that technology and won't be ready to face that demand when it hits the roadways. Now, that being said, we know that in the US today, we service in aftermarket repair shops vehicles that are typically about twelve years old. That's what we're seeing in the aftermarket repair shop. So I don't think that we're going to see this as an immediate implementation of something that most repair shops have to deal with, but it is something to keep an eye on.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:49]:
Yeah. And this is just another facet of what's happening to the industry. All the tech that's being involved in cars. And in the next 20 years, a lot of the shops that might have difficulty with the kind of technology they have to use in those shops might be phased out anyway. So it really may not affect the industry at all.

Lucas Underwood [00:03:10]:
It's. It's possible. And a great example of this, my good friend Justin Allen from Hunter, he was telling me that years ago when he started with Hunter, he said that they would always come in and the shop owners would say, no, no, I'm not going to do that kind of tire. I don't need that new equipment. And then they would say, hey, I'm not going to do tire pressure monitoring systems. I'm not interested in working on that. I'm just going to. I'm just going to write that out.

Lucas Underwood [00:03:32]:
I'm not even going to touch it. And then it's. I'm not going to do computerized will alignments. And he said he would watch those shops decline over time because they weren't investing in new technology. I'm often criticized, and the reason I'm criticized is because I am somewhat critical of auto repair shops who aren't investing in technology, who aren't training their technicians, who aren't trying to take the step into the next realm. And the reality of it is, Braxton, is this technology is going to make it very hard for single person shops, for smaller shops, some of these mobile organizations, to survive. Now, I'm not saying they can't survive. I'm not saying they shouldn't have access to the data about these systems or the security systems.

Lucas Underwood [00:04:15]:
I am saying for them to be able to do this, they need to step up their protections, like their liability insurance. They need to make sure that they are properly trained on these systems and properly tooled to make sure that the motoring public is safe.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:28]:
Yeah, I mean, ultimately, this kind of move is a very good thing for drivers to feel protected on the roads.

Lucas Underwood [00:04:37]:
Absolutely.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:38]:
But it's, with a lot of repair shops a couple of weeks out in scheduling, they're really full, pretty busy right now, and the cost of repairs are going up. What kind of impact do you think this might have on those two factors with repair costs, but also the busyness of shops?

Lucas Underwood [00:04:59]:
You know, I don't think that it is going to impact the workload on shops. Automobiles are becoming more and more reliable, and as we see emerging technologies such as EV, hybrid hydrogen, some of the other technologies that are coming out. I'm actually seeing less repair needs in the auto repair shop. Now, the older vehicles, yeah, they're still. They're still going to be in the shops. They're still going to be busy. There's plenty of work to go around. I'm not saying we're going to see that decline, but some of these more modern automobiles are a different type of failure.

Lucas Underwood [00:05:27]:
It means that we're having technology failures more so than we're having mechanical failures. They still have mechanical failures. They still have maintenance needs. So I think we're going to see a balancing act. I think the repairs that we're going to be doing in the repair shop of the future are going to be a little bit different. We're going to need a much more skilled and much more trained technician than those of the good old days who were just seen as wrench turners. We're going to see a bit of a shift in that dynamic. And, you know, over time, I think that the cost of repair is definitely going to go up.

Lucas Underwood [00:06:01]:
Right. There's a couple reasons for that, and part of that is because of the cost of doing business. For the average auto repair shop, if they're doing less repairs, if they're generating less revenue, it means that they have to come up with that revenue somewhere else to be able to pay the bills. And so it means they may have to raise their prices. It means that they're going to have to pay their technicians more, which also equates to higher prices. It means that parts are more expensive. A great example of this is that cars with advanced driver awareness or assistance systems, those cars require a little bit more when it comes to the alignment, often. And so there may need to be an adas calibration when you align that automobile or when you take that front bumper off.

Lucas Underwood [00:06:44]:
So it's going to drive the cost of repair up because of that. Calibration takes some time. It takes some expensive equipment, and that's something that we're seeing the industry already fighting today. That technology has been in automobiles since before 2008. Mm hmm.

Braxton Critcher [00:06:58]:
What's the quote? It says, with every action, there's an opposite or equal reaction. And so with all the technology that's coming into the industry over the last, really five years, specifically, and with things like this, with automatic braking being required soon, is this a good thing or a bad thing for the repair industry, specifically?

Lucas Underwood [00:07:23]:
I think it's a positive thing. I think that anything that makes the motoring public safer, anything that helps the automobile be more reliable. I think we're looking at net positives. There's been some really interesting conversation around technology such as this. And I heard a speaker at one point, he was with a major car company, and he said, imagine being the engineer who determines if that automobile runs over the baby carriage that is just rolled out into the middle of the road, or if it drives the car and its occupants off a cliff. Imagine being the person who makes that decision. And I think that that is another aspect of this that we have to think about. And I think that's why we've seen autonomous driving or fully automated automobiles back down just a touch, because the manufacturers seem to struggle with decisions such as that.

Lucas Underwood [00:08:13]:
I do think we're going to continue to see more and more advanced technology. Mary Barra said years ago that, that in the next ten years, we'll see more technology implemented in the modern automobile than we have in the last hundred. That's been over ten years now. And I definitely would say that that estimation has come true. And I think we're going to continue to see this trend. I think it's going to advance. I think it's going to speed up. It's just a matter of how it affects all of us.

Lucas Underwood [00:08:38]:
That we have to remain to see, remains to be seen.

Braxton Critcher [00:08:42]:
All right, Lucas Underwood, everybody.

Lucas Underwood [00:08:44]:
Thank you, sir.