Automotive Business Magazine – Q2 2026 – Digital edition - Magazine - Page 44
OPI N I O N
R E TA I L
Reshaping
repair times
→ Phil Miskelly-Wise is OEM and corporate sales director at Warranty Solutions Group
F
rom advanced driver
assistance systems (ADAS)
to increasingly sophisticated
powertrains, today’s vehicles
are not just harder to fix – they
take longer to diagnose, longer
to repair and cost significantly
more when something
goes wrong.
Historically, rising repair costs were
often associated with major mechanical
failures. Today, the most common faults
are minor – sensors, batteries, water
pumps, electronic modules – yet the
time required to diagnose and resolve
them has increased sharply. The reason:
modern faults rarely exist in isolation.
Even routine component failures
increasingly demand specialist diagnostic
equipment, trained technicians and postrepair validation procedures. The result
is a growing gap between parts cost
and total repair cost, with labour time,
diagnostic effort and calibration work
accounting for a rising share of the bill.
A strategic issue
A minor collision, windscreen
replacement or suspension repair
can easily trigger the need for ADAS
recalibration. In many cases, this
requires specialist equipment, controlled
workshop conditions, additional test
drives and verification, and more.
For dealers and repairers, this extends
vehicle off-road time (VOR) and puts
pressure on workshop scheduling. For
customers, it introduces frustration and
unexpected costs.
While EVs may experience fewer
failures overall, when faults do occur,
These systems demand specialist
training, safety protocols and tooling, all
of which add time and cost.
This is where the industry is beginning
to look beyond traditional reactive repair
models and towards predictive and
preventative approaches, with telematics
playing a central role.
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AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS Q2 2026
By monitoring vehicle health data in
real time, telematics systems can identify
emerging issues before they escalate into
failures. Early warnings allow intervention
at a far earlier, and cheaper, stage.
When integrated with aftersales
operations, telematics enables
workshops to plan repairs more
efficiently, order parts in advance and
reduce diagnostic time.
One of the biggest contributors to
extended repair times is uncertainty on
root cause. Telematics data can change
that dynamic. By providing technicians
with pre-arrival insights into fault
codes, system behaviour and usage
patterns, workshops can allocate the
right technician from the outset, prepare
specialist equipment in advance, reduce
time spent on exploratory diagnostics,
and minimise repeat visits.
In a market where labour availability
remains tight, improving first-time fix
rates is as important as controlling costs.
What this means for dealers
Rising repair times and costs reinforce
the importance of a holistic aftersales
proposition. Protection products are no
longer just about covering parts costs,
they help absorb the labour, diagnostic
and calibration burden. They also protect
customer relationships.
Dealers that invest in diagnostic
capability, ADAS calibration infrastructure
and telematics integration are better
positioned to manage complexity.
Clear communication is also essential.
Customers need to understand why
modern vehicles demand a different
maintenance mindset.
The winners will be those who treat
complexity as a strategic driver. In the
era of advanced vehicles, the challenge
is no longer just fixing what breaks. It
is anticipating what will fail, managing
the time it takes to repair it, and building
systems that keep customers, and
businesses moving.
