Modern tech has its pros and cons
Not only are new-car prices much higher now than they were a few years ago, but repair costs have increased too. New information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that the average price of vehicle repairs has far outpaced inflation, and the advanced suite of sensors and safety technologies found in most new cars are partly to blame. Conversely, these same expensive sensors are actually saving drivers money by helping them avoid costly accidents in the first place. Here’s what the data says about car repair costs and claims submitted to insurance companies.
Why New Cars Are Costlier To Repair
James Riswick
Even a basic Honda Civic houses numerous sensors and crash-avoidance technologies that drive up repair costs after a crash. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that average vehicle repair prices have increased by over 40% since 2020, in part due to high costs of complex parts. For instance, a wave of radar sensor thefts affected certain Honda models like the CR-V due to their value; if stolen, a replacement can cost an owner $2,000 to $3,000.
Safety technologies are not solely responsible for higher repair costs, though. According to the IIHS, two-thirds of new cars now have all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. Over half have turbocharged and/or hybrid engines/fully electric powertrains. Power seats, entertainment systems, and advanced headlights are great when they’re working, but all these features can be expensive to replace or fix.
It’s partly why Slate has launched a stripped-down pickup truck with as many tech features removed as possible, which should make for cheaper repairs.
But while repair costs have climbed, consumers aren’t necessarily spending more to keep their vehicles on the road.
Advanced Safety Systems Also Save Drivers Money
Honda
To understand overall losses linked to vehicle repair costs, the IIHS also looked at claim severity (how expensive it was to settle a claim) and claim frequency (how often claims are filed) numbers obtained from the insurance industry.
In an HDLI comparison of 2017 to 2022 vehicles, it was found that claim severity was roughly 10% higher for those vehicles equipped with popular crash-avoidance technologies like automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and blind-spot warning. Claims related to property damage liability (PDL), which covers damage to a vehicle a policyholder may hit, is higher by roughly 15% for crash-avoidance-equipped vehicles.
However, the same study showed that claim frequency for equipped vehicles was 10% lower for collision claims and nearly 40% lower for PDL claims. Overall losses for insurers were roughly 5% lower for collision coverage and 30% lower for PDL coverage, where vehicles are equipped with key safety technologies.
This does not only benefit insurers, but driver costs are also lower, due to the fact that these technologies help to avoid a collision in the first place. That’s without taking into account the pain and suffering involved in even milder collisions.
Related: Studies show automatic emergency braking reduces rear-end crashes by half
Final Thoughts
While it’s easy to bemoan the abundance of new technologies that can leave car owners with inflated bills after an accident, it’s impossible to put a price on avoiding a single crash that could result in inconvenience, injury, or worse. But even the raw data shows that buyers are deriving more value from the latest safety equipment than if they had a car without equivalent features.
A moment of driver distraction that would otherwise cause a crash can be averted thanks to automatic emergency braking or a blind-spot warning system; it’s easier to forget such an incident quickly, whereas the effects of a crash can impact drivers for months or years after they occur.