As synergies between collision and mechanical repairs increase, the need for consistent and high work standards becomes more important.
Over time, as vehicle technology has advanced, we’ve seen vehicle systems and by extension collision and mechanical repairs, become more closely integrated. When a vehicle has been involved in a collision today, in many cases it will likely require mechanical as well as collision repair work.

Quickly identified
This means, that when a vehicle is brought into the shop, any mechanical work must be identified as early as possible. Yet there are some considerations when doing this. Firstly, that suspension damage can initially, be hard to detect. One way of tackling this issue is by conducting wheel pre-alignment checks at the blueprinting stage of the repair process. By doing so, you can determine what parts are required before the vehicle enters the production phase of the repair, minimizing the risk of subsequent issues, including supplements, parts delays, or rework. It’s also important to determine early on which aspects of the repair can be performed in-house and which will need to be outsourced. If the latter is required, these repairs will need to be pre-scheduled.
Today, it’s essential that when performing any type of repair, that OEM procedures and recommendations are followed and if any calibration or resets are required, they are determined in the damage analysis stage, ensuring that if any outside vendors are required to perform these tasks, they can be scheduled as early as possible.
Training and skills upgrading
One thing that is essential in today’s collision repair environment, is that continued training and skills upgrading takes place. This is critical to ensuring technicians understand the newest vehicle systems and technology and how they are impacted, A: by the collision, and B: by the repair process.
It’s also important to understand that while 310 B collision technicians receive a certain amount of mechanical training within the scope of their trade, not all collision technicians excel at mechanical repairs. Furthermore, certain mechanical repairs, particularly on today’s vehicles, may go beyond the scope of 310 B Certificate of Qualification. That’s why, from an efficiency standpoint it is often better today, to integrate mechanical repairs into the collision repair process and if your technicians aren’t specialized in this area, you’ll need to hire dedicated auto service techs who are.
ADAS considerations
There’s also the question of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS). Typically, body and mechanical repairs need to be completed before any ADAS calibrations are conducted. If these and any mechanical work needs to be outsourced, it can create more inefficiencies for the repair, resulting in delays and greater risks with the quality of the work, since the collision centre is unable to control the entire process.
Ultimately, your collision shop is responsible for all the work that’s performed, including any tasks that are outsourced. This means that the ultimate goal of the entire process is to ensure, a safe, complete and quality repair for the benefit of the vehicle owner. Therefore, when it comes to mechanical work during the collision repair process, this needs to be of paramount importance, whether that work is performed in-house or outsourced to a third-party vendor.