2018 Subaru Eyesight question from today’s Denver Post.
3 hours to recalibrate after windshield replacement is 2 hours too many. Warranty time is 0.9 so adding 2.1 hours is just greed.
Worked for Subaru corporate 16 years.
So you can’t avoid getting into an accident for 3 hours or am I missing something.
Not sure if it would be covered under insurance but it might be worth asking.
Vehicles with cameras in the windshield require calibration when the windshield is replaced, my shop foreman has us collecting 4 hours of labor for the procedure.
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It wouldn’t be the first time the warranty allocation by the manufacturer was completely unrealistic in the field…
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3 hours does sound a big excessive but I do understand that some of the newer windshields with cameras do require calibration as mentioned on this thread.
I agree that 0.9 hour sounds very unrealistic. I remember when the windshield was replaced on my work truck several years ago–a 1998 Chevy Express cargo van. This windshield had no sensors, antennas, or anything else mounted to it other than a metal “button” which holds the rearview mirror. It took more than an hour for the auto glass person to replace it.
I don’t get the Denver Post but don’t have a Subie anyway, but I’ll keep that in mind.
Less then an hour is pushing it. Last time I had a windshield replaced, once the tech was finished I couldn’t drive away for at least 30 minutes. They wanted to make sure the sealed cured. Didn’t want me to bring it back because there was a leak. 2 hours for a windshield without many added electronics is a good rule of thumb
The warranty time of .9 hours in the OP is for calibrating the forward recognition camera after the glass company has replaced the windshield.
It seems like that is a necessary function if you want the collision avoidance gadget that peers ahead to peer in the right direction. 3 hours doesn’t seem out of line for shop calibration after windshield replacement. I certainly wouldn’t want to pay 3 hours for that myself, which is why I don’t own a car w/ that function. But if you own a car w/that function, 3 hours seems entirely reasonable. Complexity can increase safety, but can decrease reliability and almost always increases repair expenses.
So the 4 hours your shop charges, is that for replacing the windshield and performing the calibration, or is that only for performing the calibration? I am just curious. I do not own a vehicle with this type of feature, and would not buy one.
We get a few vehicles each week from glass companies and body shops for radar and camera calibration after repairs have been completed. New windshield or front collision repairs have been completed before sent to the dealer for calibration.
Let’s remember that a labor charge of 4 hours or $450 may be what the market determines is a fair price, not what a car maker is willing to pay for repairs under warranty.
Adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance, lane departure warning, backup camera, park assist, whatever, all these systems require precision components and many require specific calibration that is accurate to within inches over the length of a football field. Replacing a windshield, grille, or side view mirror that also mounts a camera or radar requires accurate calibration.
To do the calibration can require open floor space of up to 400 sq. ft. that is level and free of markings AND requires the use of $20,000 of equipment and software. Few shops have that resource, and those that do now have the ability to provide a service that their competitors can not. Good business practice and common sense dictates that the price for that service should be as high as the market will bear in order to recoup the investment as quickly as possible and become profitable. If you’re the only shop around that can fix something, $400 seems like a bargain.
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No it’s not reasonable because windshield is included in the warranty so the recalibration should also be included and it’s being done by the dealership who doesn’t have to recoup the $20,000 they paid for the equipment it take to recalibrate the cameras because they’re already making half the aMount of the car in interest alone…
If you are saying that on a 30000 dollar vehicle there is 15000 dollars worth of interest you are mistaken .
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Maybe it’s not a matter of 3 hours being too much as it is a matter of .9 being way too cheap.
Subaru has has always been very stingy with warranty labor times from stem to stern along with a few other nasty habits.
I like Subaru cars. I detest their corporate structure.
Since when is a damaged windshield covered by warranty ?
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Where does someone like Michael 381 get wrong ideas like these ?
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Do you need to ask? Some think cars should be free so anything paid is exploitation.