From Rust to Revv: The Urgency of Upgrading Auto Repair Shop Tech

Cars today are basically computers on wheels—software in modern vehicles runs on more than 100 million lines of code. As a society, we’ve invested into innovating our vehicles, yet we haven’t put the same focus on innovating how we care for them. Drivers and repair shops today tend to operate with an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. Even after a collision, when damage is obvious, the emphasis is on fixing cosmetic and structural problems. But what about the damage that shops and owners can’t see? 

Part of the robust computer-like technology built into cars includes advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS. As of 2018, 92.7% of new vehicles in the U.S. have at least one ADAS—including safety features like automatic braking, drowsiness detection, and blind spot detection. Without these systems functioning properly, the driver's safety is at risk. Any level of physical damage from a collision can impact these delicate systems, yet shops often fail to properly evaluate and diagnose them during repairs.

According to Revv data, 60% of auto repair estimates don’t include ADAS repairs, meaning essential fixes aren’t caught or performed. But reports indicating a need for ADAS calibrations have increased from 70% to 78% over the last three years. For customers, that means they’re driving away in potentially unsafe vehicles. And for collision shops, that means revenue opportunities are left on the table. Now, as smart tools built to better diagnose ADAS malfunctions emerge, the mentality around these essential repairs must evolve as well.

Change is hard, but transformation is worth it 

Having spent much of my career in tech working across massive organizations like Walmart and scrappy startups like Misfits Market, I have always been drawn to technology that takes industries out of their reliance on pen-and-paper. But it wasn’t until visiting my cousin’s body shop in Houston, TX, that I understood the massive demand for it in the automotive industry.

I watched as a 2021 Audi Q5 returned to the body shop for the second time in a week—another collision. After the first accident, the car’s front view camera wasn’t recalibrated properly, which led to issues with the lane-assist system. Audi, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), indicates in its documentation that recalibration for the camera is a required part of any post-collision repair. But this isn’t the kind of information that even the best mechanics just know—instead, this essential information is buried in OEM repair subscriptions, scattered across aftermarket aggregators, or buried in position statements. As a result, the shop missed the opportunity to recalibrate the camera, resulting in another crash for the driver. 

As I traveled across Houston to understand how widespread this issue was, it quickly became apparent that the industry was ready for a digital revolution. 

Revving up repairs with automation

There are over 500,000 unique ADAS procedure combinations based on variables like make, model, trim package, and year. Take the 2016 Honda Civic LX and the 2016 Honda Civic EX. Despite being the same make, model, and year, the two cars have different ADAS packages. The EX trim level often comes with Honda Sensing and LaneWatch while the LX trim lacks these sensors. This is just one example out of the 128 car brands, 7,072 models, and 29,792 engine variations. It’s no wonder shops don’t want to scour physical manuals or digital databases for everything that could be wrong with these vehicles. 

My co-founder Rashmi Sinha and I knew there had to be a better way to detect the need for ADAS repairs.

At Revv, we’ve designed a diagnostics platform built on a large language model (LLM). Our system uses artificial intelligence (AI) to aggregate and synthesize data on ADAS specifications across the web, tapping into and syncing with popular ADAS databases, aftermarket aggregators, and OEM repair manuals to unlock greater efficiency in diagnostics. Now, with our flagship product, RevvADAS, repair shops are unlocking previously untapped revenue—all while delivering better experiences and safer cars to their customers. 

How Revv works

When a car comes into their shop, repair technicians and shop managers can run a repair estimate based on physical collision damage through RevvADAS to quickly generate a detailed report of the required ADAS calibrations. Our system decodes the VIN to match the make, model, trim, and year with OEM information on impacted sensors and the procedures and tools needed to address the issue. From there, our system also provides easy, intuitive workflows for invoicing and insurance billing.

Other providers of ADAS diagnostics technology have had more time to grow their share within the market. CCC ONE, Repairify, and OPUS all offer software solutions for ADAS diagnostics. But Revv stands apart in our ability to offer a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that generates more revenue per job, thanks to our underlying technology. Our LLM-enabled rules engine is built to keep up with evolving OEM requirements to deliver more comprehensive results to our customers. And beyond the product, Revv offers a personalized customer experience. We want our customers to be partners, collaborators. We’re always open to suggestions—happy to customize, modify, and improve our product based on feedback.

Though we’ve only been operating in stealth since April of this year, over 200 auto repair shops throughout the country already use RevvADAS. To date, we’ve run over 10,000 reports with roughly 60% of them indicating the need for ADAS calibrations. These calibrations have yielded about $1,259 per estimate in additional revenue. That’s about $13 million that our customers would otherwise have missed. 

“Before, if a car wasn’t giving a warning saying one of the systems wasn’t working, some of our client shops would assume the car was good and sent it home. There was no call to action to get the calibration done,” Mike Ambrosino, our customer and team leader at ADAS Diagnostics Solutions, told me. But with RevvADAS, their ADAS Lab has doubled its calibration repairs per month.

With self-driving cars on the road, it’s clear we’re in an industry that’s constantly moving forward. That’s why “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” should be a thing of the past. Technology offers us a better path forward. Any shop that still thinks the existing process isn’t broken is simply walking away from revenue potential, safer vehicles, and better customer service.