Our Quick Analysis Of Geico’s Surprising Diagnostic and ADAS Announcement

We at ADAS Depot are here to keep you up to date and advocate for your interests, and you may have heard about Geico's announcement last week (full communication below). In our view, on the calibrations side, Geico is attempting to standardize pricing, and is broadly channeling oversight to a favored partner, in this case asTech, and away from collision centers.

In particular, we are concerned with the ADAS calibrations pricing schedule, which for a static calibration is reimbursed at $400, with an additional $75 for each additional calibration. This broad-brush approach ignores the nuances of different types of ADAS calibrations -- for example an AVM will typically take more effort and work than a front radar calibration -- and ignores the differing labor wages and cost of living in various markets. You can check out our recommended ADAS pricing guide for comparison. While $400 is a decent starting point for a static calibration in an average cost-of-living market, we think that additional calibrations should be reimbursed at the full rate, and that there should be adjustments for higher-cost markets.

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Geico's Scans and Calibration Pricing Structure

Geico's Communication on Scans and Calibrations

Good morning valued partner,

Over the past several years, and with the advent of new technologies in vehicles the frequency of the need to diagnose, program and calibrate vehicles has increased to ensure all advanced systems are functioning correctly after repairs. As dealers, sublet vendors and in-house calibration and scanning systems have worked hard to ensure these needs are met, a variety of price points have emerged and the complexity of tracking price points depending on vendor and calibration type has created some challenges in estimating.

To address these challenges, GEICO is happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with asTech® to standardize pricing and reduce friction for diagnostic, programming, and calibration operations.

While our position on the necessity of scanning a vehicle remains unchanged and that all claims will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, we will base consideration for pre-/post-scans on the recommendations from the patented and proprietary asTech® Rules Engine. The Rules Engine uses data from tens of thousands of scans to determine when a remote OEM scan is needed or when a local OEM-Compatible scan can be used, which has been verified to yield equivalent results to that of an OEM tool. GEICO shops using the asTech® Rules Engine will be eligible for an OEM or OEM-Compatible scan if they correctly follow the Rules Engine process in selecting the appropriate scan for the vehicle.

For repair shops that utilize the asTech® All-In-One as part of this partnership. Your shop will have prioritized access to, and special pricing for the device and the entire suite of asTech’s industry leading technology and services:

- adasThink™ - Industry leading ADAS identification.

- asTech insights – AI-powered, automated repair recommendations for instant repair planning.

- Support for dynamic and static calibrations.

- Bi-directional programming capabilities.

- CCC integration.

- Mobile technician support in select markets

To learn more or get started click here

Understanding there remains some complexity in the performance of these operations, we acknowledge that this pricing structure will not address every scanning and calibration operation and some negotiations may still need to be supported by good documentation. It is also important to note that GEICO does not require any members of its Auto Repair Xpress Network to use asTech or the asTech® All-In-One device. Shops not using the asTech® All-In-One device may need to supply additional documentation to justify procedures or pricing that deviates from those provided.

We are very excited about this partnership and would like to encourage all repair facilities to review the attached material which more fully explains the benefits of the asTech® All-In-One device and asTech’s proprietary technology which enables it to be an industry leader in this space. In addition, please see the attached pricing matrix and mobile vendor covered markets.

We intend for the changes to pricing go into effect on August 5, 2024. Please reach out to your ARX GEICO management if you have any questions.

Thank you for being a part of the ARX program and for your continued support in servicing our mutual customers.

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