Crash repair costs being inflated by damage to complex wiring in modern cars

You might think bumpers are the most commonly damaged component in a car crash, but new data suggests more and more motorists are having to repair electrical items after an accident as cars become more and more reliant on technology.

According to research by the AA, 99 per cent of post-crash repairs they executed in the past year involved replacing a car’s wiring looms. These are crucial components that power and link electrical aspects of the vehicle such as adaptive cruise control and parking sensors – items that are also typically damaged in the event of a crash.

Managing director of AA Accident Assist, Tim Rankin, explained that, “With every evolution of vehicle technology come more sophisticated and high-tech repairs.

“Wiring looms might seem innocuous, but the wires do more than just carry power around the car. The wires help run fundamental safety features around the car, such as images, speed data and radar technology,” Rankin continued. “With more semi-autonomous driving-assistance packages being placed on cars as standard, repairers are being tasked to fix and calibrate, as opposed to simply replace and fit.”

This being the case, car repair costs have skyrocketed in recent years; data from Warrantywise suggests that over the course of 2024, the average repair cost leapt up by 20 per cent, further raiding the pockets of already cash-strapped drivers.

Considering this, you might be surprised to hear that only one per cent of the 10,000 people surveyed by the AA identified wiring as the most commonly repaired item; more than a third thought bumpers were the most commonly fixed, yet in fact these are repaired in 59 per cent of scenarios. According to the AA, rear crash beams are repaired 57 per cent of the time; front crash beams only need fixing 32 per cent of the time.

“As Accident Assist celebrates its fifth anniversary, we are gathering more insight into how and why people crash on our roads,” Rankin said. “From tailgating to being distracted, there are a wide range of reasons why collisions continue to happen.”

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