“Changing the tire while the car is moving.” Trite? Yes. True? Absolutely. But today, it’s more literal than ever. Shops across the U.S. and Canada aren’t just adapting to new tools—they’re playing catch-up on years of tech advancement while the repair rush never stops.
Ask any shop owner who’s been in business for 15+ years, and they’ll tell you: the learning curve isn’t slowing down—it’s getting steeper. It’s exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.
The Market Reality: Growth with Growing Pains
Think about it this way: in 2024, you were looking at a $65 billion market. By 2025? We’re talking $66+ billion, with projections hitting $78+ billion by 2033. That growth sounds modest until you realize it’s happening while every single repair is getting more complex.
The North American collision repair market totaled USD 64.97 billion in 2024, expected to grow to USD 66.35 billion in 2025, with long-term forecasts hitting USD 78.45 billion by 2033 (CAGR ~2.34%). Another data source puts the 2025 figure at USD 46.17 billion, climbing to USD 54.22 billion by 2030 (CAGR ~3.27%).
The market is growing. But let’s not pretend growth means less pressure. Higher tickets come with higher tech demands, training costs, and tighter turnaround expectations from customers who expect their cars fixed yesterday.
ADAS: Every Car, Every Day
Here’s the reality: it’s not just the luxury cars anymore. A 2024 Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, or Chevy Malibu rolls into your bay, and you’re looking at the same calibration requirements as that Mercedes or BMW. What used to be “high-end” technology is now standard equipment.
By model year 2023, 10 out of 14 ADAS features surpassed 50% penetration in U.S. vehicles, and 5 of those are now in over 90% of models—including forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and pedestrian detection. That base-model Corolla? It’s got more sensors than a luxury car from five years ago.
Picture this: A customer brings in their entry-level SUV after a parking lot mishap. Looks straightforward—bumper, maybe a headlight. But that “simple” repair now requires camera recalibration, radar alignment, and software verification. What looked like a $2,500 job becomes $4,500 once you factor in the ADAS work that’s mandatory, not optional.
Every shop knows this now. Calibrations, software diagnostics, and sensor alignment aren’t extras you can skip—they’re built into every estimate. The question isn’t whether you’ll encounter ADAS; it’s whether you’re equipped to handle it profitably.
2024 Felt Like a Tech Tidal Wave
If you’ve been around a while, you remember when change arrived in stages. New paint systems every few years. Updated welding techniques occasionally. Now? It’s a full-on deluge:
EV and Hybrid Repair Protocols — Battery safety procedures that could literally save lives, high-voltage handling requirements, and OEM procedures that change year-over-year. Miss an update, and you’re not just behind—you’re potentially liable.
Advanced Materials — Aluminum that requires different welding techniques, composites that need specialized adhesives, high-strength steel that laughs at your old repair methods. Each material demands unique processes and equipment.
Software-Defined Vehicles — Increasingly, “fixing” a car means programming updates as much as replacing physical parts. Your shop needs to become part garage, part IT department.
Regulatory Push — Safety standards like mandatory automatic emergency braking by 2029 are only ratcheting up calibration urgency. The government isn’t asking—it’s requiring.
That’s changing the tire while racing full speed ahead.
Reality Check: Some Days You Need an Engineering Degree to Fix a Bumper
Let’s be honest—some days it feels overwhelming. You went into this business to fix cars, and now you need to understand software architecture just to replace a side mirror. But here’s what successful shops have figured out: you don’t need to become a tech company. You need to become a tech-savvy collision repair shop.
There’s a difference.
The Good News: You Don’t Need Every Tool—You Need the Right Ones
When tech overload hits, the smart shops don’t chase every gadget. They choose carefully:
Adaptability Over Everything — Invest in tools and partners that evolve alongside OEM requirements and insurer demands. That scanner you buy today needs to handle the cars coming in three years from now.
Support That Actually Works — Don’t just buy hardware; buy relationships. Training, updates, integrations—you need partners, not vendors.
Strategic Investment — Fix what’s blocking you now, not what looks impressive in a trade magazine. If you’re losing jobs because you can’t calibrate cameras, that’s your priority. The fancy diagnostic equipment can wait.
Time-Saving Systems — Here’s something most shops miss: platforms for customer communication, scheduling, and workflow automation aren’t luxury items. They give your team room to tackle the harder tech. As workflow expert Erkan Oz noted in BodyShop Business, “a smooth, organized workflow is essential… it’s about removing wasted motion so you can keep up with the constant stream of new repair technology.”
When time is your biggest constraint, those front-office systems aren’t optional—they’re what fuel your ability to absorb the core technology changes.
Why This Isn’t a Doom Story
I’m not painting apocalyptic scenarios here. In fact, this is one of the most exciting eras in collision repair history. The technology is smarter, the work is more sophisticated, and the opportunity to outclass your competitors has never been greater.
The shops that thrive in 2025 won’t be the ones with the most tools—they’ll be the ones that adapt while working, choose partners who stick around for the long haul, and create space to genuinely learn and implement new processes.
Think about your competitive advantage: while some shops are paralyzed by the complexity, you can be the one mastering it. While others turn away ADAS-equipped vehicles, you can be capturing that premium work.
The Bottom Line
Yes, “changing the tire while the car is moving” is an old saying. But in 2025, it’s not just a metaphor—it’s your daily reality. Every time you upgrade systems mid-project, train technicians between jobs, and learn new OEM procedures while meeting deadlines, you’re living it.
So here’s the question every shop owner needs to answer in 2025: Are you going to let the technology drive you, or are you going to drive the technology?
Because standing still isn’t an option anymore. You can’t stop the car to change the tire. But you can decide who’s riding shotgun while you repair, retrofit, and redefine your shop’s future.
The road ahead is challenging, but it’s also full of opportunity. Time to buckle up and show the industry how it’s done.
