Think Your Car Was Calibrated? 5 Signs It Wasn’t.
- Casey Brothers
- Apr 2
- 2 min read
So you just got your car back from the body shop. The bumper looks good. The paint matches. The insurance paid their part. Everything’s good… right?
Maybe.
Because today’s cars aren’t just metal and paint. They’re loaded with advanced safety systems — radars, cameras, sensors — that need to be calibrated after a repair.
And you’d be surprised how often that step gets skipped. Or worse — faked.
Here are 5 red flags that your car might not have been calibrated correctly (or at all):
1. No One Mentioned Calibration — At All
If your car has:
Lane keep assist
Forward emergency braking
Blind spot monitoring
Rear cross traffic alert
Adaptive cruise control
Or even a simple backup camera
…and no one at the shop told you anything about calibration?
That’s a problem.
Because even a minor repair — like replacing a bumper or a windshield — often requires it. If they didn’t bring it up, they either didn’t check or didn’t do it.
2. You Didn’t Get Any Documentation
A proper calibration comes with paperwork:
Pre- and post-scan reports
System verification
A record of what was calibrated and why
If you got nothing? They either didn’t do it, or don’t want to show their work. Either way — you can’t trust what you can’t verify.
3. You Notice Weird Behavior
Your adaptive cruise doesn’t slow down
Your lane assist tugs a little too late
Your blind spot system misses something
Your emergency braking triggers for shadows or nothing at all
These are signs that your car may be off by just a few degrees — but in the ADAS world, that’s the difference between a clean stop and a collision.
4. The Shop Says, “It Didn’t Throw a Code, So It’s Fine.”
Wrong.
ADAS systems don’t always throw codes when they’re wrong.They’ll let you drive around with misaligned sensors for months — silently — until one day, you need them… and they fail.
No codes ≠ no problem.
5. You Were Told to “Just Drive It to the Calibration Shop”
If your car’s safety systems haven’t been verified, you shouldn’t be the test pilot.
ADAS systems like forward radar and automatic braking can react suddenly — and incorrectly — if they’re out of calibration. If the shop or insurer told you to “just drive it,” you’re being asked to take on unnecessary risk.
And you can (and should) say no.
Final Word: A Good Repair Includes Calibration. A Great Shop Shows You It Was Done Right.
If something feels off — or nothing was said at all — you have every right to ask:
“Was calibration required?”
“Was it completed?”
“Can I see the documentation?”
Because you’re not just trusting the repair. You’re trusting the safety systems that are supposed to save your life.
And if no one can prove they were checked?
You have every reason to push back.
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