Never Breakdown Again: How New Car Tech Could Eliminate the Risk of Getting Stranded
Audra Fordin
Empowering Drivers, through education and empowerment to be more involved in their Auto Know-how while being safer on the road.
Car breakdowns are so frustrating. They can ruin your entire day.
You get stranded on the way to work. Your co-workers end up short-handed and stressed out. Your engine craps out on a family vacation. Not only does it mess up your plans, but you also have to choose a mechanic in an unfamiliar area. Add restless kids to the mix and your anxiety will go through the roof.
Breakdowns aren’t fun to think about, but they happen all the time.
How many abandoned cars did you pass on the road today? This doesn’t have to be the case. New technology could eliminate the possibility of getting stranded. I read a thoughtful article by Phillipe Desnos about how telematics will disrupt the automotive aftermarket. Click the link to read his post. You won't regret it.
To help drivers understand how this technology works, let’s imagine a well-known auto safety feature.
You’re driving home and the check engine light turns on. That means your vehicle needs attention. What’s wrong? You can’t know for sure. A mechanic will have to hook up a scanner to pull and decipher a code to tell you. There’s no way to judge the severity of your auto problem until that happens, which is inconvenient when you need to travel (but aren’t 100% sure it’s safe to do so).
Telematics are like a good waiter or waitress.
“Okay” servers fill up your glass when it’s empty. Good servers top off your glass before it gets empty. In other words, they anticipate your needs. The check engine light says, “Hey! Something is malfunctioning. You should call your mechanic.” Telematics say, “It looks like something might malfunction soon. I already notified your mechanic.” See the difference? It’s huge. This will save so much time and trouble for all parties involved.
Drivers will be less defensive in the future.
I haven’t seen a vehicle equipped with telematics yet, but I’m really excited for this technology. Some drivers are skeptical about my recommendations. If I didn’t know better, I probably would be, too. Who wants to drop a few hundred bucks on a repair when they weren’t prepared for it? Most drivers listen to me, but it takes some convincing (education and understanding). It’ll be nice to have telematics back me up. People believe whatever the computer says. In this case, I’m okay with that.
If you’d like to learn more about telematics, check out Phillipe’s article. Here’s the link again. Do you think telematics will benefit your auto repair business? Let me know in the comments.
Multi-Talented Services Professional
9 年Not for nothing, but there has been wireless and Bluetooth plug and play code and data readers on the market for the past several years that people can buy. You can monitor a ton of parameters on a dash mounted display or smartphone. It won't call your technician, but will tell you everything you need to know. You can view some of these here on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Reader-Compatible-Android-Torque/dp/B005C6KIVS
Educator @ Green Circle Salons | Business Development & Customer Engagement
9 年Great article, as always, Audra! I'm excited to work in a sector of Automotive that is interested in developing the digital tools to help telematics communicate with shops to help strengthen brands ready to move to the forefront of this technology. It's going to be here before we know it!