While technology in new cars can help keep you safer on the road, it can drive up repair costs by thousands of dollars, a new study shows.
Rates.ca, a financial rate comparison site, compared the costs of some common replacement parts for a 2013 and 2023 Honda Civic and a 2013 and 2023 BMW X3.
The study shows on average the repair costs were 23 per cent higher on the newer vehicle, but some parts, including those with sensors such as bumpers and windshields, cost significantly more.
On the BMW, LED headlights for the 2023 model cost $8,618 compared with $2,012 for the xenon headlights in the 2013 model – a $6,606 increase.
The 2023 X3′s front bumper, which is packed with sensors, cost $9,668 – that’s $6,609 more than the 2013 X3 ($3,059), which doesn’t have sensors.
For the Civic, the hikes were less dramatic. The 2023 Civic’s LED headlights ($3,071) cost $1,747 more than the 2013 Civic’s halogen headlights ($1,324). The 2023 Civic’s rear bumper ($3,737) cost $1,735 more than the 2013 Civic’s rear bumper, which doesn’t have sensors.
Generally, the costs are driven up because of LED lights, cameras and sensors in new vehicles, said Daniel Ivans, a Rates.ca insurance expert and licensed insurance broker.
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While LED lights last longer and provide better visibility than conventional lights, they’re more expensive to replace.
Even side mirrors are more expensive now – for example, $404 more for the 2023 Civic ($952) – because they’re often heated now and weren’t 10 years ago.
“We looked at repairs on front and rear bumpers, windshields and mirrors because the technology has changed so much around these things,” Ivans said. “It’s not surprising to see that [new cars] would be more expensive to repair.”
A 2018 study by the American Automobile Association (AAA) found that minor fender benders in cars with driver assistance systems, such as automatic emergency braking and blind spot warning, cost US$3,000 more, on average, to repair than cars without the tech.
It’s not just the cost of the sensors – they also need to be properly calibrated by a technician.
Last year, the U.S.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) surveyed owners of vehicles with driver assistance systems who had to have them repaired. About half said they had problems with the tech after the job was completed.
While technology in new vehicles can be expensive to repair, it has been shown to prevent crashes.
But as tech in cars has become “more elaborate” and more expensive to repair, insurance costs have generally increased, Ivans said.
“I use the rearview camera in my pickup truck all the time, and I’m sure that if I didn’t have one, there’s a higher chance that I would’ve backed into something by now,” Ivans said. “But I’ve also had a claim where somebody hit my truck and took off. It was expensive partly because of all that technology.”
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Insurance companies look at how often specific models get into crashes – and how much those crashes cost – when setting insurance rates, he said.
“If statistically, there are fewer crashes with that specific vehicle as a result of that [safety] feature, then that would naturally be reflected in the rates,” Ivans said. “It’s costing [the company] less if you don’t have collisions, but it could be costing more if the claims are more expensive when they do occur.”
So how much more does a new vehicle cost to insure than a 10-year-old model of the same car?
For a 35-year-old male driver in Toronto with a clean driving record, a 2023 Honda Civic would cost $3,403 a year to insure – $1,551 more a year than a 2013 Honda Civic ($1,852).
A 2023 BMW X3 would cost $3,265 a year. That’s $1,430 more a year than a 2013 X3 ($1,835).
That’s not solely because of higher repair costs – a new vehicle also costs more to replace because it’s worth more.
Plus, repair costs aren’t the only factor driving up insurance rates – inflation and skyrocketing rates of car theft are driving up rates, too, Ivans said.
This doesn’t mean you should avoid buying a car loaded with safety tech – but check first on what insurance will cost, Ivans said. “Is it worth it to you to spend an extra hundred dollars a month [on insurance] to have a brand new car?”