Car ADAS Solutions has announced the addition of ADAS Calibrations of Florida. Owned by Bea Bruno, the company opened a location in Rivera Beach, Fla., on Nov. 5, 2023 and is currently constructing a second facility in Kissimmee.
The company’s territory extends from Orlando to North Fort Lauderdale. Plans include opening four additional locations by the end of the first quarter of 2024, including one in Pompano Beach.
Prior to owning the calibration centers, Bea’s husband, Mark, owned Fender Mender Auto Body in South Florida for 20 years before selling it to Classic Collision in 2020.
“It was our absolute pleasure working with Bea and Mark, who I have known for many years and share the company’s same vision of ‘Making the world a safer place to drive,’” said Kevin Caruso, COO of Car ADAS Solutions. “With their experience and the high standard they have held themselves to providing quality OEM-centric repairs and maintaining the highest levels of education, they align with our vision perfectly. We are glad they are a part of the Car ADAS Solutions family.”
After reading about calibration in an industry publication, the Brunos wanted to learn more about operating a business focused on this area. In early 2023, they reached out to Car ADAS Solutions to determine the steps involved in setting up a calibration facility. They also visited Jamie Humphries, a Car ADAS Solutions licensee in Georgia, who currently operates seven locations.
Once Mark and Bea met with him and saw his operations, they felt comfortable opening their first facility.
“From the right tooling to training, the Car ADAS Solutions team helped us get set up and ready right away,” said Mark. “They are very knowledgeable and were able to recommend what we needed in the facilities.”
The biggest challenge was finding commercial property to set up the locations.
“The cost of commercial property has gone up so much that it was great having someone help find locations who is knowledgeable and understands the business,” Mark said.
The Brunos found that many landlords didn’t comprehend what is involved in a calibration.
“The minute they hear auto repair, they’re usually turned off right away,” he said. “However, with the support of the Car ADAS Solutions team, we were able to find property.”
He said collision consultant Elizabeth Rutter was instrumental in helping the landlords understand the concept of a calibration facility and getting their foot in the door.
“She explained we would be great tenants because the floors and walls are white and there’s no dirt or dust,” said Mark. “Otherwise, they probably would not have given us a second shot looking at some of these spaces.”
As a fully equipped calibration facility, ADAS Calibrations of Florida is now educating body shops about the importance of calibration and the liability they have to ensure cars are correctly repaired.
“We need to put our customers and our families back in a safe, calibrated car,” he said. “The more this changes every day, the more people will be aware that this is an integral part of a repair.”
He stressed the importance of scanning vehicles to identify what calibrations are needed. As part of their process, ADAS Calibrations of Florida can upload a body shop’s estimate to their website and identify the required calibrations.
“That’s the biggest positive going into a new market like this because not many people understand what is involved with a calibration,” said Mark. “We’re constantly seeing updates made to manufacturers’ position statements, and it’s important to be aware of what’s happening.”
The Brunos said that technology is changing so fast that many mobile calibration companies cannot keep up with the tooling requirements to calibrate properly.
As a Car ADAS Solutions licensee, ADAS Calibrations of Florida received calibration training at the Car ADAS Solutions facility in Georgia, as well as ongoing support.
Mike Booth, senior technician, support and quality assurance for Car ADAS Solutions, attended the grand opening of the Rivera Beach location to ensure technicians felt comfortable performing calibrations.
“Without that support, I don’t think things would have gone as smoothly as they did,” said Bea.
Added Mark, “I think the team at Car ADAS Solutions has been absolutely wonderful throughout the process. Any time you call Car ADAS Solutions, they are there to help answer questions.”
