A family member with a Subaru had a minor animal collision that was enough to require a front bumper cover replacement and a headlight replacement but otherwise no major damage. They were advised by a body shop that the physical damage repairs with labor/materials/parts would be around $3,500, but then they went onto explain that the job would require them recalibrate the Eyesight system. Apparently the shop uses a guy who travels from shop to shop in the area to complete Eyesight re-calibrations since it requires some specialized equipment to do, and that service is about $1000-1250 added onto the bill $3,500 in parts/materials/labor, which after tax brings the total to close to $5,000 to complete the repairs.
I'm the car guy amongst my extended family so I was asked to verify if the eyesight would need to be recalibrated in this case and if the fee to do it was reasonable...but Subaru products aren't something I've dabbled in.
Looking on line there's tons of references to it being required for windshield replacements, which makes sense given the cameras are behind the glass that would be different after a replacement. That said, I can't seem to find a clear answer on other times re-calibration would be required. Some references online indicate that if you are having an alignment done for the suspension, you need to have eyesight re-calibrated as well, which sounds like a terrible way to drive the cost of an alignment through the roof.
So, all of the above said, is it pretty typical to recalibrate the eyesight system after a collision that requires a front bumper cover replacement? Is the quoted $1000-1250 fee to do it about what the market demands right now?
Thanks