An alignment or a new windshield can throw off your car's safety cameras.
The cameras and radar behind your windshield and bumpers are what make lane keep, blind spot warning, and automatic braking work. They have to be aimed to the manufacturer's spec, and ordinary repair work moves them out of it. Most shops send you to a dealership to have them recalibrated. We're one of the few shops in Chico that does it in-house.
You probably have more of these than you think
ADAS stands for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. It's the catch-all name for the cameras and radar that help your car see. Most vehicles from about 2018 onward have at least one — and every one of them has to be aimed.
Automatic Emergency Braking
Forward-facing radar and camera that stop the car when you don't.
Lane Keep & Lane Departure
The windshield camera that reads lane lines and nudges you back.
Blind Spot Monitoring
Rear corner radar behind the bumper that watches the lane beside you.
Adaptive Cruise Control
Front radar that holds your following distance in traffic.
Backup & Surround Cameras
Rear and 360° cameras, including the guide lines you steer by.
Parking Sensors
The proximity sensors that judge distance when you're squeezing in.
Ordinary repairs knock them out of aim
It doesn't take a crash. Most of what puts a sensor out of spec is routine work you'd never connect to a safety system.
Wheel alignment
Changing the thrust angle moves where the car thinks straight ahead is.
Windshield replacement
The forward camera mounts to the glass. New glass means a new aim.
Suspension or steering work
New struts, springs, or control arms change ride height and sensor angle.
Collision repair
Bumper, grille, and mirror work disturbs the radar and cameras behind them.
New tires or a lift/lowering kit
A different ride height points every sensor somewhere new.
No strings. No guesswork. Just lasers.
The old way of aiming ADAS targets involved strings, plumb bobs, and tape measures. Ours projects the target position with lasers and confirms it with cameras before anything gets calibrated.
We look up your vehicle
Year, make, and model tell us exactly which systems your car has and what the manufacturer requires.
We align first
Calibration is measured against the car's real thrust line, so the alignment has to be right before anything else.
Lasers place the targets
Our equipment projects each target position on the floor and confirms placement with cameras — no strings, no tape measures, no guessing.
You get the paperwork
A printout showing every calibration performed and confirmed to manufacturer spec — for your records, your insurer, and the next owner.
Straight answers
How do I know if my car has ADAS?+
If it warns you about cars in your blind spot, keeps you centered in your lane, brakes on its own, or holds distance on cruise control, it has ADAS. Most vehicles from roughly 2018 on have at least one of these. Call us with your year, make, and model and we'll tell you for certain.
Why can't I just skip it?+
A sensor that's off by a fraction of a degree is aimed several feet wide of where it should be by the time it's looking down the road. The system still turns on, still shows no warning light in many vehicles, and still makes decisions — just based on the wrong picture.
Do I have to go to the dealership?+
No. That's the point. Most shops in the area don't have the equipment and send you to a dealer for a separate appointment. We calibrate in-house, in the same visit as your alignment.
How long does it take?+
Most calibrations add well under an hour to the job, depending on how many systems your vehicle has. We'll give you a straight answer before we start.
Will I get proof it was done?+
Yes. Every calibration comes with a printed report showing the procedure followed and the placement confirmed, plus your before and after alignment results.
Not sure if your car needs it?
Call with your year, make, and model. We'll tell you which systems your vehicle has and whether anything you've had done recently put them out of spec — no charge for the answer.