I-CAR’s new repair planning course points to a practical use for immersive mixed reality training: helping estimators and repair planners make better decisions before those decisions affect customers, technicians and shop performance.
Cars are becoming harder to repair properly, and the training model is starting to change with them.
Professional auto industry body I-CAR has announced a new Mixed Reality Training Series for estimators and repair planners pursuing ProLevel 2 recognition. The course is scheduled to open for enrolment in early 2027, and will become a requirement for Gold Class and Platinum recognition renewals from July 2027.
The series places learners in an interactive environment where they can practise repair planning skills that affect repair quality, shop efficiency, cycle time and customer satisfaction, according to I-CAR’s announcement. Learners can use VR goggles for the full experience, or access the series on a tablet or computer.
Repair Planning Is Critical Alongside Technological Advances
Modern repair work is getting more technical.
ADAS, EV systems, sensors, new materials and OEM procedures all put more pressure on the person planning the job before the vehicle moves through the shop.
Poor repair planning can show up later as missed operations, supplements, delays, rework, insurer friction and a worse customer experience. Better planning gives the shop a cleaner starting point, and gives the technician a clearer route through the repair.
Kyle Thompson, CEO and President at I-CAR, said:
“As vehicles and repair procedures grow increasingly complex, effective repair planning has never been more important.”
Mixed reality training fits because repair planning involves judgement, sequencing and repeated decision-making. Those skills are hard to build through static course material alone, especially when the work keeps changing.
Better Training = Better Customer Satisfaction
The customer won’t care whether a repair planner trained in a headset, on a tablet or on a computer. They’ll care if the estimate is more accurate, the job takes less time, the vehicle comes back properly repaired, and the shop can explain the process with confidence.
I-CAR says the series is designed to help estimators and repair planners build confidence, improve estimating accuracy and complete quality repairs, in line with its vision “for the ultimate benefit of the consumer.”
Better planning can mean fewer surprises, clearer handoffs, stronger quality control and less pressure on technicians to fix planning gaps once the vehicle is already in the repair process.
Training Is Moving Closer to the Job
The same pattern is visible in robust enterprise XR use cases. Immersive training becomes easier to justify when the job is complex, expensive to get wrong and hard to practise repeatedly in the real world.
I-CAR’s approach bears some similarities with other high-stakes industries, like defence, energy and industrial settings . Different sectors, but the same commercial logic: when work becomes more technical, training needs to feel closer to the job for the trainee.
With collision repair mixed reality training, the payoff is easy to understand: better planning before the job starts, fewer surprises once the car is in the shop, and a smoother repair experience for the customer at the end of it.
