potato3732842 21 hours ago

It's mostly because the factory welds are the result of someone running numbers until they find the bare minimum whereas the autobody guy would rather not risk it.

1
kube-system 20 hours ago

The OEMs have proper repair procedures that are the correct way to fix the vehicle, and if the autobody shop is reputable, they follow them. And the stated reason OEMs specify panel bonding instead of welding is:

1. because UHSS is sensitive to heat, and robots are much more accurate in how they heat than Jimmy with a tig torch, and they were programmed by a process engineer, where as Jimmy welds until 'it looks good'.

2. welding may compromise anti-corrosive treatments on the inside of inaccessible cavities, which can lead to corrosion issues

e.g. https://rts.i-car.com/crn-24.html

A crappy shop will certainly just weld panels in without any regard for materials engineering, but it results in a crappy repair.