ASE B6
DAMAGE ANALYSIS &
ESTIMATING
Master vehicle construction, parts identification, estimating, and customer relations to conquer the exam.
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Go from guessing in the shop to commanding top-tier pay on the floor.
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Estimator
Average Pay: $0k - $0k+/yr
- Master of repair vs. replace logic.
- Trusted by insurance adjusters & DRPs.
- Commands front-office authority.
ASE®, the ASE logo, and "ASE Certified" are registered trademarks of the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. asecollisiontestprep.com is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ASE. The patch shown above is the official credential issued by ASE to technicians who pass the ASE B6 exam, shown here for educational reference. Official certification can only be earned by passing the ASE exam at a Prometric test center.
Pay figures are illustrative and vary by experience, certification, location, employer, and flat-rate production. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024; 49-3021 Automotive Body and Related Repairers), median pay was $51,680 per year, with the lowest 10 percent earning under $36,390 per year (about $17 per hour, typical of entry-level or uncertified workers) and the top 10 percent earning over $87,040 per year. Experienced, ASE-certified collision technicians working flat rate in busy shops are among the top earners, where $65,000 to $100,000 or more is attainable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov.
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ASE B6 Sample Flashcards
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ASE B6 Test Overview
What to expect on exam day: question counts, timing, and how the scored questions break down by task area.
Required every 5 years
ASE B6 Task List
Every task the ASE B6 exam can cover, organized by the seven official task areas.
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A. Damage Analysis
- Position the vehicle for inspection.
- Prepare vehicle for inspection; disassemble as needed to provide access to hidden damage.
- Analyze damage to determine appropriate methods for overall repairs.
- Determine the direction, point(s) of impact, and extent of direct, indirect, and inertia damage.
- Gather details of the incident/accident necessary to determine the full extent of vehicle damage.
- Identify and record pre-existing damage.
- Identify and record evidence of prior repairs.
- Perform visual inspection of structural components and members; determine if repair or replacement is required.
- Identify structural damage using measuring tools and equipment.
- Perform visual inspection of non-structural components and members; determine if repair or replacement is required.
- Determine parts, components, material type(s), and procedures necessary for a proper repair.
- Identify type and condition of finish; determine if refinishing is required.
- Identify suspension, electrical, and mechanical component damage.
- Identify safety systems damage and related service requirements.
- Identify interior component damage.
- Identify damage to add-on coatings, coverings, accessories, and modifications.
- Identify single (one-time) use components.
- Identify Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) damage and related service requirements.
- Use a diagnostic tool to scan the vehicle; record and review diagnostic report.
- Identify if the vehicle needs to be placed in service mode.
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B. Estimating
- Determine and record customer/vehicle owner information.
- Identify and record vehicle identification number (VIN) information, including nation of origin, make, model, restraint system, body type, production date, and engine type.
- Identify and record vehicle options, including trim level, paint code, transmission, accessories, and modifications.
- Document and record existing or pre-existing damage.
- Identify safety systems; determine needed repairs.
- Apply appropriate estimating and parts nomenclature (terminology).
- Determine and apply appropriate estimating sequence.
- Utilize estimating guide procedure pages.
- Apply estimating guide footnotes and headnotes as needed.
- Estimate labor value for operations requiring judgment.
- Select appropriate labor value for each operation (structural, non-structural, mechanical, and refinish).
- Select and price OEM parts; verify availability, compatibility and condition.
- Select and price alternative/optional OEM parts; verify availability, compatibility and condition.
- Select and price aftermarket parts; verify availability, compatibility and condition.
- Select and price recyclable/used parts; verify availability, compatibility and condition.
- Select and price remanufactured, rebuilt and reconditioned parts; verify availability, compatibility and condition.
- Determine price and source of necessary sublet operations.
- Determine labor value, prices, charges, allowances, or fees for non-included operations and miscellaneous items.
- Recognize and apply overlap deductions, included operations and additions.
- Determine additional material and charges.
- Determine refinishing material and charges.
- Determine recommended sectioning procedures and establish labor values.
- Determine structural measurement requirements; diagnose, and establish labor values.
- Determine necessary structural repair/replace requirements and setup procedures, and establish labor values.
- Apply math skills to establish charges and totals.
- Interpret collision estimating software-generated and manually written estimates; verify the information is current.
- Identify procedural differences between collision estimating software-generated and manually written estimates.
- Identify procedures to restore corrosion protection; establish labor values and material charges.
- Determine appropriate application of betterment/depreciation to parts and allowances as necessary.
- Determine the cost effectiveness of the repair and determine the approximate vehicle retail, recyclable and repair value.
- Recognize the differences in estimation procedures when using different information provider systems.
- Verify accuracy of estimate compared to the actual repair and replacement operations.
- Identify Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS); determine needed repairs and service requirements.
- Document and record repair/replace procedures utilizing line notes, proper estimate coding, photographs, videos, technical documents, and additional supporting documentation.
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C. Legal and Environmental Practices
- Recognize federal, state and local regulatory obligations.
- Recognize contractual and warranty obligations.
- Recognize the obligation to restore the vehicle based on vehicle manufacturer's specifications and industry-accepted procedures/guidelines.
- Recognize the obligation to protect personally identifiable information (PII).
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D. Vehicle Construction
- Identify type of vehicle construction (space frame, unibody, body-over-frame).
- Recognize the different damage characteristics of space frame, unibody, and body-over-frame vehicles.
- Identify impact energy absorbing location(s), components and repair/replacement procedures.
- Identify steel types; identify repair/replacement procedures for steel components.
- Identify aluminum/magnesium components and repair/replacement procedures.
- Identify plastic/composite/carbon fiber components and repair/replacement procedures.
- Identify vehicle glass components; repair, remove and reinstall (R&I), and replacement procedures.
- Identify add-on accessories, modifications and repair/replacement procedures.
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E. Vehicle Systems Knowledge
Fuel, Intake, Ignition, Exhaust, and Emission Control Systems
- Identify components.
- Identify component function.
- Identify component service requirements.
Suspension, Steering, and Powertrain
- Identify components.
- Identify component function.
- Identify component service requirements.
Brakes
- Identify components.
- Identify component function.
- Identify component service requirements.
Heating, Engine Cooling, and Air Conditioning
- Identify components.
- Identify component function.
- Identify component service requirements.
Electrical / Electronic Systems
- Identify components.
- Identify component function.
- Identify component service requirements.
Restraint Systems
- Identify components.
- Identify component function.
- Identify component service requirements.
Fasteners and Materials
- Identify fastener type and service requirements.
- Identify body repair procedures, refinishing materials and supplies.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
- Identify components.
- Identify component function.
- Identify component service requirements.
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F. Parts Identification and Source Determination
- Identify OEM components.
- Identify OEM component function.
- Justify repair or replace decision using OEM component.
- Determine OEM component availability.
- Identify alternative/optional OEM component availability.
- Identify alternative/optional OEM component function.
- Explain repair or replace decision using alternative/optional OEM components.
- Determine alternative/optional OEM component availability.
- Identify aftermarket components.
- Identify aftermarket component function.
- Explain repair or replace decision using aftermarket components.
- Determine aftermarket component availability.
- Identify recycled (used) components.
- Identify recycled (used) component function.
- Explain repair or replace decision using recycled (used) components.
- Determine recycled (used) component availability, compatibility and condition.
- Identify remanufactured/rebuilt/reconditioned components.
- Identify remanufactured/rebuilt/reconditioned component function.
- Explain repair or replace decision using remanufactured/rebuilt/reconditioned components.
- Determine remanufactured/rebuilt/reconditioned component availability.
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G. Customer Relations and Sales Skills
- Acknowledge and/or greet customer/client.
- Listen to customer/client; ask how accident/incident occurred; review facts of loss; collect information and identify customer's/client's concerns, needs and expectations.
- Establish cooperative attitude with customer/client.
- Identify yourself to customer/client; offer assistance.
- Effectively communicate with and address concerns of a dissatisfied customer/client.
- Identify customer/client preferred communication method; follow up to keep customer/client informed about parts and the repair process.
- Recognize basic claims handling procedures; explain to customer/client.
- Project positive attitude and professional appearance.
- Provide and review warranty information.
- Provide and review technical and consumer protection information.
- Estimate and explain duration of out-of-service time.
- Apply negotiation skills to obtain a mutual agreement.
- Interpret and explain manual or collision estimating software-generated estimate to customer/client.
ASE B6 Key Terminology
Click any term below to reveal its exact definition.
ASE B6 Questions, Answered
The things candidates ask most about the B6 test, answered straight.
The ASE B6 Damage Analysis and Estimating test has 60 questions in 75 minutes, about 75 seconds each. Only 50 count toward your score. The other 10 are unscored pilot questions ASE is trialling for future tests, and they are not marked on screen, so treat every question as if it counts. The recertification version is shorter: 25 questions in 30 minutes.
P-pages is the shop name for the procedure pages at the front of an estimating guide, and using them is a listed task, alongside applying the guide's footnotes and headnotes. They define what a published labor time already includes and what it does not, which is where most estimating disputes begin. An included operation is already paid for inside the published time. A not-included operation has to be written as its own line or it is never paid at all. ASE B6 questions follow the same logic the guides do: the published time is an average for an undamaged vehicle, the procedure pages state what it assumes, and anything outside those assumptions is itemized with a reason.
As judgment supported by the guide, not as a formula to memorize. Labor on an estimate is selected in four categories, structural, non-structural, mechanical and refinish, and refinish has its own rules in the procedure pages: a first major panel time, lesser overlap times on adjoining panels, and a separate allowance for blending into an adjacent panel. Two points come up repeatedly. Overlap deductions exist because two adjoining panels sprayed in one operation do not each need a full setup. And blending is an operation the guide treats differently from refinishing a whole panel, so writing it as a full panel refinish, or leaving it off the estimate entirely, are both wrong. Materials and additional charges are calculated separately again.
Betterment is the share of a part's cost charged to the vehicle owner because the repair leaves them better off than they were before the loss. Determining the appropriate application of betterment and depreciation is a listed estimating task. In practice it attaches to wear items with a predictable service life, such as tires, batteries, exhaust components and brake friction, where fitting a new part replaces something already partly used up. The distinction worth holding on to is that betterment is about wear, not about damage: a bumper cover is simply replaced, while a half worn tire destroyed in the same impact may be subject to betterment. How much is applied is governed by the policy and by state rules.
Through the estimator's duty rather than through a single number. A listed task is determining the cost effectiveness of the repair and the approximate retail, recyclable and repair value of the vehicle. Many states set a threshold expressed as a percentage of actual cash value, above which a vehicle must be declared a total loss, but the percentage and the way it is calculated differ from state to state, so check your own state's rule rather than carrying a figure out of a study guide. What the test is really asking is whether you can build an accurate, complete repair cost, including the parts and operations that only appear after teardown, and compare it honestly against the value of the vehicle.
Parts Identification and Source Determination is its own content area, and the estimating area carries a separate task for each source: Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts, alternative or optional OEM parts, aftermarket parts, recycled or used parts, and remanufactured, rebuilt or reconditioned parts. Every one of those tasks ends with the same three words: availability, compatibility and condition. That is the pattern the questions follow. You are expected to know what each category is, how it is priced and sourced, what has to be verified before it goes on the estimate, and that some parts cannot be substituted at all because the vehicle maker, the policy or a safety system requires the original.
No, and that surprises candidates who write estimates every day. Of the 50 scored questions, Estimating is 13 and Damage Analysis is 11, so the two together are under half the test. The rest is Vehicle Systems Knowledge, which includes electric, hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles, at 11, Vehicle Construction at 6, Parts Identification and Source Determination at 4, Legal and Environmental Practices at 3, and Customer Relations and Sales Skills at 2. You are expected to recognize body-over-frame, unibody and space frame construction, steel types, aluminum, magnesium, plastics and carbon fiber, and the energy absorbing structures, because you cannot price a repair method you cannot identify.
All of it, in this test's view. Damage Analysis is the first content area and it is built around disassembling enough of the vehicle to see hidden damage before a line is written. The tasks include positioning the vehicle, determining the direction and points of impact and the extent of direct, indirect and inertia damage, gathering details of the incident, recording pre-existing damage and evidence of prior repairs, inspecting structural and non-structural members, measuring for structural damage, and identifying suspension, electrical, mechanical, interior, safety system and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) damage. Scanning the vehicle and reviewing the report is a task, and so is identifying single use components. An estimate written from the outside of the car is incomplete by definition.