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In 2016, 225 cars and trucks were on the road for every workshop operating within the US garages. There are now 246 vehicles per workshop. The pandemic traffic jams in the supply chain of computer chips and auto parts and the shortage of manpower of automotive technicians have compounded the problem. According to CCC Intelligent Solutions, which sells software to auto and insurance agencies, took cars an average of 2.1 days longer to repair in 2021 than in 2019, for a total of nearly 11 days.
Industry experts claim that the problem will only get worse“In 10 years, I see far fewer stores and far more people looking for stores,” says Rick White, who trains garage owners through his company, 180biz. A industry survey conducted at the end of last year found that 96% of garages reported delays, with an average scheduling backlog of 3.4 weeks, compared to 1.7 weeks at the end of 2019.
If you want to understand the growing complications in the auto repair industry, try doing a realignment on a new car. A car needs a realignment when it swerves to one side or the steering wheel vibrates, a procedure that involves adjusting the suspension, which connects the car to its wheels. A decade ago, the repairmen they spoke with Wired they claim it took about an hour and a half. Today, the procedure itself usually takes three to four hours and can go up to nine. This is because newer cars are equipped with advanced driver assistance systems, capable of keeping cars in their lane, detecting blind spots and avoiding collisions – functions that require the car to have a solid grasp of its position in space. This requires repairers to calibrate a car’s sensors and cameras that underpin these advanced systems.
Some vehicle brands can only be calibrated with specialized and expensive tools. To begin, the equipment needed to ensure the alignment of the wheels of a car costs about $ 70,000, says Lucas Underwood, president of L&N Performance Auto Repair of Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Then you need lenses, which help the car’s sensors and camera systems orient themselves. These can vary by car manufacturer and cost around $ 30,000 per set.
In total, the purchase of tools and adjustments in the workshop to repair only some car brands they can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is not counting the cost of training workers to use these tools, with garages paying thousands of euros a year to keep their staff certified to repair specific cars. Investing in the future, therefore, can cost workshop owners millions of euros.
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