Car repairs take a back seat with cash-strapped consumers
January 17, 2009 - 10:13am
Rey Caballero saw a customer leave a Mr. Tire auto repair shop recently, despite being told that his car needed new brakes.
A customer left Steven Duckson's Clearview Car Care shop Wednesday with a severely cracked drive belt and two days earlier, another customer left the shop with steel sticking out of her tire, Duckson said.
These customers had one thing in common: an inability to pay for the repairs, Caballero and Duckson said.
The car repair business was considered recession-proof, if you had a good reputation. Not anymore, Duckson said.
As an employee working for other people, Duckson had a lot of work to do. "But as an owner, it's like, 'I hope I make it through this month,'" he said.
"Everybody's banking on making it to spring. People are just cutting back on everything," Duckson said.
While the vehicle count is up at Clearview Car Center on North Market Street, overall income is down. People are coming in for things like oil changes, not repairs, Duckson said.
The average repair ticket per month at Clearview is $300. That number has dropped to $160, Duckson said.
As the economy has driven down spending for repairs at local automotive service bays, it means more unsafe vehicles on the roads, Duckson said.
"A lot of people are saying, 'I have to drive this thing 'til it drops,'" Duckson said. "They got to realize that the car won't break when it's sitting in the driveway. It'll happen when you're pushing it down the road, and that means putting other people at risk as well."
Duckson doesn't believe that independent dealers like him and Mr. Tire are hit as hard as the auto dealerships.
January through March is traditionally a slow time for auto repairs, Duckson and Caballero said. But as far back as early December, the service bays were empty at Renn Kirby Pontiac Mitsubishi on North Market Street.
"That's because people are going longer without making necessary repairs to their vehicles because their pocketbooks are hurting," said John Barolet, Renn Kirby's floor sales manager.
Barolet said dealerships are fighting tooth and nail to stay afloat in a depressed economy.
People who would routinely go to the dealerships are turning to independent shops like Mr. Tire because the prices are lower and the turnaround time is quicker, Caballero said.
"We offer same-day work, but for some dealers, it's a couple of days," Caballero said. "For most people, the money is an issue, but time is even a bigger issue."
Dealers traditionally focused on warranty service and the people who buy their cars, not the guy coming off the street, Duckson said. Now, dealers try to compete with independents in their pricing and service, Duckson said.
"Most people in our business look forward to snow," when people would bring their car in for new tires and other work, Caballero said. "But some people just wait a little too long. You would be surprised to know the number of people who opt not to do necessary repair. This one customer left with no brakes. The calipers and pistons were broken and had gone through the rotor."
Mechanics choose not to report unsafe vehicles to the police because they don't want to upset anybody, Caballero said.
"But if you know your car is dangerous, you got no business killing yourself or somebody else. You can't let your car get to a certain point where the repair that should have been $600 is up to $1,000," Caballero said.
Duckson said he urged a customer to change his severely cracked drive belt even if he had to do it himself, he said.
"When a customer drives off the lot with a drive belt looking that bad, that's when you know people are having financial problems," Duckson said.
Copyright 2009 The Frederick News-Post. All rights reserved.
by Ike Wilson @ The Frederick News-Post
Rey Caballero saw a customer leave a Mr. Tire auto repair shop recently, despite being told that his car needed new brakes.
A customer left Steven Duckson's Clearview Car Care shop Wednesday with a severely cracked drive belt and two days earlier, another customer left the shop with steel sticking out of her tire, Duckson said.
These customers had one thing in common: an inability to pay for the repairs, Caballero and Duckson said.
The car repair business was considered recession-proof, if you had a good reputation. Not anymore, Duckson said.
As an employee working for other people, Duckson had a lot of work to do. "But as an owner, it's like, 'I hope I make it through this month,'" he said.
"Everybody's banking on making it to spring. People are just cutting back on everything," Duckson said.
While the vehicle count is up at Clearview Car Center on North Market Street, overall income is down. People are coming in for things like oil changes, not repairs, Duckson said.
The average repair ticket per month at Clearview is $300. That number has dropped to $160, Duckson said.
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