If you see fewer auto repair shops towards you then you are witnessing a trend that is spreading throughout the auto repair industry. The small independent auto repair shop is getting squeezed by both the dealers as well as the ‘backyarders’ creating shrinking margins and putting many auto repair independents out of business.
The global problem will be the auto repair and service market has been shrinking in the last ten or fifteen years. Technology has made cars much more reliable with fewer breakdowns, repairs and scheduled maintenances.
Many manufacturers offer kind 100,000 mile warranty which means that the independent will get little chance to improve that car for the first 5-10 years it is owned.
As new car sales margins go down, VW, Chevrolet, Toyota and other manufacturers are looking to their service departments to make along the difference.
Additionally many dealers such as Porsche and Saab have been adding other value added benefits such as a loaner car while repairs are being made. Independents are forced to give courtesy rides to customers in hard work to keep lets start work on the dealers since customers now expect this service.
Furthermore dealers for example Mercedes and Ford are now directly offering specials on services making their dealer prices to be able to independent repair shop prices.
But it’s simply competitive pricing that is worrying the independents.
The battle for skilled labor all means being won from dealers: the dealers have been competed for skilled labor and already have become even more aggressive. With fewer young people entering automobile repair profession and opting instead for careers like health and technology, overall talent pool of the most skilled auto technicians is shrinking.
Increasingly is certainly becoming tougher for independents to utilize and retain these highly skilled employees. Being an automotive technician, would you rather are employed by Audi or Joe’s Drive way?
The dealers are taking the best ‘mechanics’ or as they are known today, ‘technicians.’ A top end dealer technician may well make $100,000 a whole year with benefits while an independent shop owner would have to gross within a $1,000,000 every year to make that and have to pay for their own benefits and social protective measures.
Because of these economic realities many independent owners have started closing their shops all night to be employed by GM, Nissan and other dealers.
This puts the independent auto repair shop at a definite disadvantage when diagnosing and repairing difficult drivability, fuel injection, electronic and computer related health issues.
Additionally, if a diagnosis appeared and a part of needs replacing the dealer will purchase it in stock, not only verifying diagnosing but greatly speeding up the repair time and increasing client satisfaction. Big advantage Cadillac and Rolls royce.
But it’s not just a skilled employee showdown. Techs cannot fix cars without information and love a long and ongoing dispute with the dealers/manufacturers and independents over technical information access and diagnostic equipment.
The manufacturers claim their technical results are proprietary everybody is making independents claim the information should build up to anyone that owns or fixes help to make of automobile.
Excel Auto Repair & Sales
94 E Falmouth Hwy, East Falmouth, MA 02536
(508) 444-2777