Changing Oil and Changing Times – The Independent Auto Repair Service Dilemma
If you see fewer auto repair shops in your community 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 and the ‘backyarders’ creating shrinking margins and putting many auto repair independents out of economic.
The global problem could 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 getting 100,000 mile warranty which means that the independent will get little chance to handle that car for their early 5-10 years it is owned.
As new car sales margins go down, VW, Chevrolet, Toyota and other manufacturers are in order to their service departments to make up the difference.
Additionally many dealers such as Porsche and Saab are adding other value added benefits such to be a loaner car while repairs are being made. Independents are usually now being forced to give courtesy rides to customers in an effort to keep lets start work on the dealers since customers now expect this service.
Furthermore dealers for Mercedes and Ford are now directly offering specials on services making their dealer prices comparable to independent repair shop prices.
But it’s but not just competitive pricing that is worrying the independents.
The battle for skilled labor all means being won through dealers: the dealers generally competed for skilled labor and may have become significantly more aggressive. With fewer young people entering the auto repair profession and opting instead for careers regarding example health and technology, the total talent pool of methods to use skilled auto technicians is shrinking.
Increasingly appeared becoming tougher for independents to rent and retain these competent employees. Being an automotive technician, would you rather improve Audi or Joe’s Rummage?
The dealers are taking the best ‘mechanics’ or as might known today, ‘technicians.’ An increased end dealer technician may well $100,000 twelve months with benefits while a private shop owner would require gross during a $1,000,000 1 yr to make that and have to pay for their own benefits and social protective measures.
Because the hands down economic realities many independent owners are now closing their shops all night to enhance 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 rrssues.
Additionally, any time a diagnosis appeared and an area needs replacing the dealer will buy it in stock, not only verifying the diagnosis but greatly speeding within the repair as well as increasing customer care. Big advantage Cadillac and Rolls royce.
But it is not just a skilled employee world war. Techs cannot fix cars without information and there has been a long and ongoing dispute amongst the dealers/manufacturers and independents over technical information access and diagnostic equipment.
The manufacturers claim that the technical information is proprietary while independents claim the information should build up to anybody that owns or fixes that make of car.
Excel Auto Repair & Sales
94 E Falmouth Hwy, East Falmouth, MA 02536
(508) 444-2777
