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 also the ‘backyarders’ creating shrinking margins and putting many auto repair independents out of economic.
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 meaning that the independent will get little chance to work on that car for site to website 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 the difference.
Additionally many dealers such as Porsche and Saab already been adding other useful benefits such as a loaner car while repairs are being made. Independents are forced to give courtesy rides to customers in trying 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 to be able to independent repair shop prices.
But it’s but not just competitive pricing naturally worrying the independents.
The battle for skilled labor may also be won using the dealers: the dealers generally competed for skilled labor and may have become a great deal more aggressive. With fewer young people entering effect on repair profession and opting instead for careers like health and technology, fundamental talent pool of the superior skilled auto technicians is shrinking.
Increasingly it is becoming more difficult for independents you ought to hire and retain these highly skilled employees. As an automotive technician, would you rather work in Audi or Joe’s House?
The dealers are picking up the best ‘mechanics’ or as yet known today, ‘technicians.’ A top end dealer technician may well $100,000 a whole year with benefits while wages shop owner would require gross within the $1,000,000 1 yr to make that and have absolutely to obtain their own benefits and social security.
Because in the economic realities many independent owners are usually closing their shops all night to enhance GM, Nissan and other dealers.
This puts the independent auto mechanic at a definite disadvantage when diagnosing and repairing difficult drivability, fuel injection, electronic and computer related problems.
Additionally, in the event the diagnosis is made and a part needs replacing the dealer will are in stock, not only verifying the identification but greatly speeding inside the repair and also increasing service delivery. Big advantage Cadillac and Rolls royce.
But it’s not just a skilled employee world war. Techs cannot fix cars without information and there’s a long and ongoing dispute with the dealers/manufacturers and independents over technical information access and diagnostic applications.
The manufacturers claim that the technical information is proprietary everybody is making independents claim the information should accumulate to anyone that owns or fixes create of automobile.
Excel Auto Repair & Sales
94 E Falmouth Hwy, East Falmouth, MA 02536
(508) 444-2777