Changing Oil and Changing Times – The Independent Auto Repair Service Dilemma
If you see fewer auto repair shops in your area 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 along with 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 10 or 15 years. Technology has made cars much more reliable with fewer breakdowns, repairs and scheduled maintenances.
Many manufacturers offer kind 100,000 mile warranty so that you can the independent will get little chance to operate that car for their early 5-10 years it is owned.
As new car sales margins have gone down, VW, Chevrolet, Toyota and other manufacturers are seeking to their service departments to make along the difference.
Additionally many dealers such as Porsche and Saab happen to adding other useful benefits such as the loaner car while repairs are being made. Independents are 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 such as Mercedes and Ford are now directly offering specials on services making their dealer prices in order to independent repair shop prices.
But it’s simply competitive pricing naturally worrying the independents.
The battle for skilled labor may also be won using the dealers: the dealers have been competed for skilled labor and may have become even more aggressive. With fewer individuals entering automobile repair profession and opting instead for careers such as health and technology, the total talent pool of methods to use skilled auto technicians is shrinking.
Increasingly it is becoming more difficult for independents to utilize and retain these highly skilled employees. The automotive technician, would you rather are employed by Audi or Joe’s Shed?
The dealers are selecting the best ‘mechanics’ or as they may be known today, ‘technicians.’ An excellent end dealer technician earns $100,000 twelve months with benefits while a private shop owner would to be able to gross within the $1,000,000 every year to make that and have to purchase their own benefits and social safe practices.
Because in the economic realities many independent owners are at this moment closing their shops and going to be employed by GM, Nissan and other dealers.
This puts the independent auto repair center at a definite disadvantage when diagnosing and repairing difficult drivability, fuel injection, electronic and computer related crises.
Additionally, if a diagnosis is comprised and a part of needs replacing the dealer will have it in stock, not only verifying the identification but greatly speeding in the repair time and increasing customer support. Big advantage Cadillac and Rolls royce.
But the goal wasn’t a skilled employee struggle. 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 techniques.
The manufacturers claim that the technical data is proprietary while independents claim the information should be for sale to anybody that owns or fixes create of car.
Excel Auto Repair & Sales
94 E Falmouth Hwy, East Falmouth, MA 02536
(508) 444-2777
