If you see fewer auto repair shops in your town 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 could 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 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 have gone 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 happen to adding other useful benefits such as a loaner car while repairs are being made. Independents are now being 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 in order to independent repair shop prices.
But it’s as well as competitive pricing that’s the worrying the independents.
The battle for skilled labor is also being won from dealers: the dealers constantly competed for skilled labor and now have become significantly more aggressive. With fewer folks entering business repair profession and opting instead for careers with regard to health and technology, fundamental talent pool of methods to use skilled auto technicians is shrinking.
Increasingly it becoming tougher for independents to work with and retain these competent employees. Regarding automotive technician, would you rather appeal to Audi or Joe’s House?
The dealers are selecting the best ‘mechanics’ or as they may be known today, ‘technicians.’ A premier end dealer technician earns $100,000 one year with benefits while an independent shop owner would require gross within the $1,000,000 a year to make that and get to afford their own benefits and social security.
Because from the economic realities many independent owners have started closing their shops all night to enhance 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 health issues.
Additionally, each time a diagnosis created from and an area needs replacing the dealer will buy it in stock, not only verifying the identification but greatly speeding increase the repair time and increasing client satisfaction. Big advantage Cadillac and Rolls royce.
But the goal wasn’t a skilled employee war. Techs cannot fix cars without information and there has been a long and ongoing dispute with the dealers/manufacturers and independents over technical information access and diagnostic equipment.
The manufacturers claim their technical data is proprietary everybody is making independents claim the information should be for sale to anybody that owns or fixes that make of automobile.
Excel Auto Repair & Sales
94 E Falmouth Hwy, East Falmouth, MA 02536
(508) 444-2777