Car repair costs are up almost 20% over the past 12 months. Here are 6 reasons why

Car repair costs are up almost 20% in the past 12 months, in keeping with the consumer price index — greater than six occasions the national inflation rate and amongst the largest annual value will increase of any family good or service.

So, what’s driving up costs?

It’s a mixture of things, specialists stated. Some emerged in the pandemic period whereas others are longer-term traits in the auto market, they stated. Here’s a have a look at six reasons why you are paying extra for automobile repairs.

Common automobile repairs can run customers $500 to $600 a go to and generally “a lot greater,” according to AAA.

More superior — and costlier — expertise in automobiles is an enormous purpose for greater repair costs, stated Robert Sinclair Jr., a spokesman for AAA Northeast.

Take superior driver-assistance programs, for instance. Such applied sciences — together with auto emergency braking, lane retaining help or cross-traffic alert programs — have “proliferated” and are out there in nearly any automobile, Sinclair stated.

Electronic sensors to facilitate these applied sciences are present in bumpers, fenders and grilles, which are generally broken in wrecks, he stated.

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Put one other method, vehicles right now are like computer systems that run on gasoline or electrical energy, stated Skyler Chadwick, director of product consulting at Cox Automotive.

Not solely are there greater costs related to fixing damaged expertise, however the tech additionally requires extra precision and time for auto physique work. For instance, the thickness of paint on a automobile bumper should be “good” so the sensors work correctly, Sinclair stated.

Consider this: One repair store proprietor advised Sinclair that hanging a deer with a automobile can result in roughly $1,500 to $2,000 extra in repairs right now than it did 15 years in the past as a consequence of these applied sciences.

It’s not simply expertise, although: Many automobile components have turn into pricier in the pandemic period as a consequence of supply-chain points, Sinclair stated. Those supply-chain points create shortages of sure elements (resembling microchips), making it harder and pricier to switch components throughout a repair.

“Supply chain issues we noticed in the pandemic basically proceed,” he stated.

Major long-term shifts in the auto business — towards extra automation and electrical automobiles — additionally require extra chips and put “additional pressure on an already stretched business,” according to J.P. Morgan.

The common age of passenger vehicles and vans in operation elevated to 12.2 years in 2022, up from about 10.5 years in 2010, according to S&P Global Mobility.

Pandemic-era shortages for auto components put upward strain on common automobile age. Shortages translated to a decrease stock of recent and used vehicles, and customers held on to their present vehicles for an extended time, wrote S&P Global Mobility analysts.

Higher rates of interest beginning in early 2022 additionally meant it was costlier to purchase a automobile, Chadwick stated.

There have been 6.1 million crashes reported to the police in 2021, up from about 5.3 million in 2020, in keeping with data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Fatalities have additionally elevated: There have been almost 43,000 deaths from motor-vehicle accidents in 2021, according to the NHTSA — the highest tally since 2005 and a ten.5% bounce from 2020, the largest annual proportion improve on file. The variety of auto deaths in 2022 was similar, although barely much less, at 42,795.

More auto wrecks imply better demand for mechanics, elevating costs for automobile repairs, Sinclair stated.

Meanwhile, there’s been a (*6*) to satisfy that better demand, translating to higher labor costs, auto specialists stated.

In 2021, for instance, about 733,000 automotive technicians have been employed — a virtually 5% decline from about 770,000 in 2018, the current excessive level, in keeping with the newest information from the TechForce Foundation, a nonprofit group advocating for technical careers.

There have been about 56,000 unfilled auto-technician positions from 2021 heading into 2022, its information reveals.

Auto sellers ranked “service” as the enterprise space struggling most from staffing points, in keeping with Cox Automotive’s Q2 Dealer Sentiment Index.