“Several factors are pushing costs up: heavier, more complex vehicles, new materials and manufacturing methods, a worsening dearth of talented technicians and pandemic-induced supply shortages.” [image] Car repairs are getting more expensive. Here's why A complex combination of factors …

Agree with @bcohen2010 ’s post. The solution will make car repairs cost more as the cost of labor goes up. No doubt. We might spend somewhat less because of better quality, however. The final cost of the repair may decrease since it is not so much hit and miss or throwing parts at the problem. Outso…

The simplest way would be for each manufacturer to tremendously reduce the number of models they offer. With more of the same type of car on the road, more second-hand repair parts would be available from crashed cars. Additionally, the knowledge that technicians need to diagnose and perform repairs…

Absolutely no offense taken! If anything I owe everyone an apology for “dragging a discussion too far into the weeds”. In my defense however whenever price increases are discussed it’s too easy to take the easy solution and blame “the guy in front of us” or some amorphous “government” instead of ta…

Agree 100%! [image] Beancounter: my new Toyota Corona by it’s 5th year had shedded it’s 3rd gear, both resulting in very large repair costs which are not typical on current vehicles I had one of these although I bought it used. Same failure mode! That car was a beast in deep snow. Very pedes…

[image] Beancounter: overall inflation adjusted maintenance / repair costs are already significantly lower than they were 40 years ago. The article in the OP seems to be saying car owners are feeling the bite of car repair costs now more than before; hence the concern that this may impact fu…

Yes, because of their frequency. Gas stations used to have 2 or more repair bays, because of the frequency of maintenance and repairs. Now those are pretty much gone.

I’m not sure how car sales will be lower because of repair costs. Buying a new car pretty much eliminates repair costs for a period of time.

This is what the CEO for the Center for Automotive Research says in the OP’s link. Of course it is possible he is wrong. “If cars are to be affordable, they must also be affordable to maintain,” said Alan Amici, president and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research. “And they must be affordable…

I use expected repair costs (reliability) to help choose which car to buy. I don’t delay buying a car because of repair costs.

hmmm … I have to concur, if I needed to buy a new car I wouldn’t defer b/c of hypothetical repair cost increases. But I would do as you do, research the reliability as part of the decision which car to buy. So maybe the CEO is saying that the manufacturers with less reliable-rated cars will f…

Ideas to reduce the price of car repairs?

General Discussion

George_San_Jose1 March 22, 2024, 6:21pm 29

Ok, so while the repair cost for a given repair is rising more than the inflation rate now, fewer repairs are required, so car owner’s overall car repair expense is actually rising less than inflation. Definitely possible. Do you have any supporting data?

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Ideas to reduce the price of car repairs?

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