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Car maintenance repairs are being postponed in a tough economy, but local shops say they are busier than ever Date published: 11/15/2008
By KELLY HANNON When money is scarce, car maintenance and repair can seem like a luxury. Hear something rattling? Turn up the radio. But local maintenance shops in the Fredericksburg area report being busier than they were six months ago. Drivers are opting to fix the car they already own, rather than buy a new one. "They don't want a new car payment," said Chris Wallace, owner of Victory Lane Auto Service on U.S. 1 in North Stafford. On Tuesday, Wallace's shop had a queue of cars that needed preventive maintenance repairs, oil changes and transmission fluid. "That's such a big dollar item, if the transmission fails, whereas the maintenance is only a $150 repair," Wallace said. With the onset of winter, Victory Lane is also fixing heating systems and replacing worn-out batteries. Then there are the repairs drivers can't ignore, when a car has broken down. "They don't have a choice," Wallace said. Nationwide, vehicle owners are hanging onto their cars longer. In 2007, the median age for passengers cars still in operation was 9.2 years, according to automobile trend-tracker R.L. Polk & Co. The median age for light and heavy trucks was 7.3 years. And a sizeable number of Americans are driving cars at least 11 years old: 41 percent, according to R.L. Polk. People are keeping their cars for a few reasons. Drivers say they want to avoid a monthly payment, and others say they would have difficulty securing a loan in the current credit climate, said Merlin Crist, service manager at Automotive Classics in Falmouth. The repair shop on Chatham Road has so much business it is hiring a third technician to keep pace with the workload. "People aren't buying new cars right now. People are fixing them," Crist said. Lately, Automotive Classes has replaced more transmissions than usual. In the past, such a large repair would trigger a new car purchase. "They say, we'll get over that. It's a good car. It's worthwhile to put the money into the car," Crist said. But nationwide, AAA Mid-Atlantic is not as confident people will spent money on preventive maintenance this winter.
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