High-Tech Cars Are Killing the Traditional Repair Shop

The problem will only get worse, according to industry experts. Rick White, who coaches auto repair shop owners through his company, 180biz, says he sees a lot fewer shops in 10 years. According to an industry survey taken late last year, 96 percent of shops reported delays, with an average scheduling delay of 3.4 weeks.

Try to get a realignment on a new audi if you want to understand the rising complexity in the auto repair industry When a car is drifting to one side or the steering wheel is vibrating, realignment involves adjusting the suspension to connect the car to its wheels.

It took about an hour and a half, according to auto repairers who spoke to WIRED. It can take up to nine hours for that procedure to be done today. New cars have advanced driver-assistance systems that can keep cars in their lane, detect blind spots, and avoid crashes, functions that require a car to have a firm grasp of where it is. The sensors and cameras in the car need to be adjusted.

Only specialized and expensive tools can be used to calibrate vehicles. The president of L&N Performance auto repair in Blowing Rock, North Carolina said that the equipment needed to assure a car's wheels are in alignment costs in the $70,000 range. You will need targets to help the car's cameras orient themselves. The cost for a set can be as high as $30,000. It can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire the tools and make the shop adjustments to fix just a few cars. Shops pay thousands of dollars each year to keep their staff certified to fix specific cars, with the cost of training workers to use those tools. Shops can be set back by millions if they invest for the future.

The investment can be worth it for a business that wants to stay open for a while. Half of auto shop proprietors were 60 or older. 30 percent of shop owners were thinking of leaving the industry in the next five years. "You're seeing older guys say, 'Hey, I spent enough money, so I'm not gonna buy new equipment,'" says John Firm, who owns Firm automotive. Shops don't do the training, don't buy the equipment, and are left behind. The firm is thinking about retirement.

Laura Gay, who sold her collision repair business six years ago and now makes a living helping other owners sell their businesses, paints a gloomy picture of life in car repair. Insurers aren't keeping up with the cost of fixing complex cars As older people age out of the industry and younger people are turned off by low starting wages, shops are having a hard time finding workers. She says shop owners are tired. We went from a very simple industry to a very complex one.