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If you’ve been waiting endlessly for body repairs to be completed on your vehicle, you are not alone.

A combination of backed-up vehicle part orders and a labor shortage has meant that it takes longer for body shops to repair vehicles, with some cars stuck in the shop for months while waiting for the needed parts to come in.

“If you don’t have parts, you can’t finish the job,” said Sean Scalley, body shop manager at Lynch Toyota in Manchester, CT. Scalley said parts such as bumpers, doors, airbags and many electronic components are usually on backorder, and manufacturers of these parts are blaming the pandemic for the extended delays. Jeff Olender, one of the owners of Olender’s Inc. in Vernon, CT, also said they have been stuck waiting months for parts to arrive in order to finish jobs, adding one Acura was in his shop for six months because of delayed delivery of a dashboard.

“I think there are supply chain issues,” Olender said, adding any parts that have to come from overseas are expected to take at least a month to arrive.

One vehicle in Olender’s shop is a 2018 GMC that suffered a frontend hit, and the only reason it is still in the shop two months later is because of a back-ordered headlight, Olender said.

“The hardest part about it is trying to keep customers informed,” Olender said, adding there is only so much accurate information he can pass on about how long the wait will be and it is difficult for him to keep increasing it.

Adronne Knight, who works at the Maaco Auto Body Shop in Manchester, said wait times for parts have been extended since the beginning of the pandemic and many of his distributors do not give specific reasons as to why the parts are so delayed.

Because of the difficulty in getting new parts, Knight said he’s been relying more on used parts to decrease wait times for customers. However, because of the higher demand for these used parts, their cost has been rising dramatically.

“Everything is going up,” Knight said, adding he is paying more for used parts than he ever has. For instance, Knight said the cost of a used car door is more expensive than what he used to pay for an entire salvaged car.

Olender also said he has had to rely on used or aftermarket parts in some cases to complete a job. He added though that prices in these markets are being driven up “because they know people need them.”

Knight said because of these rising costs, the cost of repair jobs is going up as well.

“You have to pass it on to the consumer,” he said.

Scalley said in many cases, his shop looks to repair existing parts when possible to avoid the long wait for new parts.

In addition to the difficulty of getting the replacement parts, Knight said he has had difficulty finding employees to help out with the repairs, which only worsens the problem.

“There’s not a lot of people who want to get into body work,” Knight said, adding, “people can go work at Amazon and make a similar amount.” Many of the employees he has lost have been 19-24, Knight said.

In addition to the problem of young people not being interested in the field, Knight said older employees are also starting to retire.

“I’m probably 50% understaffed and I’m still doing the same amount of work,” Knight said.

Olender said his shop has also been struggling with a labor shortage, and said it is the main reason why repair times have been longer at Olender’s.

“We can’t find qualified people,” Olender said. “The labor pool is very, very, small.”

For now, many body shops will continue to take on more repair jobs, but with the added expectation that it might take longer to complete them.

“We have our arms open for work,” Scalley said.

www.autobodynews.com

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