That investment may be worth it for a business that intends to stay open for a while, but many auto shop owners are nearing retirement. A 2019 industry survey found that nearly half of auto shop owners are 60 or older. And 30% of store owners are already thinking of leaving the industry by 2024. “You’re seeing older people saying, ‘Hey, I’ve spent enough money, so I’m not going to buy new equipment,’ says John Firm, who owns Automobiles, a mechanic shop in Fort Worth, Texas. “These stores don’t train, don’t buy equipment, and they’re being left behind.” (The company is considering retirement.)
Laura Gay, who sold her crash repair job six years ago and now makes a living off other owners selling their stuff, paints a bleak picture of auto repair life today. Reimbursements from insurance companies can’t keep up at the cost of fixing complicated cars these days, she said. Meanwhile, stores have struggled to find workers, as older people leave the industry and younger people are laid off because of low starting salaries. “The store owners are fed up,” she said. “They were physically and mentally exhausted — we went from a very simple industry to a very complex one.”
Industry experts say the repair crisis is likely to get worse before it gets better. “We’re on a bumpy road for the next 10 or 15 years,” said White, business coach. “There are more people who want to fix them than there are people to fix them.”
Expect auto shops that exist to be busier and look different from the old ones. After a decade of shortages of auto technicians, businesses are trying to attract a new generation of workers interested in electric cars or autonomous driving technology — as White says, people prefer Star Trek engineer Geordi LaForge than fat monkey Gomer Pyle from Andy Griffith show.
As the traditional auto repair shop disappears, the stereotype of gray and cranky auto repair tech with a wrench in hand may also pervade. “These complexities have made it harder for a store to function if it were not functioning properly — if it wasn’t properly funded, not properly insured, not having the right tools,” says Lucas Underwood. no suitable insurance. North Carolina store owner.
In Minnesota, Brandon Mehizadeh, who is also president of the Collision Division at the Auto Service Association, a trade group of independent repair shops, has begun to see new workers enter the field. . “We’re getting a lot more tech students who are interested in computers and software and are quite interested in iPhones and iPads,” he said. When one of his stores decided to certify Kia, Nissan, and Fiat Chrysler as repair technicians, he nominated his youngest technician — to invest in the future of the repair industry.
