Illinois, United States – Automotive industry research firm IMR has released survey results from independent automotive repair shops, with nearly half of all shops expecting challenges with sourcing affordable parts and a third expecting difficulties finding qualified and responsible technicians.
This survey was conducted between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31 with IMR interviewing 500 independent automotive repair shops across the United States, inquiring on the challenges they expect to see this year and in the near future.
The most commonly reported issues of 2023 were finding affordable parts at 45 percent, finding qualified and responsible technicians at 33 percent, staying current with diagnostic and software updates at 22.8 percent, and getting parts on time at 22.4 percent.
Parts sourcing and shortages as a reported issue fell to a reported 11 percent from 35.8 percent in 2022, while problems with customer retention fell from 31.8 percent in 2022 to 16.2 percent in 2023.
However, finding affordable parts became a more common issue, rising from 35.8 percent in 2022 to 45 percent in 2023.
Finding good, knowledgeable and motivated technicians had a moderate but steady increase, growing from 29.2 percent in 2019 to 33 percent in 2023.
On average, shops with one to three bays reported 2.1 challenges, shops with four to seven bays reported 2.3 challenges and shops with more than eight bays reported 3.3 challenges.
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