(WHTM)– Finding repair parts for your car has been tricky the past few years with pandemic shortages finally easing, but now, things may be about to get worse again.
“The grill was beat up,” Jordan Deskowitz said.
Deskowitz is getting a taste of the auto parts shortage that has been frustrating car owners and repair shops for three years now.
“Had a fender bender, had a two-week expectation to get the vehicle back, we are now seven weeks in,” he said.
His almost brand new 2023 Honda CRV was in a small fender bender and needs a grill and clips, but almost two months later, his body shop has no idea when the parts will come in, and his insurance company will no longer pay for a rental.
“We had a loaner car for 30 days, and that expired,” Deskowitz said.
His car being a Honda, has not been impacted by the UAW strike, which has shut down Ford, GM, and Stellantis plants.
But repair shops are starting to see parts shortages for those vehicles, directly due to the strike.
The demand for everything is at an all-time high right now,” —- “And the supply for everything’s at an all-time low.”
Here at Dave’s Auto Care, Senan Odeh says the UAW strike is starting to cause problems since many parts use “Just in time delivery.”
“We tried to order a GM part the other day for a Cadillac,” Odeh said. “I called for ETA and he’s like, there’s one in the country.”
If the strikes drag on a few more weeks a growing number of vehicle owners may find themselves like Jordan waiting and waiting for a part that should have been easy to find.
“It’s frustrating,” Deskowitz said. “We have a car we had for a couple of months, under 5,000 miles, and making payments on it, that we can’t drive.”
With any hard to find repair part help your shop by calling local dealers and even searching for it yourself online, so you don’t waste your money.