In articles such as these, you often read advice to seek auto body repair as soon as you notice something is wrong with your vehicle and to keep up with basic maintenance schedules. And that is excellent advice. But just because you go to an auto repair business doesn’t necessarily mean you get the repair you need. Sometimes sourcing the right replacement part makes the process more complex.
What’s an auto body repair shop backlog?
Repair shop backlogs are currently challenging. Many collision repair shops are booked weeks or even months in advance because of talent shortages, supply chain issues, and increased vehicle repair complexity. Many of us have got used to waiting for things this decade, largely due to supply chain problems. But the backlogs people are experiencing at auto repair shops are the result of various interconnected issues.
What’s causing collision repair backlogs?
Let’s look at the different reasons for these backups that are occurring all over North America. The causes include:
- Parts backlogs: Difficulty sourcing materials, tariffs, labor disruptions, natural disasters, and other issues can cause supply chain challenges that mean parts are not always readily available, extending auto repair times.
- Staff shortages: It can be difficult to find and hire skilled auto body repair technicians. The industry has been experiencing an ongoing talent crunch that’s left many shops understaffed.
- Increased demand: A high volume of collisions, which often correlate to major weather events, can cause backlogs by creating a large demand for auto repair. These backlogs can be localized.
- Complexity of modern vehicles: Automobiles today are more sophisticated than ever with complicated designs and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). This can cause auto body repair to take longer, contributing to longer wait times.
What parts have the biggest backlogs?
Auto body repair doesn’t always involve replacing a part, but it often does. When that part isn’t available, the best collision repair businesses have access to databases that tell them if they can source a similar part with the same fit and form. Replacement parts don’t always have to be identical, but they do have to be compatible. And for certain parts, this can be a real challenge.
The replacement parts with the longest wait times are most often specialized components, electronic modules, or large collision body panels. Delays can range from several weeks to over six months. Major causes of these delays are ongoing supply chain bottlenecks, chip shortages, and increasing vehicle complexity. These parts include:
- Body panels and collision parts: Bumpers, doors, and fenders can face months’ long delays right now. Headlight assemblies for luxury and electric vehicles (EVs) also face long backlogs.
- EV and hybrid batteries: High-voltage battery packs for EVs and hybrids often require significant wait times, perhaps even months.
- Electronic control modules: Specific powertrain control modules and computer systems can take months to arrive at an auto body repair shop, especially if they’re parts for newer vehicles.
- Safety and structural components: If you need a collision repair, you have been in a collision, which may mean the airbags deployed. This can be particularly annoying because replacement airbags often have long wait times. Also, structural parts can be delayed due to complex manufacturing.
- Transmission and engine components: Major powertrain replacements can take months from initiating an auto body repair until their arrival.
Why are these components so hard to find?
Now that we know which parts tend to have the longest wait times, the next question is why. What is it about these components and materials that makes them difficult to source? One big reason has to do with microchip shortages.
Microchips are in very high demand right now for a variety of applications. Chip makers have to allot their resources carefully to ensure they’re fulfilling contracts and manufacturing the most in-demand chips. Global tariffs and complex supply chains make microchips tough to get, and this affects all computers and ADAS sensors within vehicles. There are similar issues with other electronics materials that aren’t microchips.
Compounding problems
Backlogs are like traffic jams in that each delay begets another one. On the road, one driver slows down to look at a crash, then the vehicle behind it slows down a bit more, and so on until you have 40 vehicles coming to a dead stop.
Ordering the parts for those vehicles can have a similar effect. An auto body repair shop may delay one repair while a part is on order and then move on to another job. But then another vehicle needs that same part, so that driver has to wait for their auto body repair even longer than the first driver does.
Furthermore, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have their own decisions to make. An OEM may prioritize parts for new vehicle production rather than replacement inventory. For older and especially niche vehicles, this can mean exceptionally long wait times for repairs.
What can you do about auto repair backlogs?
Unfortunately, your options are limited. You can always shop around, asking different auto body repair shops if they can perform the service, you need quicker than the estimate you’ve been given.
A lot of it comes down to trust. Because even worse than waiting for an auto repair is suffering the consequences of a mechanic installing an incompatible part. This can mean further damage to the vehicle, and it’s certainly a safety hazard. Hence, it’s imperative to find reputable collision repair technicians you can trust.
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