Are you worried about the current situation in the auto body repair industry? Well, you are not alone.
Hundreds of independent body shops find themselves in this dilemma after investing large sums of money in equipment and training their staff, and yet, not meeting their income targets.
Cost increase, an Irreversible Trend.
Gone are the days when auto body shops only required toolboxes, manual skill, and commitment to get the job done. The constant introduction of new materials, new manufacturing processes, and more interrelated vehicle systems make body repair a progressively specialized business.
And that’s only part of the problem.
In addition to the constant growth in the collision industry’s cost structure, competition appears to be increasingly fierce. However, this should not be surprising.
For decades auto body repair shops have witnessed huge changes in fuel injection, brakes, suspension, and safety systems. These changes have forced independent auto repair shops to invest in new equipment and certifications for new technologies. It’s the only available option to compete with dealerships and other large repair shops with a national presence. Moreover, few people thought auto body shops would encounter a similar fate at that time—big mistake.
Nowadays, you cannot remove a dashboard without a deep understanding of the systems it contains; that is assuming you don’t want to unleash major issues with multiple onboard computers and modules sending fault signals.
The harsh truth is many auto body shops have been forced to service vehicles up to a certain model-year. The risk associated with misconfiguring some of the most modern vehicle systems is simply too high.
The Biggest Challenge for Auto Body Shops, Next-Gen Vehicles.
You may be wondering, how did the industry get to this point? Specifically…the point where a car is literally a super-advanced computer on wheels.
Contrary to what part of the public may think, automakers weren’t the reason behind the advancement. It was more of a combination of factors: reducing harmful gas emissions, increasing passenger safety, and improving comfort. Those are some of the real reasons behind the super complex cars we have today. Whether we like it or not, this technological revolution has already reached the auto body repair sector.
To remove any part of a car today, it is necessary to know how to do it “the right way.” It’s not just about being careful with tight tolerances on parts, but also about embedded systems, smart wiring, delicate materials, and much more.
With the growing interest in state-of-the-art electric vehicles (think Tesla), the need for certifications in specific areas is increasingly vital.
Dealerships recognize it. For this reason, they have been investing large amounts of money to keep up with the changes, but even they have found it difficult.
In order to meet the strict technical requirements, tolerances, and quality levels demanded by car manufacturers and insurance companies, a huge investment in equipment and training is required. It’s almost essential to be certified in multiple areas to guarantee quality work.
Repairing modern vehicles becomes overwhelming, even more so when realizing that each brand has its own parameters and requirements.
Does this mean the end of independent auto body shops? No way. You just need to keep an open mind to changes.
Adapt or Perish.
H.G. Wells, the famous English writer and social author of The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, wrote in 1945, “Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.”
This quote could not be more relevant to the collision repair industry today.
As an independent body shop, the hard truth is that even with the necessary certifications and equipment to service the newest vehicles, you must compete with the Big Four collision repair consolidators (ABRA Auto Body & Glass, Caliber Collision, Service King Collision Repair Centers, and Boyd Group). In recent years, they have successfully emerged as the preferred choices of major insurance companies. To accomplish such a feat, the big consolidators have appealed to their enormous financial capacity. This has enabled them to offer insurance companies the Holy Grail: much cheaper fixed rates on almost all collision repair jobs.
As expected in the current state of the economy, insurance companies have chosen to bypass the smaller independent body shops. The owners of independent body shops are now in a difficult position. Should they give in to the big consolidators? How do they keep their businesses afloat in this perfect storm, when operating costs are high and the big auto body shops have a low-price policy?
That is why Carfixt was created—to become an important ally for independent auto body shops and to provide customers seeking auto body repair with multiple estimates, which saves time and money.
Carfixt is not a body shop but rather an online marketplace for independent auto body shops looking for new clients that need quality collision repair, cosmetic repair, painting services, or vehicle wraps.
Our goal is to help customers find the best repair estimates with a click of a button by connecting them to our extensive network of licensed affiliated body shops. In other words, customers come to us looking for certified and independent auto body shops in their area; and we provide them with multiple repair estimates from shops within our network that are qualified to repair the damaged vehicle.
Does this sound like something that would interest you? We sincerely hope it does because our vision at Carfixt is to help independent auto body repair shops across the nation.
