Auto Repair Businesses Boom as Americans Pay More to Fix Used Cars

Just like every cloud has a silver lining, the hurting American automobile industry too has rewards in store for some of its members, and in particular, those working in the auto-repair business. See, as American consumers are afraid for their jobs, home values and stock assets due to the deepening recession, they prefer to keep their old vehicles instead of buying new ones. And whilst this has resulted to 16 consecutive monthly drops in new car sales in the U.S., auto-repair shops on the other hand appear to be blooming since drivers not only keeping their old cars longer, but are also more keen on keeping them in tip-top condition.

According to a report from the Automotive Service Association (ASA), an organization made up of approximately 12,000 member-businesses in the repair shop industry, sales were up by 16% over the last year.

"That indicated that people were coming in and putting the vehicle in the repair facilities' hands and saying, 'Look, I am going to be keeping this car. I want to be sure it runs well. I want to be sure that if there are any safety issues or any maintenance issues that I have overlooked, let's get those taken care of,'" told CNN ASA President Ron Pyle.

ASA's president also noted that drivers are now more 'open-minded' when it comes to the extent of the maintenance and repair that they are willing to pay for.

"That was surprising news. We didn't expect that in the midst of the beginnings of the economic woes," Pyle said. "But they are looking at the cost of trying to purchase a new vehicle ... so I think that in relative terms that $1,000 repair to keep a $2,500 car running may be an attractive alternative."

Of course what Pyle did not say is that in some cases - as we painfully learned recently, auto-repair shops take advantage of this situation charging consumers an arm and a leg to fix their car. In fact sometimes you're better off buying another used vehicle than paying a ridiculous sum to keep your car running...