Motorists Keeping Cars Longer, Doing More Self Repairs

LAS VEGAS -- Two studies released earlier this year indicate the sluggish economy is forcing a change in the relationship between motorists and their vehicles.

One study from Polk, an automotive market intelligence firm in Southfield, Mich., found that consumers are holding onto their cars and light trucks longer. The other report, from the website AutoMD.com, disclosed that more individuals are doing their own auto repairs.

Polk found that the average age of cars in the United States reached 11.1 years in 2011, a full year older than in 2005. The average age of light trucks last year was 10.4 years, compared to 8.7 years in 2005.

There were 240.5 million cars and light trucks in operation nationwide last year, an increase from the 240 million on the road in 2010 but still below the record 242 million in 2008.

"The increasing age of the vehicle fleet, together with the increasing length of ownership, offers significant business growth opportunity for the automotive aftermarket," Mark Seng, Polk's global aftermarket practice leader, said. "Dealer service departments and independent repair facilities, as well as aftermarket parts suppliers, will see increased business opportunity with customers in need of vehicle service."

AutoMD, which offers free online auto repair resources, found in a survey of more than 11,000 car owners from November through January that 49 percent say they are doing more of their own auto repairs than they did the previous year. The survey also quoted 69 percent of the respondents as saying they are more likely to attempt a difficult repair now than last year. Also, 77 percent of those who said they never did their own repairs are now reconsidering due to economic reasons.

Of those who do their own repairs, 60 percent indicated they save more than $500 a year. But 57 percent of those surveyed also said they postponed repairs over the past year, mostly because of a lack of money.

The website also reported that 64 percent of respondents own a vehicle that has been driven for more than 100,000 miles, a 20 percent increase from last year.

The economy certainly has taken its toll on motor vehicle and parts dealers in Clark County. In the fiscal year that ended last June, those businesses reported $2.66 billion in taxable sales, an increase from $2.4 billion in fiscal 2010 but still considerably below the $4.66 billion recorded in fiscal 2005.

The bright spot is that taxable sales for those dealers continues to rise, with $247 million reported last December, a 17.1 percent increase over the $211 million tallied in December 2010.

Source: http://www.8newsnow.com/story/17066220/motorists-keeping-cars-longer-doing-more-self-repairs

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