Opinion: Customer attitudes to repairs and maintenance are changing for the better

Embrace shifting trends and make the most out of new opportunities, says GW columnist Aaron Phillips

Opinion: Customer attitudes to repairs and maintenance are changing for the better

The independent automotive sector is, in my view, currently faced with both a challenge and an opportunity.

Aaron Phillips of Jackson & Phillips Automotive Services in Leighton Buzzard.

The main challenge across the industry at this time is the gaping hole that has been left by the MOT extension – the Covid-19 MOT extension was at, best handled, badly.

Historically, MOT demand followed a pattern of two peaks over the course of a year, the first in March and April and the second in September and October.

A six-month extension has now seen peak one pushed on top of peak two, creating a severe dip in demand, for not just MOT’s but any associated work, for 2 months and a glut of extra MOT’s later in the year.

For any MOT centre to just suddenly increase capacity is near on impossible and would involve a huge investment in both equipment and training, which would then effectively be redundant for two months the following year, until at least three years after new car sales start to hit good numbers again.

However in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

The independent sector is now experiencing an aging car parc and we are now seeing customers “looking after what they’ve got”, as my Dad always said.

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Our customers are more willing to spend money on maintaining and repairing what they have as opposed to shelling out for a new car and it means we’re seeing customers more regularly and carrying out higher value repair jobs.

Garages are also now more able to offer finance for repairs with companies like Payment Assist and get jobs that previously might have been deemed too expensive as a lump sum by splitting the bill into four monthly payments.

This shift also sees less opportunity for the sale of service plans with new vehicles meaning more servicing in the aftermarket.

In all honesty I think we should embrace the changes in the industry to make the most of the opportunities available.

Let’s not forget that the sale of electric and hybrid vehicles is on the rise and now accounts for over a quarter of new car sales – there’s no denying change is coming.

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