LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's bad enough when you crash your car, but now we're learning it may take longer than usual to get it repaired. That's all because of a shortage of car parts.
13 Action News talked to a couple of body shops in town who say repairs that should take days or weeks are now taking them months, and some they can't do at all. It's all because they can't get their hands on certain car parts because of the pandemic.
At Certified Auto Body Center, just west of the Las Vegas Strip, customer service is the name of the game.
"The car is one of the biggest purchases a customer has. And we just want to make sure that we get the work done correct and fast, and it is affecting it," said owner Kurtis Rosborough, talking about the shortage of car parts. At an auto body shop, a parts shortage presents a big problem.
"Unfortunately it is affecting our business about how many cars we can actually fix and the customers, it’s taking longer to fix their cars," said Rosborough.
Rosborough says, at the start of the pandemic, many manufacturers stopped making important parts, but it only became a problem in the past few months when drivers drove up the demand.
"The demand has increased because people are more on the road and, obviously, accidents do happen, and it’s a ripple effect," said Rosborough.
He says there isn't a shortage of particular parts, but it only takes one missing piece to delay or deter a repair.
"It’s widespread and it’s hit and miss between the manufacturers, certain parts. If a car is not driveable and it’s a certain part, then we can’t release the vehicle. Whether it’s a safety part or just a part to reassemble the vehicle correctly, we can’t release it. It’s not going to be safe on the road," said Rosborough.
Office manager, Victoria Hayword, has some simple advice for any potential customers with car trouble...call ahead.
"Definitely check on parts availability before scheduling repairs or dropping off for mechanical work. That’s what we do here to try to alleviate a lot of the problems, and it’s been helping with our customer service, just keeping customers in the loop with what’s going on in the world and in our shop," said Hayword.
13 Action News should note that not all repairs are affected by this shortage and not all body shops are experiencing a car part shortage right now.
