Tony Deverse had been considering replacing his wife's 10-year-old car, but that was before the economy soured and the future of Detroit's Big Three automakers was in doubt.
"Before all these (economic problems) happened, I thought I would replace it next year. Now, I'm not so sure," Deverse of Hempfield said Tuesday as he waited for his son's pickup truck to be repaired at Lou Dinatti Services.
Deverse is not alone in opting to repair an old car instead of incurring new debt in these uncertain economic times, said Donnie Ruff, manager of Lou Dinatti Service in Hempfield. Ruff said yesterday he's had lots of customers in the past few months who are driving their vehicles to his shop for repairs, instead of driving a new vehicle off a dealer's lot.
"It's like tons and tons and tons of work," Ruff said. "People aren't buying the new cars. People are fixing up their old ones."
Car repair companies across the country are reaping the benefits of a scaled-down economy as people patch up aging vehicles instead of splurging on newer ones. Car and light-truck sales fell to their lowest level in 25 years last month, according to industry figures from Autodata Corp.
Tighter credit restrictions also have benefited the auto repair industry. Customers nationwide are struggling to buy new vehicles with insufficient credit, said Ron Pyle, president of the Bedford, Texas-based Automotive Service Association.
At Ruff's vehicle repair shop, the boom in business started earlier this fall, when the stock market piled up losses and customers' 401(k) accounts shrunk.
"They don't trust the economy," Ruff said.
Mike Thurston, co-owner of Aamco Transmissions in Baldwin, said he is starting to see an increase in the repair business because of the economy.
"We are seeing a lot of people more interested in repairing their car rather than taking the easy option of buying or leasing," Thurston said.
But Thurston said he believes the repair business has been hurt by higher gas prices much of this year because people drove less and stayed closer to home on vacations, so it resulted in less work for the repair shop.
The business of selling parts and supplies to auto repair shops is "booming," said Fred King, manager of Frank's Auto Supermarket in Uniontown.
"I think a lot of auto repair shops are busier," King said.
Retail sales of parts to motorists have remained steady, said King, whose Uniontown store is part of a chain that includes stores in Greensburg, Washington, Irwin and Indiana. But, King said they'll have to wait to see how the sour economy has impacted the sale of holiday gifts such as bug shields and gift cards.
Not all mechanics have escaped the repercussions of a sagging economy.
"People aren't spending anything unless they have to. We have not seen any increase in business. When the stock market went down, we've really had no work," said Hugh Campbell, president of the 300-member Petroleum Retailers and Auto Repair Association of Pittsburgh.
Other than motorists bringing their vehicles in for inspections, Campbell, who operates service stations in North Huntingdon and New Stanton, said they seem to be avoiding repairs only when there's a major problem.
"I think people are walking on egg shells," Campbell said.
Ronald Rokicki, owner of Rokicki's Auto Service on Neville Island, agreed that motorists are putting off fixing their vehicles.
"I think it's actually a lot slower. They're just letting things go," Rokicki said.
Rennie Detore of Hempfield is reluctant to put any more money into his truck, which has 80,000 miles on it, but he is not looking at buying another vehicle to replace it.
"I was going to buy a new truck, but that's 500 bucks a month for six years. I'm going to hold off," Detore said.
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