KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you need something on your car repaired or serviced, expect to wait.
The supply chain crisis is fueling problems for the auto repair shops and they can't keep up with demand.
KC Complete Auto Service is one of those shops. Staff at the Main Street location are busy answering calls nonstop from people looking to get their cars serviced.
"Their car is broken down and they need it fixed," said store manager Jessica Warren. "The last thing they want to hear is you can't get their parts and don't have enough people to work on their car."
Warren said small jobs like brakes and suspension work are now taking days to get fixed.
Suppliers are constantly running out of parts and that is driving up the price you pay at the counter.
"Right now, a typical brake job for a passenger vehicle is now $400 to $485," Warren said.
The shop's parking lot is currently filled with cars needing to get serviced, but COVID-19 is taking out the shop's workforce.
Employees are having to put overtime and work longer days just to be able to stay afloat.
"You don't have enough people wanting to work as it is, so I'm training new people constantly," Warren explained.
The winter weather is also not helping. Warren says during extreme temperatures, more cars run into problems.
"It causes a lot of accidents, which we don't wish upon anyone, but that damages vehicles, and those need to be repaired," Warren said.
KC Complete Auto Service said parts for Hyundai's and Kia's are harder to find compared to other makers.
To make ends meet, some customers are turning to salvage yards to find parts, but Warren says that's opening the door for more problems to arise.
People are also trying to sell their cars. Because of the shortage, they'll be able to get more money but will have a tougher time finding a replacement vehicle.
KC Complete Auto Service's advice is to take care of your car, monitor your fluids and tire pressure, and keep up with your battery's maintenance, especially during frigid temperatures.
"They are upset and they don’t know what to do," Warren said about customers seeking help. "They have this idea in their mind, that they can go somewhere else, you have people trying to rig up their cars, that’s unsafe and you have people driving around with unsafe vehicles."
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