Complex costs
| Vehicle maintenance, repair and tire costs have averaged nearly 9 cents per mile driven in 2019, about 8.9% more than last year, according to an annual calculation of driving expenses by AAA. That rise is largely the result of the increasing complexity of vehicle systems, AAA says. Average maintenance/repair costs per mile by vehicle category: | |
| Electric vehicle | 6.60 cents |
|---|---|
| Hybrid vehicle | 7.70 cents |
| Small sedan | 8.53 cents |
| Minivan | 8.73 cents |
| Half-ton crew cab pickup (4wd) | 8.77 cents |
| Small SUV (fwd) | 9.09 cents |
| Medium sedan | 9.18 cents |
| Large sedan | 9.49 cents |
| Medium SUV (4wd) | 9.60 cents |
| 2019 weighted average | 8.94 cents |
| Source: "Your Driving Costs," AAA | |
Fixed ops, on average
| In the 1st half of 2019, U.S. franchised new-vehicle dealerships sold nearly $65 billion worth of service and parts, the National Automobile Dealers Association reports. Their service departments employed more than 275,000 technicians and wrote more than 162 million repair orders. Since 2010, NADA adds, service and parts sales by the typical dealership have grown by an average 5.4% a year. Here's a snapshot of service and parts operations for the average dealership at midyear. | |
| Service and parts sales | $3.74 million |
|---|---|
| Repair orders | 9,697 |
| Sales per customer repair order | $311 |
| Sales per warranty repair order | $343 |
| Technicians (including body shop) | 16 |
| Parts sales per service labor sale | $1.58 |
| Value of parts inventory | $441,675 |
| Average customer mechanical labor rate per hour | $123 |
| Source: NADA Data 2019, Midyear Report | |
Opportunity revs
| By year end, U.S. car and truck owners will have spent nearly $46 billion on accessories and specialty parts for their vehicles, up from about $37 billion in 2014, the Specialty Equipment Market Association estimates. A SEMA report released in October ranks the top 10 cars and trucks for accessorization: | ||
| 1. GM full-size pickups | 6. Chevrolet Tahoe | |
| 2. Ford F series | 7. Chevrolet Camaro | |
| 3. Ram pickups | 8. Dodge Challenger | |
| 4. Jeep Wrangler | 9. Chevrolet Corvette | |
| 5. Ford Mustang | 10. Toyota 4Runner | |
| Source: "Accessory Opportunity Report," SEMA | ||
Breaking it down
| Dealerships' total service and parts sales, in billions of dollars, in the first 6 months of 2019 | |
| Service labor sales | |
|---|---|
| Customer mechanical | $10.78 |
| Warranty | $5.77 |
| Reconditioning | $4.63 |
| Customer body | $2.21 |
| Sublet to other repairers | $2.03 |
| Other | $2.27 |
| Total service labor | $27.69 |
| Parts sales | |
| Wholesale | $10.24 |
| Customer mechanical | $9.50 |
| Warranty | $6.64 |
| Reconditioning | $3.30 |
| Customer body | $2.01 |
| Counter | $1.60 |
| Other | $3.64 |
| Total parts | $36.93 |
| Total sales | $64.62 |
| Source: NADA Data 2019, Midyear Report | |
Collision changes
| The percentage of dealerships that operate on-site body shops, along with those shops’ total sales and sales per repair order, has fluctuated since 2013. Figures are for the 1st half of each year. | |||
| % dealerships with body shops |
Total sales (billions) |
Sales per repair order |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 37.30% | $3.64 | $760 |
| 2018 | 37.8 | $3.28 | $723 |
| 2017 | 39.1 | $3.36 | $745 |
| 2016 | 37.1 | $3.80 | $571 |
| 2015 | 38.6 | $3.42 | $708 |
| 2014 | 35.9 | $3.36 | $752 |
| 2013 | 35.3 | $2.94 | $650 |
| Source: NADA Data 2019, Midyear Report | |||
