 mechanic Joel Prince checks fluid levels in a vehicle at J.R. Prince Service Center in Benton. He is the son of owner Ronnie Prince and grandson of J.R. Prince. Some automotive repair shop mechanics say business has been slowed by the economy. (Courier photo by Matt Burks)
However, owners of local automotive repair shops are saying that the number of customers actually getting their vehicles repaired is low.
James Posey, owner of Posey’s Service in Downtown Benton for more than 20 years, said he is hopeful to make it through this year and hopes the economy will turn for the better.
“I haven’t seen any increase [in business],” Posey said. “We have not been doing that good as of lately, just trying to survive right now. It is kind of a slow time.”
James Baxley, owner of Bax-ley Garage, also said he has seen “more down time.” Baxley also owns Baxley’s Motorcycle and ATV, and although he said “it’s been pretty good for us on that end,” he said he still sees more customers in the automotive repair shop.
Jennifer Lingo, owner of Benton Automotive, agrees with Posey and said people are letting automotive mechanical problems go for as long as they can. Lingo has owned the business for three years, she said, and in comparison to the first two years, the economy is drastically affecting the automotive repair business.
“I think people are just doing enough repairs to hold their cars together,” Lingo said. “People are letting things go a lot longer and end up doing more involved maintenance. I think tire sales are down dramatically too, but business has slowly been picking back up, probably because of people getting their tax returns. I think the down economy will eventually help auto repair shops, though, because people can’t seem to get financed for vehicles and have to get the vehicles they have now repaired.”
Bill Tiner, owner of Benton Transmission, said although the automotive repair business is down, he said it is not the worst he has seen in his 20 years of the business. He is thankful that he has not had to layoff any of his employees, he said.
“We used to have a backlog/waiting list of two weeks, now we are usually done by Friday,” Tiner said. “It’s been down. I stay busy here, but it is still down in comparison to previous years. It’s definitely been an off year. I still keep my guys working, no layoffs, I thank God for that. If I hadn’t been doing this for 20 years and been providing the quality of service I provide, I probably wouldn’t be staying busy right now.”
Rob Kelley, a manager at Williams Tire and Service, disagrees that business has been slow.
“If anything we have seen an increase,” he said. “We are doing about the same business now as we were doing last year about this time. I would attribute that to new car sales being down. People aren’t trading vehicles like before, they would rather drive the vehicle they have now then trade it in for another vehicle.”
At J.R. Prince Service Center, mechanic Joel Prince, son of owner Ronnie Prince and grandson of J.R., said that the amount of business he sees just depends on the day.
“It’s slowed down overall, but it seems to even out. Some days are slow days and some days are busy days,” he said. “I think the major problem is simply that nobody seems to have any money to pay for repairs. Sometimes people come in with three or four problems needing fixed and have decided only to fix the major problem. People are more likely to let the little things go for a month or two before getting them fixed.”
Tiner also said that though his normal business is down, he has seen an increase in his customers sticking strictly to automotive repairs, rather than transmission work. He also believes that despite people knowing they need repairs today, they are driving them until they have to get work done.
“We have been picking up more mechanic work with brake work, air-conditioning repair,” he said. “I think people are waiting longer to get problems fixed in their vehicles. They are driving them a little longer, but eventually they need to get that work done, so they’ll probably pile on [auto repair shops] all at once.”
To combat the down economy, Tiner said he has increased his advertising budget. Lingo, like other automotive repair shops, said he has not passed on the increase in costs of parts onto the customers.
“We haven’t raised our prices,” Lingo said. “We have kept the pricing the same over the past three years despite inflation [for auto parts].”
Prince said as summer months are closing in, the automotive repair shops are likely to see a big increase in customers.
“I think it will pick back up,” he said, “especially when it starts getting in the 100-degree temperatures. When it gets hot, things will start breaking.”
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