Up in the air: The cost of auto repair, insurance climbing

Following suit with rising costs and inflation, the costs of automobile ownership, insurance and necessary repairs have soared in recent years and are expected to continue.

Frank Ferra, president of Ferra’s Automotive Services in Sharpsburg, says expenses including wages, rent, taxes, equipment and insurance, along with the costs for parts, have risen “tremendously.”

“As an example, a headlamp bulb may have cost $10 not so many years ago, but today that part could cost several thousand dollars because of the electronics and safety features included in them.” Ferra said. “It’s not just replacing a bulb.”

As another example, Ferra said a new headlight and headlamp assembly for a 2007 BMW X3 SUV cost about $500 in 2007, equal to about $750 in today’s dollars.

For a 2022 model, it costs almost $4,100, not including labor.

Across the nation and locally, the cost of owning an automobile — from oil changes to annual insurance — has risen significantly. According to the most recent research from AAA, the average yearly cost to own and operate a new vehicle in 2022 is $10,728, or $894 per month — an 11% increase from 2021, when the average yearly cost was $9,666, or $806 per month.

The average cost of repairing damaged cars has soared 36% since 2018 and might top $5,000 by the end of this year, according to Mitchell International, a company that provides data and software to insurance companies and auto repair businesses. The California-­based company has been in business for 77 years and is North America’s largest provider of collision repair information.

The rising cost of repairs has caused insurance premiums to increase 17% in the past year, according to Mitchell. In May, Forbes Analysis reported that the national average cost of car insurance is $2,150 per year and that the average full coverage cost in Pennsylvania is $3,600.

Body shop owners and mechanics have varying views on these rising costs.

Routine maintenance, including replacement of worn parts, is a significant portion of the business at Moore Tire Service in Greensburg, according to mechanic and owner Dennis Ledgerwood.

“Of course, prices go up with inflation, but I think things have stabilized since the pandemic,” Ledgerwood said. “We even had our busiest year ever that I have seen last year.”

Jeffrey Schall, manager of Nick Collision Center in Tarentum, said he hasn’t seen a spike in the cost of auto repairs but has seen longer wait times for parts.

“Covid did put a longer wait time when it came to ordering parts. But over the last few months, we have seen an unusual amount of work,” Schall said. “I don’t know what happened. Everywhere around here is booked for months.”

Schall said it sometimes takes up to two months to receive parts.

Impact of electric vehicles

Data from Mitchell also shows that in 2022, electric vehicles cost about $6,800 on average to fix after accidents, about $2,400 more than the average for all cars.

Battery-powered cars tend to require more expensive parts, and repairing them takes more time and can require work by specialized mechanics.

Hybrid vehicles are a cross between gas-powered and electric vehicles. They are powered by internal combustion engines and electric motors, which use energy stored in batteries.

Repairing electric vehicles from mainstream brands costs about $800 more than repairing their gasoline counterparts, according to Mitchell. In the premium segment, typical repair costs for battery-powered and gasoline vehicles are roughly the same, around $7,000, for model years 2018 and later.

Ledgerwood said ordering parts is a piece of the higher cost of repairing those cars. He said electric vehicles also cost more to fix because there are special procedures and precautions mechanics must take to fix them.

“There are special gloves that we wear to prevent getting shocked from wires or from setting fires,” Ledgerwood said. “Electric cars have higher battery power, so there is more risk.”

He said there are special lifts used to suspend electric and hybrid cars and that more “prework” is done when working on them.

“They (hybrid and electric cars) are different systems,” Ledgerwood said. “The software is completely different.”

Ledgerwood said his shop sees electric vehicles mainly for inspections and tire rotations. The shop has done suspension work on only one electric vehicle.

“Greensburg is always five to six years behind Pittsburgh, so I don’t think we’ll be seeing more electric cars and electric car accidents for a while,” Ledgerwood said. “We just don’t have the grid support yet.”

Schall, of Nick Collision Center, thinks it is “just a matter of time” for the area to see more electric vehicles.

“It won’t be a choice anymore,” he said.