Supply chain issues causing major delays for mechanic shops

If you need repairs on your car, get ready to pay more and wait longer.

"Collision items especially on newer cars, you are going to wait weeks for them," said mechanic and owner Demetri Kamar."Bigger items like transmissions, engines [will be] weeks."

Kamar runs two auto repair shops, one in Culver City and one in the Valley. He said that basics like tires and brakes are not being impacted too much but bigger items like transmissions will cost you more money and more time without a car.

"A transmission went out on a Wrangler," he said. "It took six weeks to get the transmission." 

The strain has affected not only local mechanic shops but dealerships too. According to one driver, it took a week to get his car into service at a car dealership just to see what was wrong. 

"It's my daily driver," said Anthony Lawson. "It is not like I have backup cars or anything like that. What makes it worse is they have a shortage on loaners."

Lawson said his car ended up being in the shop way longer than he anticipated. 

"For a week I didn't have a car, and I pretty much had to find a way to work from home," he said.

COVID-related challenges has affected every part of the auto industry — from a car shortage causing a bottleneck of new car options to production parts struggling to ship out for the many who have decided to stick it out with their vehicles. 

"Our space is very limited and if I keep cars in this location or another for a long period of time, the space is not available for workspace for mechanics," Kamar said. 

He believes it will take a while for the inventory to build back up again. 

"It is probably going to take at least a year to two years to go to pre-pandemic," he added.

Whether it is new wiper blades or tires, auto experts said the price of parts are more expensive by about 20 percent compared to last year.