In November 2016, car owners performed 22.2 percent more preventative work and nonessential repairs compared to recent years, according to survey responses collected from nearly 300 independent garage owners by Northcoast Research.
The long-term average of net 7.8 percent of the respondents indicating that their customers are doing more maintenance. However, the latest reading was only slightly higher than the average print of 19 percent over the previous 12 months.
"The elevated level relative to the long-term average is indicative of a healthy consumer, but we believe it also reflects expectations for more normal winter weather this year, as the mechanics reported doing a lot of winter prep work," the survey results say. "Operators continue to indicate that demand in these areas are benefiting from healthy trends in miles driven and a general feeling of increased economic prosperity among customers, especially in regard to lower-income households, in large part due to the low gasoline prices, improving labor markets, and, to a lesser extent, sticker shock when examining the cost of purchasing a new vehicle."
"We still think it is clear that the underlying strength in these areas across the market is a function of a fundamental change in consumer attitudes toward repair work and their ability to fund it," Northcoast Research associates say.
