Fixed Ops Journal - December 2019 - F6

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

SERVICE COUNTER
 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:

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





Electric vehicle
Hybrid vehicle
Small sedan
Minivan
Half-ton crew cab pickup (4wd)
Small SUV (fwd)
Medium sedan
Large sedan
Medium SUV (4wd)
2019 weighted average

6.60 cents
7.70 cents
8.53 cents
8.73 cents
8.77 cents
9.09 cents
9.18 cents
9.49 cents
9.60 cents
8.94 cents

 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.


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
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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

 Breaking it down

Dealerships' total service and parts
sales, in billions of dollars, in the first
6 months of 2019

Source: "Your Driving Costs," AAA

Service labor sales

 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.
2.
3.
4.
5.

GM full-size pickups
Ford F series
Ram pickups
Jeep Wrangler
Ford Mustang

6. Chevrolet Tahoe
7. Chevrolet Camaro
8. Dodge Challenger
9. Chevrolet Corvette
10. Toyota 4Runner

Source: "Accessory Opportunity Report," SEMA

PAGE 6

DECEMBER 2019

 Customer mechanical
 Warranty
 Reconditioning
 Customer body
 Sublet to other repairers
 Other
 Total service labor

$10.78
$5.77
$4.63
$2.21
$2.03
$2.27
$27.69

Parts sales
 Wholesale
 Customer mechanical
 Warranty
 Reconditioning
 Customer body
 Counter
 Other
 Total parts

Total sales

$10.24
$9.50
$6.64
$3.30
$2.01
$1.60
$3.64
$36.93

$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
TOTAL SALES
WITH BODY SHOPS (BILLIONS)

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2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013

37.3%
37.8
39.1
37.1
38.6
35.9
35.3

SALES PER
REPAIR ORDER

$3.64
$3.28
$3.36
$3.80
$3.42
$3.36
$2.94

Source: NADA Data 2019, Midyear Report

$760
$723
$745
$571
$708
$752
$650
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2019

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