ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With new and used cars still painfully expensive, Ryan Holdsworth says he plans to keep his 9-year-old Chevy Cruze for at least four more years. Limiting his car payments and his overall debt is a bigger priority for him than having a new vehicle.
A 35-year-old grocery store worker from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Holdsworth would probably be in the market for a vehicle within a few years — if not for the high cost. For now, it's out of the question.
Mechanic Jon Guthrie inspects the underside of a 2014 Honda Ridgeline pickup at Japanese Auto Professional Service in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“You’re not going to get one for a price you can afford,” he said.
Holdsworth has plenty of company. Americans are keeping their cars longer than ever. The average age of a passenger vehicle on the road hit a record 12.5 years this year, according to data gathered by S&P Global Mobility. Sedans like Holdsworth's are even older, on average — 13.6 years.
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Blame it mainly on the pandemic, which in 2020 triggered a global shortage of automotive computer chips, the vital component that runs everything from radios to gas pedals to transmissions. The shortage drastically slowed global assembly lines, making new vehicles scarce on dealer lots just when consumers were increasingly eager to buy.
Prices reached record highs. And though they've eased somewhat, the cost of a vehicle still feels punishingly expensive to many Americans, especially when coupled with now much-higher loan rates.
Since the pandemic struck three years ago, the average new vehicle has rocketed 24% to nearly $48,000 as of April, according to Edmunds.com. Typical loan rates on new-car purchases have ballooned to 7%, a consequence of the Federal Reserve's aggressive streak of interest rate hikes to fight inflation.
Traffic moves along the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 22, 2022. People are keeping their vehicles longer due to shortages of new ones and high prices.
It’s all pushed the national average monthly auto loan payment to $729 — prohibitively high for many. Experts say a family earning the median U.S. household income can no longer afford the average new car payment and still cover such necessities as housing, food and utilities.
Used vehicle prices, on average, have surged even more since the pandemic hit — up 40%, to nearly $29,000. With an average loan rate having reached 11%, the typical monthly used-vehicle payment is now $563.
Faced with deciding between making a jumbo payment and keeping their existing vehicles, more owners are choosing to stick with what they have, even if it means spending more on repairs and maintenance.
Auto mechanics have been struck by the rising ages and mileages of vehicles that now arrive at the shop in numbers they'd never seen before.
“You see cars all the time in here with 250,000, 300,000 miles,” said Jay Nuber, owner of Japanese Auto Professional Service, a repair garage near downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. “They haven’t been really having major work or anything. They’ve just been doing the (routine) service.”
A mechanic fills a car with oil at an auto repair shop July 13, 2022, in Collingdale, Pa. Used vehicle prices have surged even more since the pandemic hit — up 40%, to nearly $29,000.
It doesn't mean that most owners of older vehicles are necessarily stuck with constant repair bills. One reason people can hold their vehicles for increasingly long periods is that auto manufacturing has improved over time. Engines run longer. Bodies don't rust as quickly. Components last longer.
Yet the cost of buying either a new or used vehicle is leaving more people with essentially no choice but to keep the one they have.
“The repair-versus-buy equation changed,” said Todd Campau, an associate director with S&P. Even with rising repair costs, Campau said, it's still typically more cost-effective to fix an older vehicle than to spring for a purchase.
The average vehicle age, which has been edging up since 2019, accelerated this year by a substantial three months. And while 12.5 years is the average, Campau noted, more vehicles are staying on the road for 20 years or more, sometimes with three or four successive owners.
Even with more durable vehicles able to last longer, all of this has created a boom time for auto shops. Nuber's Japanese Auto has been overwhelmed with customers. It took up to three weeks to get an appointment, whether for repairs or the routine maintenance that older vehicles, in particular, require.
“The phone just kept ringing, and the cars just kept coming," Nuber said.
It's now at the point where some vehicle owners must decide whether to pay for a repair that costs more than their vehicle is worth. That's where many of them draw the line, said Dave Weber, manager at Japanese Auto.
“They patch them up and drive them for however long, until the next major repair,” Weber said.
S&P predicts that U.S. new vehicle sales will reach 14.5 million this year, from about 13.9 million last year. A big reason is that the supply at dealerships is finally growing. Automakers have also begun to restore some discounts that had long helped keep a lid on prices. The result is that many people who can afford to buy can now do so. It's a trend that could slow the advancing age of the U.S. fleet and boost overall sales.
As for Holdsworth, the Chevy Cruze owner, he plans to keep up with the scheduled maintenance on his car, especially routine oil changes. Even if he encountered a major repair, he thinks he'd probably pay for it.
Having bought his vehicle two years ago, Holdsworth has about two years of payments left. So his Cruze, too, may reach the 12.5-year-old national average.
“I’ll finish paying it off," he said, “and drive it for a couple more years.”
5 common auto collision repairs and how much they cost
How much common auto collision repairs cost
There were 5.2 million nonfatal motor vehicle crashes in 2020, down 22% from 2019, according to the most recent complete data available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The number of fatal crashes rose slightly (6.8%), while the number of people injured declined 17%. Most fatal crashes occur within 25 miles of home and at speeds of less than 40 miles per hour.
Cheapinsurance.com compiled this list of five common auto collision repairs using information from across the internet. Cost estimates come from a variety of sources, including LendingTree and Chase Bank.
Owning a car can be expensive. The average yearly cost for a new vehicle in 2022 is $10,728, including fuel, maintenance, and insurance, according to August 2022 research from AAA. Repairs required after collisions can push up that price tag. While some damage, such as a small ding or minor mark in the paint, lends itself to do-it-yourself repairs, other work is better left to a professional.
Continue reading to learn about the cost of some of the most common repairs required after auto collisions.
Bumper damage
Car bumpers are designed to absorb the energy of a crash and protect the front and back of the car in a low-speed collision. That includes the hood and trunk, grille, fuel, exhaust, and cooling systems, and headlights, taillights, and parking lights.
Repairs to a bumper can cost between $100 and $1,000, according to Eli's, an auto body repair company in Southern California, while a replacement would run about $800 to $2,000. Because many modern vehicles have sensors and cameras in their bumpers, they must be replaced or repaired, adding to labor costs.
Car door damage
Car door repairs can cost as little as $50 if you just need a small dent fixed. The price rises if the paint must be matched to fix scratches as well.
Modern car doors house complex wiring and mechanisms for locks and windows, which can be expensive to repair. If the door has more than minor dents and scratches, you might need to replace it. You could pay $800 for the door, plus several hundred dollars for the labor.
Scratched paint
When it comes to scratches on your car, it's the depth of the damage that matters. That's because the paint on your car has numerous layers of finish. Marks in the top clear coat are the easiest to fix. Deeper scratches can be a multilayer job, while those that reach the metal should be repaired quickly so the car does not rust.
If you have a newer car, a dealership can find the correct paint using the vehicle identification number or VIN. If you want to tackle the repair yourself, you can typically buy about 2 ounces of paint for $50 to $300. Dealerships will charge $150 to $1,000 to repair a scratch and twice that for work on the hood or doors.
Cracked windshield
You might be able to leave small chips in your windshield—the ones caused by a pebble, ice, or other small debris from the road hitting your car. But larger cracks often spread and can obstruct your view. Before replacing the windshield, it's important to ask yourself: Is it on the driver's side, is there more than one crack, is it longer than 6 inches, and does it start at the edge?
A new windshield could cost between $250 and $400. For a luxury car, the price can run from $1,000 to more than $4,500. Repairing a chip on an older car typically ranges between $60 and $100.
Dented panels
The price of repairing a dent can range widely, from $50 to $2,500. Small dents from rocks or hail, for example, can cost around $50 to $125 to fix. Larger dents resulting from a collision can cost $150 or more.
What drives up the price? A bumper, for example, might have electrical parts such as sensors. Dents might stretch across several panels, which would need replacing. More expensive work can include repainting or sanding.
This story originally appeared on Cheapinsurance.com and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
