Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:05]:
Welcome to Automotive Repair news. Today your go to source for the latest updates and insights from the automotive repair industry. I'm your host, Braxton Kricher, and today's episode covers the top stories that you need to know about, from new tools and industry concerns to significant recalls and legal battles, too. So let's dive right in. First, we'll start with the Tools update. The Autocare association has made a major update to its demand index tool. This tool is available through the Autocare Trend lens platform, and now it includes a new product group and annual unit volumes data for existing lines. The demand index offers sales performance data across various product categories, and you'll find that the latest enhancements allow users to customize date ranges, overlay multiple categories, analyze trends, and export data for business comparisons.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:09]:
This update aims to provide more precise and actionable insights for automotive professionals, helping you make more informed decisions and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market. Right? Good stuff from the Autocare association. In other news, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, or ASE, is conducting studies to pinpoint the most common repair tasks performed by technicians. This research will help shape future training and certification standards. ASE's upcoming survey focuses on automatic transmission and trans axle repairs, and it's open to all technicians, whether or not your ASE certified participants in the survey will be entered to win one of $1050 cabela gift cards right in time for hunting season. You can find the survey link in the show notes. Alright, now to some tough news. Mercedes Benz is taking action against counterfeit parts that pose serious risks to, well, road safety in 2023.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:20]:
Listen to this. Over 1.6 million counterfeit Mercedes Benz parts were found in more than 740 global raids, making a 20% increase from the previous year. That's crazy. Common counterfeit items included air filters, brake parts, wheels and steering components. Okay, if you're a repair shop, Mercedes Benz is warning you to be on the lookout for low prices that are unusually low and poor product quality. If a part comes in and it's just not typically up to snuff, especially if it's like 50% cheaper than normal, probably a counterfeit part. Now, Mercedes Benz is working closely with authorities and law enforcement to try and prevent this from happening, and so they can ensure the safety of their customers and the legitimacy of your repair shop. So just be on the lookout for that low prices and poor quality of parts.

Braxton Critcher [00:03:24]:
Well, big congrats to Jose Santos Medrano and Dane Van Dyke. They've been awarded the 2024 through 2025 Michael Bush Memorial Scholarships by the ASC Education Foundation. Santos Medrano is from Pennsylvania and Van Dyke is from Iowa. They were recognized for their outstanding academic achievements in collision repair. These scholarships honor the memory of Michael Bush, an automotive technology student who passed away from cancer. Each year they are awarded to two exceptional students who demonstrate academic excellence and leadership. So congrats to Jose and Dane. Alright, now let's take a look at recent fuel and charging costs because I don't know about you, but prices and gas have been going down, right? The national average for a gallon of gas is now at $3.44, a slight drop from last week.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:22]:
And the top ten most expensive gasoline markets include Hawaii, California and Washington, while the least expensive markets are Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana for commercial charging. If you own an ev, the national average remains at like Kansas and Missouri offer some of the lowest rates, while Hawaii and West Virginia are among the most expensive. All right, if you're a repair shop owner, a technician, somewhere in the repair industry, you've noticed that the average age of vehicle is going up, right? With the price of new vehicles and all that kind of stuff, it's just cheaper to maintain an older vehicle. In fact, a new survey from talker research shows that 73% of car owners are focused on taking better care of their cars due to the rising vehicle prices. The survey also found that nearly two thirds of do it for me consumers are willing to invest more in high quality motor oil to protect their car's value. The research also shows that most people among those 73% are looking for name brands and high quality parts and good trusted repair shops to take care of their aging vehicles. I think we can all agree that those things are not new information, right? But to me, I was not aware of that. 73% of car owners are looking to do that.

Braxton Critcher [00:05:55]:
Knew it was high, but I didn't know it was three out of four people. What about you? Well, big news just here recently. Steer and auto ops are merging to better serve both of their clientele. They feel that merging their platforms will enhance their offerings. Steer consumers will now access auto ops advanced scheduling features at no extra cost, including loaner, car tracking and appointment followers. Auto ops users who are not steer customers can also benefit from bundled discounts at steer services such as automatic reminders and review collection. Steer CEO Park Swift says that the merger aims to provide a best in class CRM and online scheduler streamlining operations for users. Good stuff from steer and auto ops in that merger there.

Braxton Critcher [00:06:48]:
Alright, bad news for GMDH General Motors. In a legal update, the state of Texas is suing GM for allegedly collecting and sharing driver data without consent. An investigation revealed that GM installed tracking technology in over 14 million vehicles, sharing data with insurance companies, which affected drivers premiums and policies. The lawsuit claims that this technology violates the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Texas Attorney general Ken Paxson has voted to hold GM accountable for all of these privacy violations. More to come on that alright, sticking with GM for the next story. And this one's not good news either. They have issued a recall for nearly all of their Cadillac Lyriq electric suv's due to a software issue that can affect braking.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:42]:
An investigation found that a flaw in the anti lock braking system that causes loss of braking under specific conditions. The recall, affecting 21,469 vehicles, will be addressed through a wireless, over the air software update. GM is working to resolve this issue and ensure the safety of its customers. Alright, that's all for today's edition of Automotive Repair news. Today, we hope you found that this episode was informative and engaging. And if you know of news that needs to be shared, I want to know about it so I can include it on an upcoming podcast, also on our social media channels. So give me an email, let me know the news that you'd like to have included@braxtontomotiverepairnews.com. that's braxtonautomotiverepairnews.com.

Braxton Critcher [00:08:31]:
thanks for listening. Hey, if you're still here, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Automotive Repair news today. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment. Like share, subscribe to the podcast that'll help us out a big deal and help grow the show. And you know what? While you're at it, slap on a review too. If you feel like this content is helpful for the industry. Don't forget to follow us on all your favorite social media platforms. We're on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:03]:
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