Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:05]:
Welcome to Automotive Repair news today. I'm your host, Braxton Critcher, and thanks for listening. By the way, we're going to bring you the latest updates and insights from the world of automotive repair today. We got a lot to cover, from new regulations impacting independent repair shops to latest trends in car insurance and even ev infrastructure and California. But first, have you signed up for the AsTa Expo yet? It's coming up September 26 through the 28th in Raleigh, and you just gotta go. I could give you reason after reason after reason, but one of them is I'm gonna be there. I'd love to meet you, to maybe even have you on the podcast, talk about the latest around the industry, but it's gonna be amazing. Link in the show notes to register for the ASTA Expo coming up in just a couple of weeks.

Braxton Critcher [00:00:56]:
Make sure you and your team are there, alright? First up on today's episode, the Automotive Service association. They're taking a firm stance on the EPA's new multi pollutant emission standards for 2027 and later vehicles. While the ASA supports customers rights to choose vehicles that best suits their needs, they're raising alarms about the impact of these new standards on independent repair shops. The ASA is fearful, and they're warning that the regulations could limit powertrain options, forcing repair shops to make a lot of expensive adjustments to keep up with these regulations. It includes things like investing in extensive ev training, securing new property for safe storage, and purchasing its expensive equipment, all in just a short amount of time by 2032. Aaron Clements, director at ASA, emphasizes that the industry isn't opposed to electric vehicles. They just want to make sure that they can continue to repair all vehicles that come through their doors. The ASA is urging the government to carefully consider the potential hardships that new standards might impose on repair shops.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:20]:
That's a quote from Aaron Clemens. We'll keep you posted on updates on this story in the future right here on this podcast. All right, you've noticed it. I have two rising car insurance rates. Things have just gone up. Car insurance rates are no different. In fact, they've increased more than most things. Insureify recently reported a 15% increase in full coverage premiums during the first half of this year, 2024, and they project that a total of 22% rise by the end of the year, 22% in just one year.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:59]:
Rates do significantly vary by state. Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New York, South Carolina are facing an average annual premium of over $3,000, while New Hampshire right now enjoys the lowest rates at about $1,000 annually. These increases are driven by a combination of inflation, higher repair costs, and climate related claims, as well as legislative changes in states like South Carolina, Maryland, and California. It's a tough environment for consumers, especially as insurers are trying to recover from significant underwriting losses over the last couple of years. So might see 22% increase this year. And honestly, for 2025, don't expect anything different. All right, well, California broke some ground in their ev charger milestones recently. Governor Gavin Newsom, he announced that the state has surpassed 150,000 ev chargers, breaking that down to 137,648 level.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:08]:
Two chargers and 14,708 fast chargers are now in active use across the state of California. This comes on the heels of California securing its second highest market share in zero emission vehicle sales. And there's also more to come. California is set to receive over 380 million from President Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law to further expand its charging network. It's a big step towards the state's efforts to support a growing number of ev vehicles on the road. Good stuff from California. All right, did you hear about this awesome story from Florida? Advanced auto Parts and the NASCAR foundation recently made a generous donation to fix it forward. Each organization contributed $5,000 to support the nonprofit's mission of providing free vehicle repairs to low income residents, including the homeless, disabled veterans, senior citizens, single parents, things like that.

Braxton Critcher [00:05:14]:
Fix it forward was actually founded just earlier this year by US army veteran Ed Rosa, who personally handles all the repairs. And get this, he averages about 15 vehicles per month with the nonprofit. Donations were presented at an event in Daytona beach attended by representatives from advance NASCAR and the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney. Wow. Love to get to hear stories of people wrapping their arms around their community and just doing things like this because they care. All right, next up, let's talk about the latest ASE survey. They're currently conducting a survey to study the most common repair tasks performed by technicians in repair shops. This survey is going to focus on electrical and electronic systems, and the results will help shape the training and certification across the industry.

Braxton Critcher [00:06:14]:
ASE is encouraging all technicians, whether ASE certified or not, to participate in this survey by September 20. And when you take the survey, ten participants will be randomly selected to receive dollar 50 from Cabela's it's a great opportunity for you as a technician to contribute to the future of the repair industry and help ensure that certification standards and training programs remain relevant, relevant, and effective. Link to the survey in the show notes in market news, SEMA has released its 2024 market report offering new insights into the performance of the automotive specialty equipment market from last year. The report is designed to help CEMA members make informed business decisions, covering everything from customer spending trends to shopping habits for parts and accessories. Some of the key takeaways from the report include a $550 million increase in industry sales, reaching a total of 52.35 billion in 2023. The light truck sector continues to dominate, according to accounting for 59% of accessory and performance part sales. Also, the report highlighted the fact that drivers are spending more on accessories for alternative power vehicles, including EV's hybrids, with 2.5 billion spent last year. If you want to see the full report, you can download the report for free@sema.org.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:57]:
research cema.org Research all right, going to head to Missouri for our final story of the day after the passing of Josh Morgan, the co owner of KC Auto Solutions and Independence, Missouri. He was the co owner of the repair shop with his wife, Caitlin. Caitlin and her brother Jonathan are now working hard to keep the business going and preserve the legacy that Josh left. Josh was a technician since 1999, and he passed away August 1 after a two year battle with brain cancer. The Midwest Auto Care alliance has called on its members and the broader auto repair community to support Caitlin and Jonathan during this difficult time in their family and the repair shop. A GoFundMe page has been sent to the family and the shop and the MwaCa. They're emphasizing any form of assistance, whether financial, through time, or even expertise. All of those things are deeply appreciated right now.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:04]:
Again, that's Caitlin Morgan and her brother Jonathan, and you can check out the link for the GoFundMe page in the show notes. Let's wrap our arms as a auto repair community around this family and repair shop. Alright, that wraps up this episode of Automotive Repair news today. Remember that each Wednesday you can find the latest from around the industry right here on this podcast platform. If you have any news, though, that you'd like to share or let me know about for future episodes, I want to know. The best way to do that is by emailing me@braxtonautomotiverepairnews.com. dot that's braxtontomotiverepairnews.com. thanks for listening.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:55]:
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