Car repair costs up 10% nationwide in 2012, says new study

Car repair costs up 10% nationwide in 2012, says new study

Auto repair costs nationwide jumped 10 percent last year after nearly six years of decreased costs, says a study by CarMD. Labor costs accounted for most of the increase (17 percent), while parts costs were up 6 percent.

We attribute this to several factors, including an improving economy and a return to pre-recession labor rates, the company said. With the average age of vehicles at an all-time high, there was also a slight increase in percentage of more-expensive repairs.

In the studys regional breakdown, Maryland, Virginia and DC are lumped in with the South, where repair prices rose 11 percent – the most after the Northeast.

Battery and charging system replacements appeared in the top 10 most common repairs for the first time, jumping from 16th to 10th. CarMD attributes the shift to the greater number of late-model vehicles that use on-board technology to track insufficient charging voltage such as low battery, and to the increase in average temperatures. The warmer weather can cause heat-related problems and failures if car owners dont adjust their maintenance and repair guidelines.

All but one of the ten most common repairs saw higher repair costs. The most common repair was to the oxygen sensor, which saw a 20 percent increase in repair cost. Hybrid repair costs dropped significantly as having more hybrids on the road brought the costs down.