Seasonal maintenance now saves money down the road
There is no such thing as simple maintenance during a pandemic.
Many auto shops across the county are reporting a marked decrease in business as customers follow the stay-at-home order issued by Gov. Tom Wolf in March. And with state inspections being pushed back 30 to 90 days, consumers are finding more breathing space to get the job done.
“We would usually get people in here for general maintenance items. But now with the world so different, (maintenance) is even more important,” said Jen Fleming of Fleming Tire in Cranberry Township, arguing that people shouldn't put off crucial maintenance as it might cause worse problems that will be even costlier.
Typically around this time, drivers would be considering spring issues like checking to ensure the car's air conditioner works, switching from winter to all season tires, changing oil and cleaning the undercarriage of cars to prevent rust buildup.
“Maintenance is a simple question but now with everything it's not just a simple question with what's going on in the world,” Fleming said.
While the number of customers in her store has gone down by half since the start of government measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus three weeks ago, the shop is open with limitations.
“Some people are having issues with layoffs and hour cuts, budgeting is more important than ever so keeping the cars running longer is economically more important than ever,” Fleming said.
Experts on the local automotive scene are facing the same uncertain future as their customers.
“We're looking at what the FDA is offering for assistance. It's a hard question to answer. Just taking it day to day,” Fleming said. “Everybody is dealing with their own struggles right now.”
With 6.6 million people in the United States seeking unemployment benefits last week, more than 1 in 10 workers have lost their jobs in just the past three weeks to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Associated Press. And that number doesn't take into consideration the people who have reduced job hours.
Yet with all that downtime and the stay-at-home rule, there are fewer people driving.
“There's nobody on the roads so there are no accidents for us to take care of,” said Jay Pierrel, owner of Pierrel Auto, a collision repair shop.
He said that typically it would take a customer about a month to find an open slot to get their car fixed at the auto shop on Sunset Drive.
“But now with the corona some people have canceled,” Pierrel said. “People aren't driving and we don't have any accidents now.”Butler County Ford in downtown Butler is also feeling the economic pressure.“Business has dropped off. We have stayed busy enough but we've probably lost 20 to 30 percent and that's me being positive about it,” said Marshall Thompson, the company's service director.With the decrease in business, Thompson said the company has implemented layoffs, too. In the service department they are down to four workers from seven and in the truck division they are down to two from three.“People ain't working and then they're not able to get out due to the virus. It's definitely impacted our business, no doubt about that,” Thompson said. “Car sales are down. Part sales down. Part delivery down. It affected the whole overall business.”But still, Thompson believes things will get better“It picked up yesterday, so hopefully it's not going to decline anymore. I want to stay positive,” Thompson said. “We're still open. Phones still ringing. Hopefully we get back to something like normal.“Tell everybody to be safe and we're open for business and still doing everything we can for the public for auto and truck needs.”
Here is a checklist from local auto experts on getting your car ready for spring:Marshall Thompson with Butler County Ford suggested people switch out their winter tires for all-season tires or, if they didn’t have winter tires, to check the treads on their tires and the air pressure.He also suggested that people check on their car’s air conditioning system in preparation for the warm weather. With that, the cabin air filter should be checked to make sure it’s clean.Jen Fleming of Fleming Tire in Cranberry Township suggests auto owners consider checking or changing the transmission filters, brake fluid, timing belt, water pumps, brakes and brake lines.Experts also recommend tackling basic maintenance issues like getting an oil change, checking fluids and coolant levels, and having the pipes and hoses examined.“In the wintertime people don’t clean. Spring is a good time to get out and clean your car,” said Jim Ungor, a mechanic with #1 Cochran.Thompson suggested making sure the bottom of a car is cleaned removing any winter salt build up that could cause rusting. The bottom of doors, the wheel well areas are also good places to check and clean off debris. Drivers also should check automatic transmission lines that might have been affected.
