Very often we hear that in USA, there are the whole junkyards, filled with almost brand new cars. They say that Americans are wasters and throw out the cars instead of repairing them. But is it really so, or does someone imagine transoceanic life, looking at it through rose-colored glasses?
You don’t have to think that Americans don’t fix cars. Of course, they do it themselves and in repair shops. However, situations when it is easier to get rid of a broken down car than try to save it with the efforts of repairmen are really widespread. Especially among members of the so-called “middle class” who earn enough to cover the purchase of a car for a couple of months. By the way, car dealers and banks are ready to help them in this, offering a rather rich bouquet of credit and leasing services in the USA.
But how can buying a car be more profitable than repairing it? In fact, everything is quite simple. Firstly, the American auto repair business is very specific. Secondly, a car overhaul in the U.S. is very expensive. Parts there cost almost as much in dollars as in Russia. But the work of the masters for a number of reasons is noticeably more expensive. However, the high prices for repair services are not even half the trouble. To understand what this is all about, you have to dive into the specifics.
The U.S. auto repair market is divided into three segments. The first is the “new car dealer” or new car service with a warranty. This is where everything can be repaired and repaired. True, there is a little “but”. Wealth of service and warranty depends on a purse of the client. If you have laid out for the car a good packet of “evergreen”, be ready to get not only repair, but also massage of heels. Whether it is necessary to speak about that the attitude to buyers of budget cars is not so hospitable?
The second segment is the large networks of service stations. It is most pertinent to compare them to fast-food restaurants. They will “feed” you quickly and nourishingly here, but nobody will care of your health. Large repair companies willingly do service and light repairs. To remove a scratch, change “consumables” and liquids? Easy! But when the question is about something major, such service stations either refuse to carry out such works, or simply charge high astronomical prices for their services. Why? Because overhaul is always an unjustified risk (for a company), an unnecessary headache and large time expenditures.
The third segment is private service stations. Such workshops are usually opened by former rank-and-file employees of large service station chains. There are a lot of such workshops. In some cities, they are almost at every turn. However, each such workshop employs few people, the equipment in most cases is the cheapest, and therefore the timing of the work may be very delayed. At the same time, despite the number of private workshops, it can be difficult to find a free one. These guys, unlike the large networks, will take on any job and the most complex repairs.
So the average American, after breaking down his favorite car, is often faced with a hard choice: to pay for an expensive overhaul, wait until a private repair shop is available, or just buy a new car. For many people, the latter choice is preferable, since a car is more necessary in the United States. This is also because America does not have a well-developed public transportation system compared to Europe. The more so that the broken or broken down cars the Americans by no means throw away, and sell to some insurance company. The latter buy cars mainly for further disassembly for parts. By the way, the cars lying in dumpsters in the USA are not nobody’s. Almost always they are junkyards owned by service stations, which use this “scrap metal” as a donor of parts.