MISSOULA — Unless you’re new to driving, you’re probably familiar with taking your car to the mechanic.
Whether it’s for general upkeep or a larger issue, getting in and out of the shop is probably the experience you’re hoping for. But that isn’t always the case.
Ever since the pandemic disrupted supply chains worldwide, car manufacturers have been one area still struggling to recover.
“Some parts are back-ordered, or you can't find them third party because it's such a brand new vehicle that you have to get it from a dealership,” said Todd Lockwood, service manager for Young Mazda Missoula.
One of the biggest problems can occur with getting the needed parts from a dealership.
For older vehicles, most parts are back to their pre-pandemic availabilities at auto parts stores. But for newer cars that are just coming off the assembly lines, some rather small parts are still struggling to get here.
“It would be more of, probably something simple, like an air filter. But most of the other stuff is readily available, brake pads, rotors, spark plugs, oil and filter, your general maintenance things. Those are readily available,” explained Lockwood.
But besides parts being a hold-up on getting you in and out, it also depends on where you might take your car to get serviced.
According to Young Mazda as well as Willy’s Auto in Missoula, sometimes dealerships will have quite a backlog of service requests.
It's something that places like Young Mazda are trying to address.
“Knowing that the community has a tough time getting into other dealerships, we specialize in all makes and models. We have trained technicians for other brands and other models that work within our environment here,” said Lockwood.
Besides some parts being a point of friction, the extent of the repairs needed will also be a factor in getting you back on the road. Replacing an engine or transmission just takes more time than a brake job.
So while there still may be some sticking points with some dealerships, a lot has returned to pre-pandemic norms of availability of parts.
