The average age of a vehicle on the road in 2020 in America is 11.9 years. It is not unusual for some brands to have over 5% of their cars on the road after they have accumulated 200,000 miles.
Why do Americans keep cars so long? One theory is that cars are built better than they were a decade ago. Another is that there is a scarcity of new cars because of a shortage of the chips used to operate electronic and navigation systems. These shortages are so bad that some car companies have had to shutter assembly lines.
It stands to reason older cars need more repairs, particularly if people want to keep them several years longer.
Auto body shops differ from mechanics in that they specialize in cosmetic repairs and modifications like fixing dents, replacing broken glass or damaged trim, and restoring scratched surfaces. They also have the special equipment and skills necessary to paint vehicles. Painting can be an expensive and time-consuming process, but a new paint job goes a long way towards improving a damaged car or just an old one that still runs well but is showing signs of age.
24/7 Wall St. has reviewed Junk Car Traders’ list of the scammiest auto body shops to determine which places are ranked lowest overall among such businesses. The study used Yelp ratings of 47,778 auto shops across the country, as well as a survey of 1,025 car owners. A low rank doesn’t mean that these cities don’t have good body shops — just that drivers should be especially careful in choosing one, asking around and reading reviews to find one that does quality work.
Additional commuting data for the cities listed came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2019, the most recent to be published.
The worst city to get your car fixed is Norfolk, Virginia. Here are the details:
> Average auto body shop Yelp rating: 3.58/5
> Avg. area commute time: 24.6 minutes
> Pct. of area workers who drive 89.1%
Click here to read The Worst City To Get Your Car Fixed
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