Dealers closing body shops

Stung by equipment, staffing and environmental issues, car dealerships are closing their body shops.

Only 40 percent of the more than 21,000 new car dealers have a collision repair shop, down from 70 percent in 1974.

"It's a business that you either have to be in it seriously or be out of it," says Paul Taylor, economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association.

For consumers, the pullback in dealer collision repair shops could mean problems in getting wrecked specialty cars repaired, especially the new gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

While the sheet metal on the hybrids is equivalent to that on similar gasoline-powered cars, the hybrids have unique transmission and motor components that require advanced training to repair.

Consumers also might have to travel farther to get repair work done when dealers either close their body shops or, if they remain in the business, often build a separate facility in a space big enough to handle a large volume of wrecked cars, including ones from brands other than their own.

• Cost of equipment. Fixing damaged sheet metal has become increasingly complicated. Repair businesses have to spend at least $1 million for the basic computer-programmed equipment needed to fix today's cars, according to Dave Dunn, owner of Masters School of Autobody Management.

  One example: In the past, most cars were built with a body placed over a frame that holds the engine, interior and other mechanical parts.

  Today, most cars are one total unit called unibody. That means precision welds of sheet metal are needed to maintain the integrity of the car body.

• Difficulty finding and retaining painters and other body repair staff with the necessary skills. Body repair and auto painting is a skilled trade that today requires computer knowledge to operate the machinery. But employees with computer skills often can find less demanding work in other businesses, dealers say.

  Adding to the problem, insurance companies pay a lower hourly rate for body work.

  Labor for mechanical repairs typically costs about $60 an hour, while labor for body work is typically $35 to $40 an hour.

• Environmental requirements. Governmental regulations dealing with spray painting vehicles have gotten stricter.