Update: Has national car parts shortage improved?

(WKBN) – The car is a staple of American culture. It’s how we get to work, how some do work and how we get around.

First News anchor Dave Sess says he waited four days last month for a part to fix his car while one of his coworkers said they waited six months.

First News reported in September on a parts shortage leading to a backlog of work. Today, we went to a garage, looking to see if the situation has improved.

There’s little downtime in auto repairs, especially as summer driving season heats up. Local technicians remain busy, but they are seeing improvement in getting the necessary parts.

“I’d say availability has improved a lot. Our suppliers have been able to get stuff quicker and to us faster. So that’s a big deal,” said technician Brian Loree.

The parts rack at Berena’s Automotive Center is more stacked than it was eight months ago. That’s helping get the work done faster, so the cars can be returned quicker to the customer.

“Lately, it’s been pretty good, and it has. We order from multiple vendors, so we do have the ability to source out from different areas, different companies,” said John Berena with Berena’s Automotive Center.

As an owner, Berena is also concerned about many factors. He’s working with suppliers to find the right parts to fix cars as quickly as possible.

“So we do have the ability to… if somebody doesn’t have it here, we can get it from here. But we also want to make sure we’re getting quality parts at a good price,” Berena said.

Berena’s highly recommends regular maintenance by drivers to check the oil, the belts and battery cables before they can grow into bigger problems.

Shipping, supply chain and availability issues are easing slowly. They could still be a factor if you have a more difficult repair or older model vehicle.

“A lot of people are expecting prices they saw one, two, three years ago. It’s just not happening anymore,” Loree said.

Many people are simply holding onto cars longer while waiting for the new and used car markets to improve.

Getting parts has improved and the automotive center has a big recommendation if you need help fixing a car.

“Give us a call, get scheduled in and we’ll take care of you,” Loree said.

While we were at Berena’s today, three parts deliveries were made in less than 30 minutes. Plus, every bay was full to get those parts onto cars to finish repairs.