Suburban mechanics struggle to extend life of cars

As an auto mechanic, Dave Weiner gauges how the economy is doing by what his customers drive.

One of his clients used to ride in style, leasing a new Lexus 400 every three years through his job at a hospital.

In recent cutbacks, he lost his job, lost the car and now drives his father's 1989 Buick, which he brought in for repairs recently.

"The days of having the latest and greatest and newest are behind us for a while," Weiner said from the counter of his shop. "It's tough times. A lot of people now are worried. We're all running scared now."

U.S. automakers are feeling that in a big way, as the industry faces its worst sales in 25 years. Mechanics see some of the fallout.

Even Dave's Auto Clinic, a fixture for 30 years at Palatine Road and Route 83 in Prospect Heights, is not quite recession-proof.

Some customers try to extend the lives of their automobiles, putting in new engines or transmissions, pushing past 150,000 miles rather than buying a new car.

Others hold off on major repairs. Business has fallen off the past two months while drivers do the bare minimum to keep their cars running.

"Before, people asked what it would take to keep their car going another three years," Weiner said. "Now, it's what kind of Band-Aid can you put on it to keep it running another three months?"

Every big job has become a negotiation. Rather than replacing all brakes at once, customers want to get another 5,000 miles out of their rear brakes. One driver drove off rather than fix a fuel pump that barely kept his car sputtering along.

And Weiner doesn't quibble if customers try to save a few bucks. When one customer said he had a 10 percent off coupon, but not with him. Weiner knocked $15 off the $160 bill.

Nationwide, due to manufacturing and rustproofing improvements, the average age of vehicles on the road gets older every year, and is now almost 10 years, said Tony Molla, spokesman for the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.

Especially during an economic downturn, drivers keep their cars running longer.

"Instead of buying new cars, people are getting their old ones fixed," Molla said. "They realize $800 to fix an old car is only two payments on a new car."

Angi Semler, director of operations for Star Auto Authority Inc., a large repair shop in Vernon Hills, also sees more people trying to extend the lives of their cars.

In just the past month, a half-dozen customers have chosen to get rebuilt engines or transmissions to keep their cars going.

More customers are doing preventive maintenance, like changing their transmission fluid, to stay on the road and avoid paying big bucks for a new car.

"Now," Semler said, "they understand the value of it."

One other trend Dave Weiner has noticed: greater dependency on credit.

Whereas credit cards used to make up a third of his business, now almost 80 percent of his transactions are on credit, so people have time to pay them off. Others ask for financing or write postdated checks.

"Now," Weiner said, "people are living much closer to the edge."

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