THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The pandemic and lockdown have hit the automobile industry hard. Several car service centres are also struggling, as they are finding it difficult to source spare parts for replacement.
With the curbs relaxed, many prefer to travel by own vehicles. However, since the vehicles remained idle during the lockdown, they developed snags and, as a result, service centres are flooded with complaints.
Many car owners have no option but to wait for weeks, even months, to get spare parts. The district has around 4,000 service centres, besides thousands of small and medium workshops in the unorganised sector. The service centres are struggling with the heavy workload, especially when customers insist on same day delivery of vehicles.
“We are allowed to open only on three alternate days a week. It is also taking more time to get spare parts. Automobile spare parts dealers are not very keen on getting the components on time. They say it’s unavailable and we have to wait for weeks or months,” said K C Paul, managing partner of Auto Engineers.
He said the number of breakdown calls has gone up post lockdown. “Vehicles break down when service is due. Many people avoid servicing when we say cannot deliver it the same day. Instead of alternate days, the authorities should allow us to function on three consecutive days. Vehicle repair is an essential service too,” Paul said.
Workshop owners said the service cost has also gone up by 10 to 15 per cent. “People are not going for long rides and they forget to get vehicles serviced on time. Lack of timely servicing has led to a rise in sensor-related complaints, especially in European-made vehicles. The cost of the spare parts has also gone up by 20 per cent,” said Abraham Tharakan, managing director of AT Car Modez.
He said a lot of issues can be avoided if owners drive their cars for atleast eight km once a week. “The quality of original spare parts supplied by car companies has dropped. Everybody is cutting down on cost. Courier charges have also gone up due to fuel price hike and hence, everything costs more. Spare parts of premium cars are unavailable and even oil filters were not in stock recently,” said Abraham.
Rajashekar A S, a car owner, had to wait for six months to get spare parts. “I own a 1991 model Land Cruiser. The spare parts are unavailable here and normally it takes one month to source them,” he said.
Tips for car-owners
Start your car once every few days and let it run for at least 10 to 15 minutes to preserve the battery
Operate all the systems including air conditioner Avoid using hand brakes for prolonged parking as this can jam the brakes