Tough times make fixing old cars more appealing than buying new By ERIN COX, Staff Writer
Driving her son's old pickup for 18 months was not Cathy Kamosa's first choice, but it became her only one.
"I just keep putting money away and hoping that it will cover the repairs," Kamosa said. "After I pay the mortgage and all the other bills each month, there's really no money left over for a car payment."
Kamosa's side business as a bookkeeper suffered from the prolonged economic downturn. Unwilling to take on debt to solve her transportation problems, she found herself stuck in a changed auto market where cars stay on the road longer and quality used cars are harder to come by.
Overall car sales in Maryland have contracted over the past five years, still 18 percent below what they were in 2006. While sales have begun to rebound, used cars make up an increasingly greater share of the newly purchased vehicles on Maryland roadways.
"They are keeping their cars longer," Jack Bell, owner of Dorsey Transmission in Severn, said of his customers. He's seen his shop flood with people asking for repairs that in years past would have meant time for a trade-in. That means fewer used cars are for sale.
"They don't know what's going to happen with the economy, or with their jobs," Dorsey said.
"They already know what they've got, so they fix what they've got."
On average, owners hold onto their cars 7.2 months longer than they did before the recession hit in 2008, according to the Detroit auto research firm Polk. The company said the average car on the road was 11 years old in 2010.
For Kamosa, that made it a challenge to find a good used car for which she could pay cash.
Kamosa's adult daughter had totalled Kamosa's Buick LeSabre while running around town planning Kamosa's surprise birthday party in May 2010. No one was hurt, but the crash exposed that the economics of buying a car were much different than the last time Kamosa purchased one in 2007.
"By the time the insurance paid off the loan, there wasn't enough to buy another car," she said. The uncertainty of the economy made her hesitant to take on new loan. Her son had bought a Toyota Prius for his long commute and Kamosa started driving his red Ford F-150 that has 150,000 miles on the odometer.
First she replaced the power steering pump, then redid the brake system, and then replaced the alternator. Including oil changes, tires and regular maintenance, Kamosa has put $2,500 into keeping the 12-year-old truck on the road until she could save enough to buy something for herself. It took much longer than she'd hoped.
The market for cars, both new and used, has diminished. But while new car sales dropped by a third since 2006, used car sales have dropped by only 10 percent.
Those who do buy a car are making different choices than they did five years ago. More than 70 percent of all car purchases in Maryland were used cars in 2010, up from 63 percent in 2006, according to statistics from the Maryland Vehicle Administration.
Kamosa needed something to drive 300 miles a week as she traveled from her Pasadena home to work in Glen Burnie and wherever her side job as a bookkeeper took her around Anne Arundel County. She blames the Cash-for-Clunkers program for complicating the already tight used car market.
"It took so many vehicles off the road," she said. "It used to be you could find a lot of things for cheap. But there's hardly any out there now."
When Kamosa's mechanic, Paul Curtin, had another client with a 2001 Chevy Blazer for sale at $4,000, she jumped at the deal. She sees repairing the small SUV and stashing away savings as a cheaper and safer alternative to regular car payments.
That attitude has affected the ability of mechanics to cheaply repair broken cars. Bell, the mechanic in Severn, said the demand for used cars makes it more difficult and more costly to get used parts. Salvage yards have fewer junkers to pilfer, and the cost of used parts has gone up about 30 percent over the past few years, he said.
"That makes a big difference when you're talking about a used transmission that costs $1,000," Bell said. "The problem is with nobody buying new cars, no one is getting rid of their old cars, and the salvage yards are getting fewer parts."
Even car dealers who say sales in new car market "are pretty robust right now" have noticed customers making deals in different ways.
"Three years ago, they'd say finance the whole thing," said George Criswell, owner of Criswell Acura and Criswell Audi. "Now, they'll put $7,000 down. We're seeing more down payments and larger down payments. People have been saving for the past 24 months."
Criswell said his business in new cars has picked up significantly over the past year, hampered only by a lack of supply after the March earthquake and tsunami shut down manufacturing in Japan. Now that supply has returned, Criswell said, people who have been saving their money are taking advantage of deals. He thinks the trend of holding on to older vehicles is ending.
"We can look back, and things were rough over the past six years. No question about it," Criswell said. "But from where I'm looking in Annapolis, things have turned a corner. People aren't waiting any longer (to buy a car). Their cars are worn out."
If you encounter other problems, please email nlundskow@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.
In order to post or vote on a comment, you must be signed in with a hometownannapolis account.
Take a look at a summary of Commenting Guidelines .
If you encounter other problems, please email nlundskow@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.
Source:
