Americans feeling the squeeze from inflation, high interest rates and other pressures are buying fewer new cars. That’s bad news for automakers and dealers, but the surprise is that it hasn’t translated into good news for the aftermarket service businesses that help keep our increasingly older cars on the road.
An investigation by the Wall Street Journal highlights that the average age of passenger cars in the US today is 13.6 years, compared with just 8.4 years three decades ago. And unlike new cars, which come with new, top quality tires, fresh brakes and oil, require minimal servicing in their early years, and can sometimes be serviced free of charge at automaker dealerships, older cars need more work to keep on the road.
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