It is no secret that as the economy faltered during the period of 2007 to 2009, the practice of keeping automobiles longer grew. People started to postpone buying new vehicles and getting more miles out of them rather than putting more money into a vehicle they didn’t really need. Not only did this happen for private vehicles, but for heavy duty commercial equipment that businesses relied on.
Fewer Car Sales, More Repairs
Vehicles typically need few if any repairs when they are new. Once they get some significant mileage on them, it isn’t unusual for things to start to go wrong. For commercial vehicles, this milestone often comes sooner because of their regular use. As vehicles age, they require a greater investment for repairs that isn’t covered by extended warranties.
More Affordable Repairs
When you have a vehicle repaired with OEM parts, you can expect to pay significantly more than for the same part from an aftermarket brand. As a way to save money on the older vehicles, more people and businesses began to purchase aftermarket parts when they needed to have repairs made so that they could save even more money on their vehicle use.
The Trend Continues to Grow
The surprising thing is that once the economy started to recover, the purchase of aftermarket parts only dropped somewhat. Soon after, it started to climb again and it is still growing higher when considered annually, not quarterly.
What does this mean? Some believe it is the trend towards do-it-yourself repairs that has grown, resulting in more purchases of aftermarket parts that are not used by professionals. Others think that maybe people who purchased aftermarket parts to save money have discovered that they really are just as reliable as the OEM parts that cost significantly more.
Regardless of your reason for buying aftermarket parts, you can save a lot of money, especially if you have a fleet of commercial vehicles that have a little age on them.