Problematic parts: Toyota driver shocked by spare parts delivery date set for 2050; Collision repair industry weighs on auto parts delays in post-pandemic climate

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — CTV News recently reported that a Saskatoon vehicle owner was shocked when he was told a replacement part for his 2023 Toyota Corolla wouldn’t be delivered until 2050. Collision repair also contacted the industry to find out the severity of parts delays in the province.

After being involved in two collisions, Keith Cassidy learned that although most of the parts were available to repair his vehicle, he was surprised to learn that delivery of those parts was scheduled to arrive in 2049 and 2050, respectively. .

“Basically, from what I understand, we’re looking at a plastic bumper guard and then another piece of plastic that makes a skirt around the rear wheel on the driver’s side of the car,” Cassidy told CTV News.

Cassidy added that the wait times “are beyond him.” “How can this take 26 years to manufacture and ship,” he said.

Toyota Canada further emailed CTV News to state that the date 2050 is populated by default in its system, but that global supply chain challenges continue to affect the entire auto industry.

In response to this story, Collision repair reached out to Chelsea Stebner, managing partner at Parr Autobody in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to ask about the current state of parts delays in the industry.

Here, Stebner confirmed that she and the Parr Autobody team have seen an increase in parts delays since the Covid-19 pandemic,

Along with this, Stebner reported that the store is also “receiving numerous backorders with no expected arrival time. It’s definitely a challenge to keep up and keep up.

“We had a Volkswagen that arrived undrivable in September 2022 and had a parts backlog that we were able to recognize, fortunately,” Stebner said.

“This part finally arrived in February 2024. During the pandemic, we also had a self-driving Hyundai with a door shell “on a boat somewhere” on its way to us for about five months. Fortunately, in this case, the customer was not at fault for the collision and the insurance company covered a rental for the insured.

“Luckily too,” Stebner concluded, “most customers are understanding, but the reality is that body shops are the main point of contact for customers, so the shops certainly bear the brunt of customer frustrations regarding parts delays and the entire claims process. »

Collision repair also recently surveyed the industry to find basic facts about repairer strategies to better understand how collision centers of various sizes across Canada are coping with the ups and downs of parts supply and, inevitably , to disturbances.