‘We’re seeing backlogs of months’: Long delays for car repairs may be the new normal

A Dartmouth woman who was in a collision five months ago is still waiting for parts to make repairs.

Laura Marchand has been without her vehicle since Nov. 1, 2024.

The Dartmouth, N.S., woman took it in for repairs after getting into her first-ever collision, just off Main Street, on Oct. 31.

Thankfully, there were no physical injuries, but Marchand says she’s been “mentally hurt” since then.

“(I have) a lot of anxiety because I don’t have my car,” she tells CTV News. “I didn’t expect to be five months without my car.”

In the meantime, she’s relied on others, including her partner Douglass Ross, to get around.

When she took her brand-new Nissan Kicks to the Dartmouth Collision Centre in November, she says an appointment was made for March 18, and they’ve had the car since then as it isn’t safe to drive.

Marchand says she was taken aback by the long timeline for the appointment.

“They had taken it in the garage, but when they took it apart, they said, ‘Oh, we need more parts.‘”

A grill, front fender and fog light all needed attention, she says.

“We’re definitely seeing longer and longer lead times on repairs,” says Lorraine Sommerfield, an automotive columnist with Driving.ca.

“That’s industry-wide. There were definitely shortages during Covid, which everybody knew about. The industry is still in … turmoil. The tariff threats aren’t helping anybody.”

Marchand’s vehicle also needs a new monitoring module and she just learned a new radiator would be required. However, she was left further frustrated after speaking with a Nissan Canada representative.

“He said that there are monitors coming, quite a few of them, on April 17, but not necessarily that I would get it,” she says.

Sommerfield says the manufacturer, Nissan, should supply Marchand with a rental car in the meantime.

“We’re seeing backlogs of months. It’s not out of the ordinary. I don’t know what to tell people because it’s not fair, it’s not right,” says Sommerfield. “But now, it’s kind of the way of the world. We’ve got a lot of long wait times on car repairs.”

Nissan responds

In a statement to CTV News Thursday, a Nissan Canada spokesperson confirms a part is on backorder and will have “an ETA of no later than early May.”

Didier Marsaud, Nissan Canada’s director of corporate communications, says supply chain delays can happen in any “complex industry.”

“We will be in touch again with the customer to find an appropriate solution to address their situation,” said Marsaud when asked about a loaner vehicle.

Newer vehicle complexity

Sommerfield says part of the issue comes down to cars being more complex, with more technology.

“A lot of times you hear it’s a sensor or a module and you think, ‘That’s so little, can’t you just go to Best Buy and get one?’ It’s not like that,” said Sommerfield.

“You want your car fixed properly, but it’s not fair to dump on consumers that you don’t have a vehicle for months at a time.”

For Marchand, that’s part of the core of her frustration.

“They’re selling new cars and they can’t get parts for them because they’re on back order,” she says.

CTV News reached out to the Dartmouth Collision Centre Wednesday. A manager declined an interview, but said, generally speaking, the repair industry has taken off in the past number of years as more people in the province means more collisions.

She added that’s led to backlogs, and that back-ordered parts can be challenging, with wait times of several months, not uncommon.