Wild Winter Ride Creating Steady Flow Of Repairs For Local Auto Shop

BERKLEY (WWJ) - This winter is setting weather records in Michigan and around the country, it's also creating a steady flow of business for local auto repair shops.

At Northern Auto Repairs on Woodward Avenue in Berkley, owner John Bures told WWJ's Marie Osborne that every bay of his nine well garage has been filled for weeks.

Aging cars and poorly maintained vehicles combined with the heavily salted roads and teeth chattering potholes are making business brisk this winter for repairs.

"Mostly it's the front end and rear damage," he said.

One customer could barely steer her car into the parking lot - the problem? Wheel-wells packed with ice.

Bures told WWJ that people come into the repair shop not even realizing parts of their cars are missing.

"People, when they are parking, the are running into snow banks and the panels underneath the car are there for protection of the oil pan and other components and a lot of folks back out of the parking spot and at that point they leave part of their trim on the lot," said Bures.

Service time is so precious at the shop these days that the owner's wife had to make an appointment to get the family car checked-out.