LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — When you take your car to the shop to get fixed, you know it can take some time to get it back.
But shortages are still impacting the auto industry, and that short wait is turning into months for many shops.
That longer wait time is being felt firsthand here, specifically at Bale Collision in Little Rock as parts are hard to come by, no matter what you're looking for.
"Limited. It is a struggle every single day," Angel Montgomery, an estimator at the shop, said. First thing out of my mouth is we have the availability to take you, I just got to wait for your initial parts to come in."
It's not just one part or one manufacturer--Montgomery said it's pretty much something everybody is seeing everywhere.
"I have a hood that has an ETA of the end of May and it's different parts for everything," she said.
So what's keeping this shortage going? It started with the pandemic forcing production to freeze, with demand spiking afterwards.
"Everybody's in a tough boat right now, and we don't wanna be," Montgomery said. "But we're trying to do what we can to get ourselves out of it."
Because the availability of parts changes all the time, it's hard to know when, or even if your car could get fixed.
"As soon as we touch that car, that customer's life is in our hands," she said. "If we send them home in something that's not done that's our fault."
That, in turn, creates even more problems. Most insurance can help for a little bit with a rental car, but are unable to help the months-long delay that many are seeing.
"It definitely makes that conversation with insurance 10 times harder," Montgomery said. "I can't fix your customers car and now we both look bad, because your customer now has to pay rental charges."
So while Montgomery doesn't know when this will end, she does have some advice. Drive as safely as you can at all costs.
"We can fix it all day, but hey, if you get in one [a wreck], make it a slow wreck," Montgomery said. "Make it a scuff, make it a buff. If we're replacing stuff, there's never a guarantee."