On Monday, Matt Songler, 27, of Bronzeville, was driving and did not see a pothole because of the falling snow. Luckily, his tire didn’t burst, and he was able to use a portable air pump that he had to fill his tire, which lost some air, and made it home.
He didn’t have to drive again until Thursday morning, when he was asked to pick up his grandmother from the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was getting some tests. Unfortunately, when he got to his 2007 Chrysler Aspen he discovered his tire was completely flat.
Songler said he did not have a spare because it was stolen, so he had to have his vehicle towed and tire replaced, costing him hundreds of dollars and hours of time. Eventually, he borrowed a car from his mother and was able to pick up his grandmother, much later than he planned.
Songler’s tale is a common one in Chicago lately, as the cold and snow caused an uptick in flat tires, dead batteries and car accidents — all at a time when prices are up and some car parts take longer to get because of increased tariffs and increased demand.
“Business is up 40% over the last couple of weeks,” said Bill DeMaio, co-owner of River North Collision Repair, which has two locations — 1317 W. North Ave. and 356 W. Superior St.
Last weekend, the Illinois State Police reported that state troopers from responded to 1,659 calls for motorist assistance, fielded reports of 980 property damage-only crashes and 145 accidents with injuries.
“People need body work,” DeMaio said. “We’ve seen everything from minor fender-benders to very large accidents. With the ice, cars are sliding, people are hitting things, hitting other cars. Everyone forgets how to drive in the weather. It came early this year.”
Montserrat Gomez, manager at Paul Ries and Sons auto body shop, said he’s been so busy that they are looking to hire more workers. The shop, at 2233 W. Grand Ave. in West Town, claims it is Chicago’s oldest body shop, having been in business since 1913.
“We’re getting a lot of cars being brought in by tow trucks because of accidents,” Gomez said.
Shadi Qattawi, owner of Gateway Auto Service and Collision at 629 N. Ashland near Noble Square, said his business has also been busy with winter tune ups — something he said people held off on in the fall because of warmer weather than usual in October.
“Because of that, business is now up 30% this month from last,” Qattawi said. He also said while he’s seen a boost because of the increase in car accidents the last couple of weeks, the cold weather also increases his operational costs.
“When you keep opening and shutting our garage door, our heat and electric bills go up because it takes a long time to warm up the guys who are working on the cars,” Qattawi said.
He also said parts are more expensive because of recent tariff increases and take longer to get.
“We have to pass the costs on to our customers, we have no choice, and it takes longer to fix their cars because the availability of a lot of parts has decreased,” Qattawi said.
While the Chicago AAA does not track the amount of roadside assistance calls it gets, it has seen an increase over the last two weeks in calls for dead batteries, according to spokesperson Molly Hart.
Jesus Muro, manager at Auto Zone at 5374 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Jefferson Park, said car batteries are flying off the shelves, along with snow brushes, which the store was sold out of this week.
A scan of car batteries at the Milwaukee Avenue store showed car prices ranging from around $179 to more than $400.
Consumers have faced higher prices all year on more than just car batteries, according to government metrics. The cost of auto repairs was up 7.7% in September from the year before, according to the latest Consumer Price Index, the government’s key inflation measure. Auto insurance also went up 3.1% in the same time frame.
“I tell customers that we know a body shop is not somewhere where they want to be, kind of like going to a hospital, but we try to make their experience the best considering the circumstances,” Gomez said.
As for whether body shops may be rooting for bad weather because of the uptick in business that usually follows, she laughed and said, “No, we never root for bad weather but we know when it comes, we’ll be busy.”
Contributing: Casey He