In the chart below we see the wholesale price repair shops pay for a “basket” of parts from three categories: maintenance parts, under vehicle parts and underhood parts. The Undercar category includes: exhaust, steering, suspension, brakes; the Underhood category includes: engine parts, electrical, HVAC, cooling; and the Maintenance category includes: filters, spark plugs, belts and hoses.

As seen in the chart below, the under vehicle category experienced the largest price increase, rising from 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

Next, we examine the price change consumers experienced for a select number of services, as illustrated in the chart below. Pricing information is from repair orders and includes parts, labor and all markups. After experiencing a dip in the previous quarter, the water pump and brake repair categories experienced the largest price increases in the first quarter of 2010.

In the final chart below, we see the average overall change in pricing from the third quarter of 2009 through the first quarter of 2010. After experiencing a drop in the fourth quarter of 2009, pricing began to rise again in the first quarter of this year as the study’s author, Thomas Langer, founder of TLG Research, points out.

“2009 was a year of moderation in price increases,” said Langer. ”Following some fairly heavy increases in 2008 due to material cost increases, shipping surcharges and more, the past year has been relatively quiet. Pricing pressure at the service repair level due to economic issues for their customers has translated to pricing and margin pressure all the way up the channel. The result – 2009 was a year where increases ranged from 1 percent to 4 percent for parts, and flat to up 2 percent for service. That said, there is, and will be more, a need for greater increases this year at the service repair level due to higher business and personnel expenses, likely higher wages as what is now over capacity begins to shift. Raw materials are expected to moderate this year after a small pricing rally earlier due to continued softness in demand globally. This may give part manufacturers a bit of a margin respite this year after a volatile few years."

The data for this report is collected from service repair centers with additional service repair center level pricing information provided by Nu-Way Automotive.

Focused exclusively on all segments of the global automotive industry, TLG Research (TLGR) offers clients a unique approach to obtaining and keeping a global competitive advantage. Recognized as the “Parts Problem Solvers,” TLGR provides information quickly and cost effectively. Founded in 1992 by Thomas Langer, a 30-year industry veteran, TLGR through its proprietary database, provides a unique "menu driven" approach to offer services such as price comparisons and strategies, product/market data, channel information, competitive analysis, surveys, new product strategies and technical writing.