The new law was intended to curb the rise in car inspection prices and open up the inspection services sector to more competition. Unfortunately, inspection prices have remained stagnant for the last three years. This uncertainty about the business’ profitability means that motor repair shops have no initiative to provide the inspections, deduces The Association of Automotive Technical Societies in Finland in its January survey of its members.
“Three out of four car repair shops reply that they aren’t going to do a thing. A fifth says they are considering it. Only a small percent of the shop owners say that they are preparing for or launching the service,” says Association Chair Keijo Mäenpää.
Repair shop owners already expressed their lack of enthusiasm for the new service in the autumn, but the number of non-interested shops in the January poll surprised even the survey organisers.
“If a repair shop offers inspection services, it could affect the efficiency of the shop as well. The same people can’t fix the cars and inspect them simultaneously,” says Mäenpää.
The new inspection law also aims to save the customer’s time, effort and expense. If the survey holds true, the new number of inspection stations will be so few in number that these savings won’t be realised, at least in the early stages.