Automotive Parts Shortage Impact

September 16th, 2021 by

The automotive parts shortage impact on Kia Country of Charleston’s service and maintenance cuts deep.  Service & Parts Director, Mitch Jones said, “I’ve never seen anything like it in 30+ years in this business.” The shortages started about six months into the pandemic and have affected both foreign and domestic parts. It has affected everything from oil filters to engines.

kia parts

Our average turnaround time for a special-order part is three days. We currently have 100+ parts back-ordered.  We have some customers that have been waiting longer than a month. There seems to be some improvement in general maintenance parts, but we are concerned that the current COVID spike may exacerbate the problem.

The parts shortage has caused frustration for both customers and staff. In some cases, customers are understandably livid. Our Service Consultants thrive on helping customers and the stress of being unable to help in many cases for more than a year has taken its toll.

We are doing our best to source products from Kia and alternate sources. We notify customers regarding any issues with their vehicles and parts availability. We do understand the frustration and we are working daily to navigate through this problem.