June 25, 2020—IMR Inc. has released its latest quarterly update on trends in delayed maintenance for 2020, with oil changes topping the list, according to a press release.
IMR Inc. surveys 25,000 households each quarter about how they have serviced and maintained the vehicles in their household, and classifies delayed maintenance as maintenance and repairs that vehicle owners intentionally are delaying.
Out of households surveyed in the first quarter of 2020, 17.6 percent reported that they had delayed vehicle repairs or maintenance, while in the second quarter, households reported that 20.1 percent had delayed maintenance on their vehicles.
With tracking delayed maintenance trends since 2016, IMR has seen the trend slowly declined quarter over quarter from nearly 23.6 percent of household reporting delaying one or more vehicle service repairs, to the 17.6 percent reported in the first quarter of this year. This downward trend was interrupted in the second quarter of 2020 due to shelter-in-place orders and fewer miles driven from the COVID-19 pandemic.
IMR Inc.’s Delayed Maintenance Tracking Study monitors 100 parts, services, and chemicals. In the second quarter of 2020, the top 10 categories of delayed maintenance/repair, in order of highest percentage to lowest are:
- Oil changes
- Tires
- Battery
- Scheduled maintenance
- Brake shoes/pads
- Brake discs/rotors/drums
- Air filter
- Other collision, paint or body repairs
- Major/minor paint work
- Wiper blades
