US car repair prices are up 61% since 2019
US car repair and maintenance prices are up 61% since January 2019. That is close to twice the rise in all prices and well above pay. Get a second quote every time.
US car repair and maintenance prices are up 61% since January 2019. Average hourly pay is up 37% and prices overall are up 34%, so repair has risen almost twice as fast as the general price level.
Most repairs are bills drivers cannot put off. Get a second quote every time, including one from an independent shop.
The numbers
Each series is the change from January 2019 to September 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Pay is average hourly earnings of private-sector employees.
| Item | Change since January 2019 |
|---|---|
| Car maintenance and repair | +61.1% |
| Average hourly pay | +37.0% |
| All prices | +33.9% |
Repair prices rose about 18% more than pay. Put differently, an hour of work that paid for a given repair in 2019 pays for about 85% of it now. A repair that cost $1,000 in January 2019 costs about $1,611 at the index rate. The same $1,000 of pay has become about $1,370.
The September 2026 figures are the newest the BLS has published. The next release covers October.
Why it happened
The index records price, not the reason for it. Our reading rests on how the market works. A driver with a dead car rarely has time to shop around, and a repair quote arrives only after the shop has diagnosed the fault. That makes comparison hard when it matters most. Sellers in a market like that face weaker pressure to hold prices down, and the data are consistent with it, though they do not prove it.
This sits next to the premium data. Insurers pay for repairs, and car insurance premiums are up 49% over the same period. See US car insurance is up 49% since 2019.
What it means
Three groups can act on this, and none needs to wait for a policy change.
For a household, the fix is a habit. For any repair above a few hundred dollars, ask for the written quote, take it to a second shop, and include an independent one. Ask which parts the quote uses and what the hourly labour rate is.
For a business with vehicles, repair is a cost line that has grown faster than your wage bill. Track cost per vehicle, and run a competitive quote for fleet work every year.
For a policymaker, a price a buyer cannot postpone and cannot compare is where better price information helps most. That means itemised estimates before work starts.
Limits
The index measures the price of a constant set of repair and maintenance services. It also covers routine maintenance, so it blends minor services with large repairs, and a driver’s own bill can move differently. Pay is an hourly average and does not capture hours. The base month matters. Starting from January 2019 includes the pandemic years.
Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U series CUUR0000SETD, motor vehicle maintenance and repair, and CUUR0000SA0, all items, not seasonally adjusted, https://www.bls.gov/cpi/data.htm (checked 2026-10-29; September 2026 is the latest month)
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CES0500000003, average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, https://www.bls.gov/data/ (checked 2026-10-29; September 2026 is the latest month)
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U CUSR0000SETE, motor vehicle insurance, seasonally adjusted, https://www.bls.gov/data/ (checked 2026-10-29)
We first posted this finding on X: https://x.com/EstimandLab/status/2115475012576845938