DALLAS — Chris Marguette has been doing a lot more walking since his family went from two cars down to one car. Their 2014 Ford Focus has been in a Frisco auto repair shop since January and with still no timetable on the fix.
"It just seems like there's no resolve in sight," said Marguette. "The part's not available and that there's a back order and that there's a waiting list of 40,000 in front of you."
Marguette tells WFAA the service department sends text messages month after month with no "ETA on parts."
Robert Kelley of Headstorm, a management and technology consulting company, knows all about supply chain problems.
He tells WFAA the complexity of the automotive product makes it an easy target for supply chain issues. He says there are so many parts that are made in the far east in places like Taiwan and China, and both places are dealing with supply and labor shortages along with the pandemic.
"The supply for replacement parts is the same for new parts," he said. "That's kind of the perfect storm of problems. and these are unique times we're in," said Kelley.
The backlog of parts is not a new issue. However, its rippling effect is continuing to be seen, and in some cases, has gotten worse. Mark Walker of Walker Auto Body in Dallas is scrambling to fix the cars filling up his parking lot.
Walker says no many parts are back-ordered and he says that's the case for every automaker. Walker pointed to a number of cars on his lot that need step bars, or headliners, or electrical components.
Most of those parts are weeks and months out from arriving. But in some cases, "they can't even give you a date. There's no potential release date for these items," Walker said.
Some of his customers have been coming to the shop for 40 years. Walker has even asked some of his customers to keep their cars home because there's no point in cars sitting in the lot for an extended period of time.
"If you're vehicle is driveable I've already ordered parts before you come in here," Walker said.
The chip shortage is a separate and big problem. But, Robert Kelley says recalls have only compounded things.
Kelley points out that Ford Motor Company is navigating through a number of recalls involving thousands of vehicles.
Marguette and his family of three rely on one car. It's hard but they know it could be worse. More than anything else he'd just like an idea of when the parts will come in so he can plan better.
"I just want Ford to fix the issue and take care of us as customers," Marguette said.
WFAA has sent multiple messages to Ford Motor Company seeking comment on product shortages and delays, and our messages were not returned.