Shop Secrets Revealed: 2025 New Jersey Automotive Survey Results
by Jaquelyn Bauman
Demographics:
Collision repair: 80%
Mechanical repair: 10%
Collision & Mechanical repair: 10%
Collision shops:
Are you a DRP?
Yes, 1-5 programs: 71%
Yes, 6-10 programs: 7%
Yes, more than 10 programs: 4%
No: 18%
How many employees do you have, including yourself?
1-5: 26%
6-10: 26%
11-20: 26%
Over 20 employees: 22%
Approximately how old are your youngest and oldest employees?
Average youngest age: 24
Average oldest age: 66
The most shocking detail revealed in the responses to this question was the broad spectrum of ages for both the youngest and oldest employees at our readers’ shops. Even though the average age of the youngest employee for most Garden State shops is 24, the answers in our survey ranged from 15 to 47 years old. For the oldest employee at our readers’ shops, despite averaging 66 years old, the spread reached all the way from 40 to 82 years old.
Last year, 91 percent of survey respondents shared that their oldest employee was over 50. This year, that number is up to 97 percent, showing how quickly many are approaching retirement.
How many employees have you hired in the past year?
None: 22%
1: 10%
2-4: 52%
5 or more: 16%
While these stats are relatively on par with previous years, there has been a significant increase in those hiring more than one employee in 2025. Compared to last year’s survey results, there has been a 55 percent increase in those hiring two or more employees in the last 365 days.
OPERATIONS:
What is your current labor rate?
$50-$60: 14%
$61-$70: 41%
$71-$80: 21%
$81-$90: 3%
More than $90: 21%
In 2021, 70 percent of survey respondents had a labor rate between $50-$60 per hour. That bottom tier continues to shrink, decreasing 18 percent just since last year. The amount of shop owners who are charging over $90 has more than doubled from our 2024 results.
What do you think your labor rate should be?
Less than $90: 17%
$91-$100: 38%
$101-$110: 10%
$111-$120: 0%
More than $121: 35%
In 2024, only 13 percent of our survey takers thought they should be getting over $120 per hour for their labor rate. This year, that number has more than doubled at 35 percent.
What is your current storage rate?
$50-$60: 17%
$61-$70: 4%
$71-$80: 0%
$81-$90: 10%
More than $90: 69%
If applicable, what is your current backlog of work?
N/A, no backlog: 33%
Less than 14 days: 37%
14-30 days: 30%
Would you say that business in your company is up or down compared to last year?
While repairers across the Garden State have many things in common, one thing that this year’s survey has revealed is that the current state of automotive repair work in 2025 looks very different from shop to shop. With a nearly even one-third split between those believing their business to be up from last year compared to those who think their business is down and those who see their business as the same, the perception of the automotive repair industry is extremely varied across New Jersey shop owners.
“We stay very involved in our community,” shares one Union County-based shop owner who indicated that his business was up compared to last year. “Working with how people manage their savings and supporting our community members has helped us maintain our business.”
How else are shops seeing either continued or improved business in 2025? We hope that you will find some of the answers to this question in the results of our survey below.
How would you rate your current state of business?
Last year, our survey respondents shared one of the highest ratings on their current state of business, averaging a 7.3 rating across shop owners. Unfortunately, even though 30 percent of survey respondents reported that their business has improved in the past year, the average rate of the industry is back to our pre-2024 average rating of 6.7. In 2024, 100 percent of our readers rated their current state of business at a five or higher – a number which has dwindled by 13 percent in 2025.
How does your shop handle ADAS calibrations?
Repair in-house: 43%
Sublet to dealership: 18%
Sublet to ADAS calibration center: 39%
If you calibrate ADAS in-house, who performs the calibrations?
Repair planner: 6%
Dedicated calibration tech: 69%
Whoever is handling the repair job: 13%
Other: 12%
The fact that over two-thirds of shops employ a dedicated calibration technician demonstrates an understanding of the advancing complexity of this task while creating a new career path for aspiring industry professionals
How are you incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into your business?
The future is knocking on the bay doors of New Jersey shop owners, and as our survey reveals, Garden State repairers are starting to get on board. Last year, 60 percent of our survey respondents informed New Jersey Automotive that they had yet to implement any Artificial Intelligence into their business practices. In 2025, that number has decreased by 20 percent as more repairers see the value in this new tool to run their shops.
As for how our readers are using this technology, 31 percent reported that they are employing AI for their day-to-day communications, a number which more than doubled from last year’s survey.
“ChatGPT is great,” a North Jersey repairer confessed. “We can use it to explain things to the customer in layman’s terms. You can explain to them what a one-time use part is. It’s also great for making your case to insurers. It helps us justify why they should pay for certain things.”
Although the use of AI is increasing in our state, not everyone is excited by the prospect of this new technology. As one Passaic County shop owner joked, “I’m still working hard to find actual intelligence.”
What are your biggest concerns about AI?
A little over one-fifth of survey respondents shared that they had no concerns about the rise of AI, but the majority still maintain reservations about this new technology.
“Insurance companies are using it to their advantage by writing more incomplete estimates,” a Jersey City survey respondent conveyed. “They’re writing estimates that are extremely incorrect.”
In addition to the unsatisfactory applications of AI in writing estimates that already exist, our readers predicted the insurers will inadequately use this technology to cover their staffing shortages in the days ahead.
“They’re going to take it overboard,” suggested one Union County shop owner. “We already know they hate paying for things. They’re going to use it to replace employees and communications. It’s going to make the already nonexistent customer service worse.”
“There will be no human interactions at all,” a Hillsborough repairer added. “There will be no flexibility or compromise. It’s all going to be transactional.”
PERSPECTIVES:
What, if anything, gives you optimism about this industry over the next few months?
Over the past five years, New Jersey repairers have been experiencing increasing heights of unprecedented change and uncertainty in the future of the industry. With such a persistent sense of unease across shop owners, we wanted to know what might give our survey respondents a glimmer of hope in the coming months.
For a number of our readers, they believe a tide has turned in our government and that they might see changes in legislation sometime soon.
“We finally have leaders who know and respect capitalism,” expressed one shop owner from Essex County. “They’ll fight for us.”
“The legislation we put forward [regarding RTA] gives me hope about what’s in front of us,” shared a shop owner from Somerset County. “There’s the potential for a lot of rage and frustration for the customer with RTA. I think it will put gas on the fire to spark some change.”
For other shop owners, an increase in training and education is their guiding light in the days ahead.
“I’m excited about the continued education we’re providing to our staff,” explained a Bridgewater-based shop owner. “We know more, so we’re better able to explain to customers and vehicle owners the proper repair process. It helps us continue to justify the cost of our repairs.”
Another survey respondent from North Jersey agreed that the increase in education is an exciting opportunity for the automotive repair industry.
“The fact that I’m seeing our industry and AASP/NJ work more with CREF, CCC and I-CAR is a positive sign,” he expounded. “By bringing in education, youth and shops are coming together at one level.”
What do you feel is the most critical issue affecting the industry right now?
Labor Rates: 11%
Insurer involvement in the repair process: 44%
Lack of qualified help: 15%
Increasing costs: 19%
Lack of consumer education: 11%
In 2024, 35 percent of NJA survey respondents indicated that the insufficient Labor Rate was their biggest pain point as repairers, while 44 percent felt that the lack of qualified help was the most pressing issue they were facing as shop owners. Although insurer involvement in the repair process has always been a problem for repairers, it appears something has shifted for the worse, as this year’s survey revealed insurer interference as the largest grievance for shop owners in 2025 by a wide margin.
“Insurers are united, and it allows them to keep us down,” explained a repairer from Union County. “If we want to have any kind of bargaining power in the labor rate or the repair process, we need to unite on the same platform.”
For some shop owners, in addition to the regular industry issues they’ve always faced, a new decrease in volume of work is weighing heavily on their minds.
“We’re seeing a decrease in repair volume,” lamented a survey respondent from South River. “Consolidation is killing us.”
“Claim count is down, and total loss severity is up,” another Freehold-based repairer agreed. “I don’t know how we’ll survive if this keeps up.”
Which insurers are the most difficult to deal with?
For the ninth year in a row, New Jersey Automotive readers have reported that the top three worst insurers to deal with are Progressive, Allstate and State Farm, with Progressive leading the pack by a wide margin, appearing in 68 percent of survey respondents’ answers. For comparison, the second most-reported difficult insurer, State Farm, only came up in 26 percent of responses.
But just what is it that makes these insurers so much worse to deal with than their counterparts?
“Progressive and State Farm basically disregard any OEM documentation,” reported a Central Jersey shop owner. “These procedures are overridden by their staff’s opinions, and their staff are ill-informed and have all been indoctrinated into their ecosystem.”
“Progressive just keeps going backwards,” another repairer from Middlesex County agreed. “Things they paid for years, they now go back on.”
“Progressive needs supervisor approvals to get any parts replaced or repairs justified, which affects turnaround time,” a reader from Bridgewater continued. However, Progressive was not the only insurer on his list. “State Farm is the worst with denying supplements, plus they need insane documentation, which they don’t even include, and then require another supplement. The amount of work isn’t worth it.”
“For us, State Farm is the worst,” a Sussex County repairer concurred. “One time, while negotiating a claim via telephone, a claims person told me that he ‘hates New Jersey body shops.’ He went on to state that if a New Jersey body shop is asking for eight hours to repair a panel, he lowers it to two hours. I swear, he told me that he wants our technicians to not be able to purchase food so that they can starve. The vilest person I’ve ever dealt with at an insurer or otherwise.”
Another reader shared that he navigates some abysmal insurer dynamics by being a part of a DRP but recognizes that his business would be very different were this not the case.
“We have an issue with any insurer that we are not a DRP with,” the South Jersey shop owner explained. “The worst we deal with is Progressive, but I know lots of shops who are DRP for them and have minimal issues.”
How do you feel insurer-shop relations have worsened over the past 12 months?
Insurer interference and control over the repair process have been longstanding impediments for Garden State shop owners, and with each passing year, it feels like it gets worse. For a number of our survey respondents, the insurance industry’s deeply entrenched manipulation tactics continue to make running their businesses a challenge.
“The insurance industry wants to control the automotive industry,” lamented one repairer from Mercer County. “DRPs need to be abolished.”
“We do almost no work for non-DRP carriers,” a Toms River shop owner agreed. “They have done a great job of steering customers to their shops and made it so that non-DRP shops don’t want the hassle of doing their work.”
“There are 15 other shops on my block, and the insurers play bingo with us,” described an Elizabeth-based survey respondent. “It makes it harder on us. There is no scale of proper labor rate within a 25-mile city. Because we’re not united, we have no power in these conversations with insurers.”
As New Jersey Automotive readers reported, the headaches caused by insurers don’t end once the car finally rolls into their bays.
“Insurers simply ignore the shop’s positions and arguments on safe and proper repair practices,” a Monmouth County repairer shared. “They say everything is included when it’s not and then stomp their feet and refuse to even discuss it.”
Yet, these well-established hassles of steering and refusal to negotiate were not the only aspects of the insurance industry that are causing issues for New Jersey repairers, according to our survey results. Like many other industries, insurers are also experiencing staffing shortages that are creating new challenges for shop owners to navigate.
“There’s no more one-on-one communication,” an Eatontown reader explained. “The companies are so understaffed; it’s taking a toll on shops. You can’t call and discuss anything with the insurance companies unless they are calling to let you know they’re not paying for something.”
Another Central Jersey shop owner agreed.
“They don’t have any qualified appraisers, and the insurance companies don’t understand the repair process,” he pointed out. “They don’t care. The employees have become bean counters at the consumer’s expense.”
In your opinion, has the increase in consolidation been helpful or harmful to the industry?
Helpful: 19%
Harmful: 81%
While some repairers believe that creating a coalition amongst shop owners will help strengthen the automotive repair industry against the goliath of insurers, our readers overwhelmingly agree that this strength in numbers will not be reached through consolidation.
For a number of our readers, the threat of consolidation puts smaller shops on the chopping block.
“MSOs are the Walmarts of the automotive industry,” observed a repairer from Elizabeth. “It makes it harder for regular shops’ wants and needs to be respected.”
“It will lead to forcing smaller shops to either close or sell,” another responder from Freehold predicted. “When the MSO has a big enough footprint, they will attempt to suffocate the smaller shops into submission by putting pressure on insurance companies to either remove the smaller shop from their DRP or steer work away from them.”
As some survey respondents noted, these practices are already occurring in New Jersey.
“Insurers are pushing all the work to them, even though they know it’s substandard work,” revealed a Somerset County repairer. “They turn a blind eye to it, and it’s lowering the standards of quality repair for the rest of us. Some of us see the writing on the wall. All my friends are getting out of the industry and selling to consolidators.”
Even those who are part of an MSO recognized the impact consolidation has on the industry.
“We are a CARSTAR Store and considered an MSO by carriers, so it has been good for us,” said a South Jersey survey respondent, though he admitted, “If we were not an MSO, I would not like it at all.”
If approached by an MSO, would you consider selling your shop?
Yes: 30%
No: 47%
Not sure: 23%
As the shadow of consolidation looms larger over the automotive repair industry, the question of selling one’s shop is creeping into the minds of repairers around the Garden State. Our survey reveals that less than half of our respondents are firm in continuing their business, while 30 percent would be open to selling their shop, and nearly a quarter aren’t sure of their future.
“Owning a shop is the American Dream,” declared one respondent from Newark. “I’m definitely not going to sell it.”
His sentiments were shared by another repairer from Toms River.
“I would never sell to an MSO,” he echoed in his survey response. “They don’t care about employees in their takeovers. For them, it’s all about numbers. I have a duty to my staff, and I won’t leave them hanging.”
For those who would consider selling if the opportunity presented itself, a long tenure in the industry is a major contributing factor in their decision.
“I’ve been doing this for 47 years,” one Hackensack-based shop owner shared. “I don’t have anyone lined up to take over when I retire. The time is right for me.”
As another survey respondent from North Jersey acknowledged, their answer to the question of selling all boils down to the almighty dollar.
“Depends on what they offer,” he joked. “They could make it worth my while.”
RANDOM PARTS:
Are you aware of AASP/NJ’s legislative efforts regarding Right to Appraisal (RTA)?
Yes: 87%
No: 13%
Even though the majority of our survey respondents were cognizant of AASP/NJ’s legislative efforts regarding Right to Appraisal (RTA), there were still some of our readers who missed the association’s efforts in this fight. In response to some New Jersey insurance carriers removing or limiting the Appraisal Clause in their policies, AASP/NJ has been working with New Jersey State Senator Paul Moriarty on Senate Bill 4534, which would require all automotive insurance policies in the Garden State to include the Appraisal Clause.
Many shop owners recognize the importance of this legislation in protecting the consumer and, as such, are making efforts of their own to get this critical law passed.
“We’ve asked our county representative to help,” one survey respondent from Sussex County announced. “I believe this could really make a difference in our industry.”
“I became aware of this legislation through attending AASP/NJ meetings,” shared another North Jersey reader. “I plan on meeting with [AASP/NJ Executive Director] Charlie [Bryant] to learn more.”
If you have ever had a customer invoke the Appraisal Clause, please share your experience.
The Appraisal Clause in insurance policies is an important tool for consumers in the fight against insurers, but as some NJA readers shared, the insurance companies will do everything in their power to prevent it from being used properly.
“We had one customer try to use the Appraisal Clause against Allstate,” recounted one Paterson shop owner. “The insurance company employed every tactic to delay and dissuade customers from being able to use RTA effectively.”
Even though it is discouraging to discover that insurance companies will try to thwart a driver’s efforts to advocate for themselves through the Appraisal Clause, it isn’t surprising – and it makes it even more rewarding when this tool is used to its fullest potential and brings the insurers to heel.
“We have customers almost every day who do it,” a repairer from Allentown disclosed. “There are so many insurers who will not negotiate except when the Appraisal Clause is invoked. But I’ve seen customers get them there many times.”
What has been your biggest challenge in attracting and retaining employees?
In the last two iterations of the New Jersey Automotive survey, 58 percent of our readers indicated that one of their biggest challenges in attracting and retaining employees was the lack of qualified technicians available. In 2025, only one quarter of our respondents mentioned the quality or quantity of the labor pool, but 42 percent expressed their biggest difficulty in attracting and retaining employees is now the challenge of paying them an adequate wage.
“A lot of new employees want a higher rate,” cautioned a South Amboy shop owner. “They’re going to the MSOs to get paid a high dollar. It’s hard being competitive.”
Another survey taker from Central Jersey shared his pain.
“We get very few qualified applicants, and when we do, it’s hard to give them what they’re asking for,” he divulged. “They are looking for a particular level of pay and perks that we can’t offer them.”
For the lucky 29 percent of our survey respondents who expressed that they had no challenges regarding their staff in 2025, the ‘secret sauce’ appears to be investing in their existing employees.
“We haven’t had any issues because we treat our team as the incredibly valuable part of the business that they are,” a Red Bank shop owner boasted. “I know that if I treat them well, they will treat my customers well, and the business will do well.”
What type of training could your staff benefit most from?
Staying informed and at the forefront of the industry could be the difference between a bay full of cars and a permanent ‘closed’ sign on the doors for New Jersey shop owners. Nearly a third of survey respondents specified that the most beneficial training their staff could receive is any courses from I-CAR. The second most popular response regarding what training their staff could most benefit from was OEM-training, with 14 percent specifically indicating training on new technology.
Soft skills training also appeared in several responses, covering everything from leadership training to sales techniques to customer service.
What do you do in your business to promote a positive work culture?
Now that retaining employees has become increasingly critical to sustaining business operations, shops around the state are employing a variety of different methods to create an environment that staff are happy to return to day after day. Survey respondents shared their tactics, which ranged from the small, everyday delights like morning pastries and pizza lunch days, to the occasional surprises such as team building events, holiday parties and gift certificate rewards.
Outside of special, feel-good benefits, New Jersey shop owners are focusing on cultivating practices that bring their team together and uplift their employees.
“We gather for monthly meetings and functions to keep morale high,” a Sayreville business owner shared. “We make sure there’s constant recognition for good employees who excel in their work.”
Another Kearny-based shop owner who responded to our survey outlined a similar tactic.
“We make the shop feel like a family where everyone feels valued,” he wrote. “Our employees are stakeholders in the business, and with what they do, they are like artists or magicians. I make sure my customers know who fixed their car.”
How do you educate your current and potential customers?
Being an automotive repairer already comes with a slew of unique and deep-seated challenges, many of which are out of the control of independent shop owners. One area in which repairers have some agency to prevent additional problems from occurring down the line is keeping their customer base well informed.
Communicating sometimes complex information to a population that often has little to no idea how vehicles work can be a daunting task, but as our survey reveals, New Jersey shop owners are up to the challenge.
“We explain the entire process of the repair to them as we look at the job,” detailed a Bridgewater-based repairer. “We make sure they’re aware of any other outcomes or possibilities. We outline the minimally necessary repairs but make sure to inform them about the ‘ifs, ands and buts’ of doing it minimally. If the customers know the least amount they could do, but also why that may not be the best solution, they better understand why it’s best to go with doing it the right way, even if it’s more costly.”
Another shop owner from Wayne agreed, specifically noting that they employ various methods of communication, including emails, texts and phone calls to keep their clients up to date.
“It’s important to keep the customer engaged,” he shared. “We email them the estimate of what’s approved and follow up with a call to review and explain policy and parts so there are no surprises.”
“We have multiple notices that we send out at various intervals,” another reader from Atlantic City described. “We also send a letter outlining the responsibility of the insurance company versus the shop versus the clients, so there is no misunderstanding as to who’s responsible for what.”
Of course, running a shop is a herculean task in and of itself, so not every shop owner has time to walk through every minute detail with all of their customers. In these instances, our survey respondents shared some of the other methods they employ for their clients.
“We’ve got a great resource right at our fingertips,” an Asbury Park repairer stated in his response. “We share articles from New Jersey Automotive. It helps the customer understand.”
If you could transform or fix any part of this industry, what would it be?
The hurdles that automotive repairers have to navigate just to stay afloat in this industry are infinite and varied. Topping the list of aspects of the industry that are most in need of change for our survey respondents was the role of insurance companies in the repair process. Whether it was insurers’ refusal to negotiate, the need for regulation of their industry, the substandard dynamics between shops and insurance companies or the overbearing control they lord over the repair process, many of our readers agree that insurance companies are the source of most of their problems as shop owners.
“With advanced tech on cars these days, it’s more important than ever that shops have more control over the repair process,” a respondent from Lodi shared. “Insurance companies don’t know as much as we do as repairers. They shouldn’t have this much control. It’s not safe.”
A shop owner from Parsippany echoed these sentiments, focusing on the relationship between the repair and insurance industries.
“We need to have better relations with insurance carriers,” he expressed. “Most on both sides are decent people just trying to do right by their mutual customer. There needs to be understanding established between us if anything is going to change.”
Outside of insurer influence, 27 percent of survey responses mentioned the subpar labor rate as the facet of the repair industry most in need of change.
“Something needs to change with how we’re paid,” a Trenton repairer lamented. “Either the labor rate needs to increase overall, or there needs to be tiers set to differentiate the quality of shops across the state. We need to level the playing field.”
Whatever pain point our survey respondents conveyed, many of them shared that their problems could be alleviated if the industry came together.
“We need to unite as shop owners,” one Piscataway reader wrote. “It’s David versus Goliath. If we want anything to change, we need to do it together.”
Want more? Check out the December 2025 issue of New Jersey Automotive!