The threat of more winter storms is a cause for concern from auto body shops across the metro.
They say hailstorms in Norman last year, plus supply chain issues, have caused a major backlog at garages across Oklahoma.
“That hailstorm in Norman got them busy, so then it moved up north here,” owner James Willis said, referring to the influx of customers coming from Norman. “Then you have the COVID problems, where we can’t get parts and all the supplies are short.”
Employees at J Willis Auto Body say they’re backed up until the end of April, so it’s hard to take on any new customers.
The shop only has eight employees, but they try to get 20 cars out a week.
However, they said some cars have been sitting here for over 6 months because the parts they ordered have not arrived yet due to a supply chain shortage.
“It’s just a calamity of errors all across the board,” Willis said. “We are doing the best we can.”
Willis says he hopes customers can be patient and understanding, because these circumstances are out of their control.
