SYLVANIA, Ohio — The ongoing United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers is starting to impact local car dealerships.
Dave White Chevrolet in Sylvania said it's had to tell several customers a day that technicians can diagnose a problem with their vehicle, but they might not have the parts to fix it.
"If you need a transmission or engine, you're just going to need to park the car and wait for it because we cannot get the part that we need for you," said Joe Mehling of Dave White Chevrolet. "That's very very difficult for us to tell somebody, but it's the reality right now."
The dealership said it's having trouble servicing customers that need big parts and those parts concerning computer and electronic systems.
Dave White Chevrolet said it knows it's not the only dealership feeling the impact of the UAW strike.
"There's no question the other GM stores are because, I mean, they're suffering from the same things we are," Mehling said. "We tried to stock as many parts as we could but as supply dwindles down and you don't have availability of getting them from anywhere, it's going to start to hurt us all."
That is why Mehling is hoping for a resolution soon.
"I would hope that cooler heads prevail and that they sit down and negotiate a fair bargain for both sides and that we can get these guys back to work, for their sake and the sake of the Midwest especially," said Mehling.
He said even if the strike stopped tomorrow, it would take until the first of the year production-wise for things to get back to normal. The good news, Mehling said, is parts will start coming in immediately because of inventory sitting at the depots.
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