Halifax auto shop reports surge in minor repairs

Slippery roads and rock-hard snowbanks are leading to a lot of damaged vehiclesin the Halifax area, with one body shop saying itsswamped with repair jobs.

Darrell MacKay of Maaco Collision Repair in Halifax says on an average day hell get six to eight vehicles in his shop, but thats jumped to a dozen or more since the bad weather began.

It's been chaos. It's been busy, he says.

He says some accidents happen because drivers cant see around piles of snow; in other cases bumpers, brittle from the cold, shatter against snowbanks.

Plastic is more brittle thanin July when it's nice and warm it's flexible, itdents more so than it cracks," MacKay says. "So we have people that come in with half of their bumper missing off the car.

MacKay says much of the damage is minor and many customers are biting the bullet and paying out of pocket.

I've heard this phrase probably 20 times in the last week:There goes my income tax return.

This comes as windshield repair shops are also reporting a surge in business.

Some drivers are cracking their own windshields as they try to clear thick ice, while in other cases temperature changes from quick defrosts are exacerbating small chips.