Quality of vehicle repair critical to road safety

In such a white-collar job crazy country as ours, motor vehicle mechanics are oftentimes viewed with a tinge of disdain if not outright contempt. However, every vehicle owner desires the best service from a mechanic, but almost always at the lowest cost.

The irony of demanding such services for a song is that it could mean life or death. But perhaps lack of a proper industry yardstick has been the worst enemy of quality service in motor vehicle repair.

While drunk driving is a huge hazard, driving defective contraptions with multiple mechanical malfunctions is a frightful disaster. Add to that poor or compromised traffic policing and you have a perpetual calamity in waiting anywhere, anytime on our roads. However, the most unforgivable of factors that fuel road accidents and loss of life is unethical, amateurish and negligent motor vehicle repair.

What is distinctly disturbing is that, as a sector, motor vehicle repair commands revenues worth billions of shillings. According to the Insurance Industry Annual Report 2012, the net claims for accident-related vehicles were in the range of Sh16.45 billion. Of this 70 percent, or Sh11.5 billion in monetary value went to accident repair-related work. Since 80 percent of accident vehicle repairs are done by independent repairers, the numbers in real terms point to Sh9.2 billion.

The motor vehicle repair industry is in two categories. The first involves the motor vehicle dealers who sell new vehicles alongside offering service. After the sale of new vehicle dealers offer after-sales service as provided for in the warranty, limited to a few years or set mileage. After the warranty expires vehicle owners are free to repair and service their vehicles anywhere. This category handles about 20 percent of vehicles. Majority of vehicle owners whose warranty-based repair and service limits lapse usually seek competitive rates in the open market.

The second is the so-called independent motor vehicle repair workshops or garages. Given that the proportion of new vehicles on our roads is negligible compared to the overall number of cars, this category handles the bulk of vehicles. As a matter of fact, 80 per cent of vehicles on our roads are second-hand imports. The majority, whether for accident repair work or regular servicing, are handled by the independent garages such as those registered under the Kenya Motor Repairers Association (KEMRA).

According to KEMRA’s data, the ratio of mechanical repairs to body work repairs is about 2:3 while the estimated turnover of independent workshop vehicle repairers per annum stands at Sh15.3 billion. KEMRA registered members are 55 in total. Non-dealer or independent garages so far employ about 15,000 people across Kenya.

Thus far, only 20 percent of informal garages and workshops adhere to a modicum of professional standards. Even then, these standards are not centrally regulated. The rest of the 80 percent embrace an attitude that does not promise any shade of quality. This is made worse by thousands of motorists unaware of critical parameters in vehicle repair.

When repair workshops or garages don’t embrace an established code of standards, it means their work cannot be consistently relied upon in terms of safety and cost effectiveness. This implies that most work done by these fair to middling garages is pure guesswork, trial-and-error that we normally christen mechanical faults when accidents occur. Essentially, when a vehicle is involved in an accident due to mechanical failure, it simply means it was not in good condition or it was repaired thoughtlessly and against no set standards.

The only way to ensure something is done right the first time, is to have a standardised way of doing it. That is precisely why KEBS, KEMRA and other stakeholders have developed standards on how to offer quality and set standards-based motor vehicle repair. The soon-to-be-launched standard, the KNWA: 2460-Code of Practice for Motor Vehicles Garages for Repair and Services will change the conduct and quality of vehicle repair. This will enhance road safety and formalise the vehicle repair industry. Besides, motorists will get value for money and enjoy greater safety. More importantly, the vehicle repair sector will grow and employ more people while clearer avenues to collect taxes will be availed automatically.