SPOKANE, Wash. —
Snow-closed passes are impacting Spokane auto repair shops and their ability to turnaround damaged vehicles.
Management at River City Body and Paint said they try to find needed repair parts locally, but that doesn’t always work out when dealerships don’t have the parts on hand.
Instead, River City has to ship in parts from Seattle or Portland. On sunny days with open roads, that’s not a problem for the shop. But when heavy snow closes important passes like Snoqualmie and Stevens, that causes repair delays.
On Jan. 7 2022, Gov. Inslee issued a weather-related state of emergency as recent storms caused hazardous driving conditions.
Today, Inslee amended that order to waive commercial hours for “drivers who are collecting or delivering essential supplies and service.”
Now, River City and other Spokane auto shops have to wait for passes to open to get their ordered parts.
“It’s hard to give customers dates for when their cars are going to get fixed because we don’t have those parts,” River City manager Brianne Rasmussen said.
River City is scheduled through the end of March.
Rasmussen said the shop tries to keep space open for tow-in vehicles, but with cars that need repairs piling up, that can be difficult.
“There’s just a shortage of space,” Rasumussen said. “All auto shops in Spokane are experiencing this issue where we have to hold them in the lot until we can get them rotated in.”
Snoqualmie pass is set to possibly open on Sunday. Stevens pass does not have plans to open before Monday.
