YORK COUNTY, Pa. — As thousands of autoworkers hit the picket lines, drivers hoping to climb behind the wheel of a new vehicle may need to act fast.
"We don't know how long this is going to happen, but we do know it could impact our local customers," said Tim Couch, vice president of Jack Giambalvo Buick and GMC in Springettsbury Township, York County.
Couch said dealerships knew the strike was possible for more than a month before it became official and have been preparing.
A looming truck driver strike could make matters worse.
"We're hearing that they are now starting to align with the UAW and now honoring the strike," Couch said. "That would impact not just the building of the vehicles, but how they get to our dealerships."
In the midst of the strike, Giambalvo is increasing its inventory of new vehicles, making sure it has plenty on the lot for customers.
"Models that are what we call 'freeflow', meaning you can get pretty much as many as you want, those models we kinda doubled and tripled based off of our turn rate," Couch said. "Other models that were a little bit tougher to get, we tried to go in a little bit earlier."
Dealerships and mechanics are concerned replacement parts and vehicle components could run out.
Giambalvo is stocked up with everything technicians need to make repairs, but Couch said customers shouldn't wait to get their vehicles worked on.
"If you know that you got a state inspection coming and you know that you're going to need breaks, for example, then we've got a lot of extra of those," he said. "Again, we just don't know how much we're going to have for how long."
Couch said the dealership is still receiving part orders every day and he hopes those deliveries keep running.