Toronto, Ontario — The fourth-quarter 2023 overall average length-of-rental for collision-related car rentals was 16.4 days–just over a half-day lower than Q4 2022’s average LOR.
Of all the provinces, Ontario had the highest LOR at 18.1 days, followed closely by Alberta at 17.1 days. Comparatively, Prince Edward Island (P.E.I) had the lowest LOR record at just 13.9 days.
Moreover, when looking at 2023’s data in comparison to the previous year, Ontario’s LOR dropped by 1.4 days and this decrease was similarly shared by P.E.I. Nova Scotia, however, saw the highest overall decline in LOR, down 1.9 days from the previous year followed by Quebec with a 1.6-day decline.
When looking at national statistics for Driveable LOR, the country saw an average rate of 12.6 days or a 0.2-day increase from 2022.
Once again, Ontario had the highest rate of Driveable LOR at 14 days followed by Alberta at 13.9 days. Here, Quebec had the lowest Driveable LOR at just 9.9 days.
Non-driveable LOR across Canada, on average, saw a rate of 30.9 days and this is consistent with 2022’s data.
As with Driveable LOR, for individual provinces, Ontario had the highest rate of Non-Driveable LOR at 33.8 days with Alberta again in second at 31.7 days. Additionally, much like the Driveable LOR statistics, here, Quebec once again had the lowest Non-Driveable LOR rates at 23.5 days, while Nova Scotia saw the largest decline, dropping 1.5 days over the 2023 Q4 period.
For rentals associated with total losses, the length of rental periods for the country saw an average of 23.6 days, a 1.8-day decline from Q4 2022.
According to Ryan Mandell, Director of Claims Performance for Mitchell International, “In Canada, alternative parts utilization (APU) percentages rose to 27.7 percent, up from 24.8 percent in Q4 2022, which is a trend we are watching across North America. As aftermarket delivery times are typically under 24 hours, this has an impact on the parts procurement cycle time. We are also seeing a greater frequency of repair operations than in Q4 2022, suggesting that potentially when parts are not available, shops are more likely to repair the part than wait an extended period for a replacement to become available.”
Mandell further noted that “total loss frequency has increased in Canada, going from 19.2% in Q4 2022 to 20.8 percent in Q4 2023. Canadian used vehicle values are just starting to decline; total loss frequency numbers will remain elevated as long as OEM supply chains remain under pressure, which may worsen in the wake of the UAW strikes, forcing insurers to write off vehicles when replacement parts are not readily available.”
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