Your eyes aren’t fooling you — your car repair bill really is getting more expensive.

Several factors are pushing costs up: heavier, more complex vehicles, new materials and manufacturing methods, a worsening dearth of talented technicians and pandemic-induced supply shortages.

Repair costs are rising relative to the overall rate of inflation. Motor vehicle maintenance and repair costs increased 4.1% per year from November 2013 to November 2023, compared with just 2.8% for the overall consumer price index.

The increase has been especially sharp since the pandemic. Prior to it, repair costs increased at an annual rate of somewhere around 3.5% to 5%, according to Mitchell, which makes software for the collision repair and auto insurance sectors. But in 2022, the rate jumped to about 10%, and hasn’t dropped since.