Do fuel pump replacement problems track quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment across states?
Across U.S. states, NHTSA owner complaints about fuel pump replacement run higher where quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment is higher, after adjusting for the makes sold in each state. This is an association across states, not proof that quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment causes this repair.
State reports of this repair against quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment, one dot per stateEach dot is a state: how much more (or less) than expected this repair is reported there, adjusted for the makes sold in the state, against its quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment
How to read it: Each dot is a state. Further right means more quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment; higher up means more complaints for this repair than expected (1.0 is average). If the dots climb to the right, reports of this repair rise with quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment.
What it shows: States with more quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment tend to sit higher on the chart across 43 states: a pattern in the data, not proof of cause.
Data: Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators 2024, NAICS 8111, joined to NHTSA owner complaints, downloaded 2026-10-06 · 43 states. Chart: CalcScrape · calcscrape.com
The 10 states with the most quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment (Colorado, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Nevada, Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, Texas, Florida): reports of this repair run 28% above what the makes sold there would predict, and 9 of 10 are above expected. The 10 with the least (Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, California, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin): 17% below, and 1 of 10 are above expected.
Exceptions: Colorado is among the highest in quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment but reports below expected; Hawaii (48% above expected) is among the lowest but above expected.
Split the states into thirds: the third with the least quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment runs 16% below what the makes sold there would predict, the middle third 6% below, and the third with the most 27% above. Most of the quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment effect sits in the third with the most.
For quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment, after allowing for the 1562 comparisons we ran, luck alone would produce a pattern this strong about 1 time in 8,929. Take out any single state and the quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment pattern still holds.
Weak spot: compare only states with similar very hot days and the pattern keeps about 20% of its strength, so part of it may come from very hot days instead of quarterly job separations as a share of auto repair shop employment.
Where shops lose and replace workers faster, fewer experienced technicians are available, which changes how repairs are diagnosed and redone.