Do brake hose replacement problems track spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident across states?

Across U.S. states, NHTSA owner complaints about brake hose replacement run higher where spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident is higher, after adjusting for the makes sold in each state. This is an association across states, not proof that spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident causes this repair.

How to read it: Each dot is a state. Further right means more spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident (dollars); 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 spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident (dollars).

What it shows: States with more spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident (dollars) tend to sit higher on the chart across 26 states: a pattern in the data, not proof of cause.

• The 8 states with the most spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident (Colorado, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, California, Maryland, Washington): reports of this repair run 32% above what the makes sold there would predict, and 5 of 8 are above expected. The 8 with the least (Florida, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, New Jersey, Arizona): 6% below, and 4 of 8 are above expected.
• Exceptions: Colorado, California and Washington are among the highest in spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident but report below expected.
• Split the states into thirds: the third with the least spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident runs 6% below what the makes sold there would predict, the middle third 9% above, and the third with the most 32% above. It steps up steadily.
• For spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident, after allowing for the 1562 comparisons we ran, luck alone would produce a pattern this strong about 1 time in 12. Take out any single state and the spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident pattern still holds.
• For spending on vehicle maintenance and repair per resident, of the 4 exception states, 1 read the same way for the other parts of the system (so that is the system there, not this repair) and 3 are specific to this repair.

Residents who spend more on vehicle repair are fixing more or paying more per fix, which changes how many repair problems are reported.

Source: BEA Personal Consumption Expenditures by State 2024, motor vehicle maintenance and repair, joined to NHTSA owner complaints · file downloaded 2026-10-06