Zero percent financing for new vehicles has lured owners of older cars to buy new ones instead of paying for costly repairs. Do-it-yourselfers now perform minor maintenance. That's helped parts stores, such as Autozone

Inc. And it's hampered basic service companies, such as Midas Inc., and independent garages, according to Bloomberg News.

Rising sales depleted inventories of new cars for sale. As a result, automakers boosted production of autos and parts by 6.4 percent in November, even while total production at U.S. factories, mines and utilities dropped 0.3 percent, the Federal Reserve reported last

month.

Fewer used cars were fitted with those parts last year and more were junked. Used cars that were traded in were more likely to be "near

new," or one to three years old, as owners simply upgraded to the newest model, according to Paul Taylor, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).

According to Taylor's estimates, about 53 percent of the 400,000 surge in new light vehicles sold in October included the trade-in of an older vehicle, down from a historic average of about 56 percent.