In an effort to save money and avoid big purchases at a time of financial crisis, many Connecticut residents have opted to fix their cars, rather than buy new ones, resulting in a business boom for some local mechanics.

According to Pat Dougherty, the manager at AAMCO on East Main Street in Stamford, business has steadily increased as the national economic situation worsens. Dougherty says this time of year is usually a busy one due to snow and rain causing car accidents, but that there is a noticeable increase in business among people trying to save money.

?Body shops,? Dougherty says. ?Their business increases when it's wet and snowy out [because] cars have more accidents. And in this case, when the economy has an accident, you have repair shops becoming busier because people need to get more money out of their cars.?

Dougherty also says customers are doing more research about fixing their cars to avoid wasting money on unnecessary repairs.