MILWAUKEE -- Declining car sales are hurting automakers but they’re helping mechanics do thriving business.

Both American and foreign car sales were down 30 percent in November.

However, auto repair shops have reported a boom in business.

Mechanic Dan Shelton said that his team has been doing brisk business as car owners are more willing to spend hundreds of dollars to keep their vehicles road-worthy.

"A lot of them bring it to me and hand me a blank check more or less and leave it up to me to make sure they're not going to get stranded somewhere," Shelton said.

At Burgess Brothers, car owners are constantly calling about possible repairs.

The manager, Chris Niemiec, said car loans may be harder to get but the credit is available for his business.

"Now we even have private individuals call us up and say, ‘Yeah, we're willing to basically provide financing for people who want their cars fixed,’" Niemiec said.

That's good news for customers who are running up more miles on their older cars.

The U.S. Department of Labor projects the need for auto mechanic and technician jobs will grow more than average over the next ten years.

Mechanics said business started booming when gas prices shot up because car owners were trying to make their vehicles more fuel efficient.