the thread about the mobile oil change service got me thinking, what about weekends. Similar idea, do smaller services (could also handle larger things that take a couple hours though...) such as oil change other maintenance and smaller repairs etc but do it on the weekend. I was wondering how much interest do you think people would have in such a business? Weekend gives people more flexibility in their schedule. Not really planning on doing it myself, just wondering.
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Oct. 6, 2011 5:55 p.m. fritzsch Reader
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Oct. 6, 2011 5:59 p.m. DrBoost SuperDork
I was looking into it when I was unemployed. Basically I come to your place or work and change your engine or trans fluid, you only have to give me the keys (to start and check for leaks). Then, naturally I thought about things like brakes and such. The insurance was insane, the volume of work would be nuts. I figured shop would be better.
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Oct. 6, 2011 5:59 p.m. oldtin Dork
The insty lube places around here are pretty busy on Sat/Sun. Would kinda suck for workers, but overnight repairs seems like it might have an appeal - challenge would be parts supply though.
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Oct. 6, 2011 6:03 p.m. fritzsch Reader
In reply to oldtin: Yeah I don't think you would have a shortage of demand, especially if you are able to do more than just perform fluid changes. I didn't even think about a parts supply though.
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Oct. 6, 2011 6:11 p.m. Woody SuperDork
There was an older guy who lived near me that had a disability and worked out of his home garage. He only worked on Hondas, but he concentrated on the big, pricey jobs that many car owners fear a year in advance, like valve adjustments, timing belts and clutches. He would take out 4"x4" ad in our weekly free newspaper and had a pretty successful business for at least 15 years.
I think if you specialize like that, you can get to know the cars well enough to keep the time, parts and tool expenses under control and probably be fairly successful.
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Oct. 6, 2011 6:13 p.m. vwcorvette HalfDork
I do a bit of mobile repair where I live. I ask the client to buy the parts themselves. I'm pretty much the faculty mechanic at school. I've done brake jobs, suspension and steering, and exhaust in parking lots and parking garages. Diagnostic takes up most of the time, especially for running problems, but once diagnosed repair is typically easy. I do however do this on the side and not as a regular job. It pays for my cars mostly.
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Oct. 7, 2011 7:37 a.m. Ranger50 Dork
Since I am unemployed AGAIN, I am thinking of something along the same lines. I can't work Mon-Wed during the day because of nursing school, but the the rest of the time, I am pretty much free to do anything. I just hate that I have 7k worth of tools just sitting idly by waiting on something in my fleet to need repair. Plus having 4 yrs of dealership training on top of another 20 yrs of "shadetree work", is just going to waste.
The parts supply chain isn't too hard to overcome. You either have to diag the problem and let them return the following weekend, if they were a walk-in, or they have have to be one of the first in line at the start of the business "week". You also have to be willing to say no to some jobs that pop up out of nowhere. No way would I attempt to fix a stuck caliper on someone's {insert oddball car here} at 6pm on a Saturday. Chances of getting parts is slim to none. Also no way would I put a water pump on a PT Cruiser without notice, 10 hrs later you MIGHT be done....
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Oct. 7, 2011 7:43 a.m. z31maniac SuperDork
oldtin wrote:
The insty lube places around here are pretty busy on Sat/Sun. Would kinda suck for workers, but overnight repairs seems like it might have an appeal - challenge would be parts supply though.
I've always wondered why there hasn't been a "proper" repair shop open on the weekends.
9 times out of 10, when I've needed one, the problem is always on Sat/Sun.
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Oct. 7, 2011 8:31 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork
I kinda do some of this myself these days. I moonlight as a neighborhood handyman/mechanic in an area of older slightly affluent folk. They pay me to clean their gutters, fix their leaky/plugged sink, make the mower work, pick and install a new radio in their car, etc.
People do not want to see their car torn apart, and do not want to listen to the sounds of you banging on it. They don't even want that happening to their lawnmowers Really.
As well the fun of invariably not having the right tool in your portable kit. The more diverse the work, the more you ensure you didn't bring the right tool(s).
Working in your own garage bay is much nicer. Even if it means driving my car to their house and leaving it to drive the customers car back. It's much more serene as well to work in your own garage (you can go potty when you want for example).
That said, it's a business model that to my mind seems it should work, but clearly does not. Look at the number of tune or tune and lube shops that have come and gone. It just somehow does not seem viable. I see them start up, and within a year or two, shut down. Over and over again. Something is wrong with the scenario.
Insurance is a great way to eliminate all profit. Going without means you can lose your shirt when you get sued. Chose the level of risk you are comfortable with.
Hang a shingle and you're a business, and bring the wrath of zoning down upon your head. Word of mouth, and you're just puttering in your driveway.
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Oct. 7, 2011 8:46 a.m. Ranger50 Dork
foxtrapper wrote:
That said, it's a business model that to my mind seems it should work, but clearly does not. Look at the number of tune or tune and lube shops that have come and gone. It just somehow does not seem viable. I see them start up, and within a year or two, shut down. Over and over again. Something is wrong with the scenario.
Insurance is a great way to eliminate all profit. Going without means you can lose your shirt when you get sued. Chose the level of risk you are comfortable with.
Hang a shingle and you're a business, and bring the wrath of zoning down upon your head. Word of mouth, and you're just puttering in your driveway.
Do you think that they may just be not cut out for owning a business and close up because of that? Get in over their head in repairs, shortcut someone to get it out of there, and then the crappy work comes into question?
Sure, insurance can kill off some of the best companies out there, but most people don't know how to deal with those "sharks". Too many people open a business up in an area they may have no reason to be in. It would seem to me, if you had a "garage" being state or ASE-"certified" would lower your rates compared to someone who just decided to open a competing business without those certs. But then again insurance isn't logical.
Also, what is so hard about just being in one of those single garage door, sub 1k ft^2 office/warehouse buildings? Several of those can be leased for less then what I would bill and profit from on that PT water pump job.
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Oct. 7, 2011 9:12 a.m. failboat HalfDork
my brother in law is a mechanic by day. rather than doing additional bs maintenance work in his down time, he is more interested in getting into buying broken cars for dirt cheap, repairing them, and flipping them for profit. The biggest hurdle is having the cash ready to get started. But after doing 1 or 2 cars, there is your cash flow to invest in another car.
There have already been a few opportunites where he could have made thousands, but he's still working on the building funds to get started part.
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Oct. 7, 2011 9:21 a.m. iceracer SuperDork
One thing against doing outside repair work in your garage. If you run it as a business,you may run afoul of zoning. I have a nice large two car garage with overhead space. Business in a residential zone ? Nothing doing.
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Oct. 7, 2011 9:37 a.m. DrBoost SuperDork
failboat wrote:
my brother in law is a mechanic by day. rather than doing additional bs maintenance work in his down time, he is more interested in getting into buying broken cars for dirt cheap, repairing them, and flipping them for profit. The biggest hurdle is having the cash ready to get started. But after doing 1 or 2 cars, there is your cash flow to invest in another car.
There have already been a few opportunites where he could have made thousands, but he's still working on the building funds to get started part.
That's what I ended up doing. I didn't want the headache of being a mechanic out of my garage. I have over $40K in tools and, if you are working on a car at 9 pm there is a tool you need but don't have, it's that Murphy prick at work. I did do a lot of side work when I was unemployed, but it was flipping cars that did it for me. If I spend, let's say 10 hours total working on someones car (maybe breakes, shocks and some maintenance) I might end up with $200 or $250. If I spend those same 10 hours on a car I'm flipping I make a few grand.
