Can this business survive? How?

There is a company doing it around here too, I could see it being useful....

z31maniac said:

 

But is the company responsible if they forget to lock the car and then items are stolen? It's a cool idea, just doesn't make sense for me.

I'd be less worried about that than when somebody fills my truck with gas instead of diesel and I ruin my HPFP and it takes out my whole fuel system. Would they really step up and take liability? Or a sports car that requires premium but you get 87.  I'd rather just do it myself because I need to see it was done right.

Now my wife in her Prius who can't be bothered to go get fuel would love to just get off work and it's full again so she doesn't have to stand outside in a blizzard to fill up the car.

crankwalk said:

I'd be less worried about that than when somebody fills my truck with gas instead of diesel and I ruin my HPFP and it takes out my whole fuel system. Would they really step up and take liability? Or a sports car that requires premium but you get 87.  I'd rather just do it myself because I need to see it was done right.

They don't sell diesel, so that pretty much avoids that problem entirely.  They can't put diesel in a gas car because they don't have it, and if you order gas for your diesel truck, well, that's not their problem. :)

(Edit:  At least, that's true for the one that we have around here.  I suppose there might be more than one business doing this, and others might have diesel)

Almost all modern cars that require premium will cope with 87 for one tank.  You'll lose performance, but they won't damage anything.

Anyway, the question isn't really about whether or not GRM-types would use this service (I suspect the vast majority would say no).  It's about whether or not there are enough "normal" people who would use it at a high-enough price point to make it a viable business model.

I could see a lot of folks using this type of service.  Pumping gas is a chore for...probably the majority of folks I'm guessing.  

You have to keep in mind, people call the tow truck these days to put a spare tire on for them.  

Cars are becoming something that you don't operate so much as interface with.  Self parking, adaptive cruise control, heated seats, etc, etc, etc.   Soon you won't have to drive.  If letting the car carry you around is how you see it...why would you want to get out and pump gas into this thing that's supposed to be working FOR YOU ;)

Not sure if it's viable, but the input from others seems to say it could be.  I can see how there's a (growing) market for it.  

Cotton said:

z31maniac said:

Doesn't work for me. I'd have to leave my office, down the elevator, and walk down to the car to unlock it (so the fuel filler door would open), wait for them to fill it, then lock the car and walk back up to my office. I drive past 3 gas stations on the way to work.

Now if they are going to walk from the other side of the lot, up the elevator, to the office, have me leave my keys with the receptionist, lock the car when he's done, then return the keys to the receptionist.......ok, then that saves me 3 minutes every 3 weeks not having to stop and fill up.

But is the company responsible if they forget to lock the car and then items are stolen? It's a cool idea, just doesn't make sense for me.

How it works for the local company here:

It’s a monthly subscription and you tell them how many,  and what days,  you want them to come per week.  Then for cars that have locking filler doors,  well you just leave it open for them.  I don’t know anyone that actually uses this service,  then goes out and watches them fill it up.  They also don’t leave the car unlocked,  just the filler door if it is locked on their particular car.  A new Wrangler or Challenger for instance does not have a locking filler door.

On your set days they text you and ask if you still want a fill up that day and you simply say yes or no.  It’s a very simple process.

Unfortunately for me, the only way for the fuel filler door to be unlocked on my car is to leave the entire car unlocked.

That's why I think it's a cool idea, but for me, it wouldn't work unless I drove something different.

z31maniac said:

That's why I think it's a cool idea, but for me, it wouldn't work unless I drove something different.

Unfortunately for me, the only way for the fuel filler door to be unlocked on my car is to leave the entire car unlocked.

You leave the fuel door ajar, as in hanging open.

codrus said:

z31maniac said:

That's why I think it's a cool idea, but for me, it wouldn't work unless I drove something different.

Unfortunately for me, the only way for the fuel filler door to be unlocked on my car is to leave the entire car unlocked.

 

You leave the fuel door ajar, as in hanging open.

My cl600 is the same way.  The fuel door locks with the car,  but I can open the fuel door,  then lock the car,  then they would be able to fill it up and the rest of the car is still secure.

codrus said:

crankwalk said:

I'd be less worried about that than when somebody fills my truck with gas instead of diesel and I ruin my HPFP and it takes out my whole fuel system. Would they really step up and take liability? Or a sports car that requires premium but you get 87.  I'd rather just do it myself because I need to see it was done right.

 

They don't sell diesel, so that pretty much avoids that problem entirely.  They can't put diesel in a gas car because they don't have it, and if you order gas for your diesel truck, well, that's not their problem. :)

(Edit:  At least, that's true for the one that we have around here.  I suppose there might be more than one business doing this, and others might have diesel)

Almost all modern cars that require premium will cope with 87 for one tank.  You'll lose performance, but they won't damage anything.

Anyway, the question isn't really about whether or not GRM-types would use this service (I suspect the vast majority would say no).  It's about whether or not there are enough "normal" people who would use it at a high-enough price point to make it a viable business model.

 

Damn dude. No E36 M3 a car that runs on 93 will run on 87. That wasn't my point. My point was I would never use it because I would always assume they are dumping in 87 because they don't care and there are other people that would probably have the same reservations even "Non-GRMers".

They don't have diesel? All of them don't? Great, thanks for the inside scoop. Their own website says it's in the works. 

https://www.trybooster.com/support#faq

What types of gas do you offer?

Booster offers unleaded regular (87-octane) and unleaded premium (91-octane in California and 93-octane elsewhere) gas. We hope to offer diesel in the near future.

In reply to crankwalk :

Well,  at least you didn’t get upset about it or anything...

Cotton said:

In reply to crankwalk :

Well,  at least you didn’t get upset about it or anything...

I guess it came off like I was upset? I'm really not. His response really didn't actually address any of my actual concerns.  

crankwalk said:

Cotton said:

In reply to crankwalk :

Well,  at least you didn’t get upset about it or anything...

I guess it came off like I was upset? I'm really not. His response really didn't actually address any of my actual concerns.  

 

My comment about diesel was mostly a joke, sorry it didn't come across that way. :)

As for 87 in a car when you paid for 92 -- I generally assume someone is honest unless they've given me reason to think they're not.  If that's the case, then they're only going to put in 87 by mistake and that's not going to happen very often.  Coming after your comment about ruining diesel engines with gas, I interpreted it as suggesting the 92 engine would be damaged by putting 87 in it.  Sure, it'll happen occasionally but it's not a big deal and assuming they have decent customer service would probably result in a free tank of gas or two to make up for the inconvenience.

If they're not honest and are routinely dumping 87 into everything, then that will come out in fairly short order as people notice knocking and loss of performance.  Deliberately misrepresenting the grade of fuel is a crime, one that county weights and measures departments take pretty seriously, they'd be looking at some major fines when (not if) they get caught.

FWIW, Booster doesn't have diesel (they're the ones that I've seen around) and despite what they say on the web site I don't see any evidence that they're actually interested in changing that.  The fleet of trucks that they've bought only have two tanks on them (the division between the two tanks is visually apparent), so in order to sell diesel they'd need to either replace their fleet or stop selling one of the other two grades.

Interesting. I can't say I think I'd ever use the service (I park in a parking garage at work, fill up when needed at the grocery store where I can use the fuel points that have been mentioned previously, and drive a vehicle where premium is recommended), but it is an intriguing idea and something that I can see doing well with the appliance-driving crowd. I could see The Dancer potentially using the service though... she gets to work and notes that the tank is low, pulls up an app and flags that her SUV needs a fill-up, and heads in to work and has a full tank of fuel when she finishes teaching. It will likely be some time before they bring the service here though...

I’ve been building buildings for nearly 40 years. 

I am convinced that part of a recipe for success in business these days is a business model that does not include a building, or being tied to a particular geographic area or piece of real estate. 

This business has that. 

It's funny how a forum dominated by guys who make stuff win with very little money, and who generally dispel many notions of "that won't work" are so negative about upstarts that are clearly growing. 

Nobody is asking you to invest in these companies. Nobody is asking you if THEY should invest in these companies. 

SVREX is on the money here. Real estate, storage tanks, EPA permits, all of it is ridiculously expensive, and they've found a loophole. 

Should be interesting to see if Gas Station Lobby (if there is such a thing) retaliates. Probably will. If anything dooms these upstarts, it'll be that. 

In reply to SVreX :

Where are their trucks stored? Where do they fill their trucks up? It seems like they'd have to have some sort of physical hub for stuff like that. That probably means 1 building in every city rather than one gas station on every block, so your point is still valid but they may not be able to avoid a real estate footprint.

I don't think anyone is being negative, merely pointing out that while it's a cool idea, it likely wouldn't work for them personally. 

It’s a great idea, so they could put a barcode on the inside of your filler door and scan in and out sending you a receipt in real time. We do similar when we do work on company owned vehicles, this will get legislated down but it’s an awesome idea.

In reply to STM317 :

No, they can’t avoid brick and mortar. But they do not need custom brick and mortar. 

Businesses of the past needed a building designed for them. It locked them into a very specific location. 

A business like this could survive in ANY existing unwanted empty space, and move at will as soon as the lease was up. They are not TIED to a building, although they may use one. 

Its a huge difference. It makes the value of the business based on the contracts, customer base, or tech innovation, etc, as opposed to the value being tied up in a piece of real estate that isn’t valuable to someone else. 

It also gives them a level of mobility and transferability. If their office is in ATL and it makes more sense for them to be in Cincinnati, they can relocate in a heartbeat. Old school businesses tied to buildings can’t do that. 

A decent C-store in a reasonable location would cost between $2 and 3 million to build. (I’ve built 2).  The volume they are selling is comparable to 8 or 10 decent locations  

The kind of building they would need to run an operation like this could be rented in virtually any market in the US for a couple thousand a month.