Who does mechanic work on the side?

So my dad keeps bugging me to do some side work, because my old boss shut down the Vair Shop and now there is no one in the area that will work on Corvairs. There are several people looking for minor jobs that they don't want to do themselves, stuff that I've got no problem handling.

Since I'm newly unemployed and I don't know when exactly I will get a job, I'm thinking maybe this wouldn't be too bad of an idea, especially to make a little extra cash.

So what are you guys charging for work? I'm just trying to get an idea of what direction I want to go with this, IF I'm even going to this.

I don't do much but when I do, the person helps and brings the beer.

In the 2000s I did ALOT of side work and I based my labor on AllData and 40 per hour (half of what we charged at the dealer). Ultimately the type of customer I was getting made me quit doing it. People looking for somebody offering my services were PITA cheapskates that didnt want to listen to my recommendations and like to yell at me and try to get a discount after the job was done.

Your experiences may be totally different if you are specialized in a niche.

I usually charge $50 an hour. Usually actual time rather then flat rate too.

My neighbor usually pays me more than I ask because she gets estimates at shops/dealer first and I'm way cheaper.

Typically I'll look it up in my Chilton's or Motor guide and charge them 1/2 of the going labor rate. Today that's $50 an hour. I was never the cheapest guy on Craigslist, and I was told that many times. I told them that you get what you pay for. I typically got the customer, sometimes after they went to someone cheaper and he screwed up. I had more than 75% of my customers return.
That being said, it can be a liability nightmare IF something were to go wrong.

I have a semi-self/un-employed friend here who does it for $20/hour. However, he gave up his workshop last year & only works out of his dad's garage now, which has limited him to basic repairs & maintenance.

I think the niche aspect is the difference. I'd hate to be repairing old Cavaliers on jackstands for random Craigslist cheapskates, but if you're The Corvair Guy people will come to you because of your skills. I try to avoid wrenching on random people's cars, but I did end up with a non-running Midget in my garage for a while because nobody else in town would touch it. Then I had a running Midget and the customer was VERY thankful. It worked out well for both of us.

When I did it in my teens (2006-2012 or so) for fun money I usually did what worked out to $20-$40 hr depending on how well I knew them(pity and the berkeleyed up economy often came into play) and the job in question. Double that if it were winter. Though I fixed everything with an engine (I can still rebuild a typical sidedraft small engine carb with my eyes closed), not just cars. Most of the car jobs was stuff my dad didn't feel like moonlighting and referred me to, or I'd assist with the bigger jobs.

Keith makes a good point on specialization to keep the riff raff out, my father and I pretty much exclusively worked within 2-3 levels of social circle from ourselves, we didn't advertise, it was strictly referral based. He is also that guy who would damn near light your car on fire back in the day if you owed him money, and people knew that. You'd probably best stick with Corvair work as you seem to know them well, maybe ACVW as well?

$75/hr highly specialized to water cooled vws especially vw powered. The more work you dont want, the more you charge. I have been better for it as it weeds out the riff-raff and you get people who really value the expertise.

$60 an hour actual time. If you want me to buy parts I add 10% to the parts quote and you pay that cost up front. I very rarely do side work because of reasons listed above.

When I've done it (which hasn't happened in some years) it's been strictly by referral. Mostly vintage stuff that regular shops don't want to deal with (carbs/6v electrical/other random old car crap) and diagnostics. I got $75/hr actual time, which put me at a little more than half of local dealer shop rates, with a two hour minimum. Parts I ordered got a 20% mark-up, money up front; customer could order their own parts, but I would not install cheap ebay crap and told them so. If I needed specialty tools I didn't own, they could buy them outright and keep them after I was done, or I'd split 50/50 and I kept the tool.

If I was going to do it today I'd probably bump my labor rate up a bit.

Echo it's best to specialize. I used to do a lot of Brit car work, word of mouth only. I did Italian and etc ONLY in rare instances. Since I worked for a parts store I'd buy the parts needed at the going over the counter rate and charge the customer the same, I charged labor at 2/3 the going dealership rate and used Motor's as a guide. I did weird stuff like Weber swaps and wiring at actual time.

I use a sliding scale when biding a side job.

Group A :Easy work and easy to deal with people = lowest rates

Group B : Hard jobs with easy to deal with people = second lowest rate

Group C : Hard jobs with shiny happy people owners = ball smacking rate (remember they still might buy the job)

The base rate will depend on you area and how much you need/want to make a day, call around and find the rate of a good shop and cut that number in half, this should be used as guide.

A few things: CASH ONLY, cash upfront for large repairs, get it in writing and have the owner sigh a repair order with the total due on the paper BEFORE you start work, document all phone call (log) with the owner, payment due at time of pick up and have the times stated on the RO, state your rate for storage over two days (trust me on this one, and get ready for lot's of assclowns with no money. Have fun.

Paul

Specialty is the answer here, so your 'Vair niche is good. I did a bunch of MGB shell rehabs at $30/hour. Customer bought the parts that I told them to buy (Heritage panels only for the most part). Actually got quite good at the game. Unfortunately I also was feeding a tool fetish.

I liked the shell rehab because the project was in the shop for a couple of months and the neighbors were not exposed to a steady stream of people and cars going in and out. I also do not like exposing the tools to a steady line of complete strangers.

overhead eats more of that $30 than you might think.

Also, keep a low profile doing this sort of thing, lest you want a visit from the tax man. Being specialized is sufficient, your neighbors likely won't be able to distinguish your Corvair(s) from other people's Corvairs, they may think you're doing something shady (and get you investigated) if there's a different dilapidated 90s car or two out there every week.

Donebrokeit wrote: A few things: CASH ONLY, cash upfront for large repairs,

This. Actually, for all repairs. Tell them what the estimate is, and essentially they do a deposit. On small jobs, or ones where you don't supply parts, waive the deposit.

Its a good way to make under the table cash. $40/h tax free is a E36 M3 ton of money virtuallu anywhere in north america.

My house zoning specifically prohibits auto repair as a home-based business. Also welding and auto body.

I suppose I could potentially work under the table, but liability could become a problem if something goes terribly wrong and the powers discover I was (1) operating an unlicensed business, and (2) Operating without business insurance, and (3) operating a business contrary to zoning.

That could be very, very messy.

So: no auto repair done here.

It's not a business, you do it for charity, to help all those folks who can't afford dealership rates..

They might give you a donation or two now and then to help with your costs.

Your religion demands that you help others, the city wouldn't want a human rights complaint now would they?

For those concerned with working on cars at their homes for whatever reason, one option (at least for some jobs) is to work on the car at the owner's place. Obviously this isn't applicable to every situation, but if you know the customer and can easily transport the necessary tools, it's an option. I had at least one long-term customer whose car was not on the road, so going to him was the only choice. I charged an additional $50/visit for this to cover time and fuel.

I do basic repairs for beer. But that's only my friends.

i did i quite a bit over the last year but kinda got burnt out on it and the money wasnt consistant enough so i decided to just work more o/t instead of jobs on the weekends. but i would usually use repairpal's estimator and charge about 50-70% of the labor cost depending on how hard the job would be to do in my driveway.

it seems like you kinda have a grab on that corner of the market so it could bring in some good money, but its something i wouldnt rely heavily on

DrBoost wrote: Typically I'll look it up in my Chilton's or Motor guide and charge them 1/2 of the going labor rate. Today that's $50 an hour. I was never the cheapest guy on Craigslist, and I was told that many times. I told them that you get what you pay for. I typically got the customer, sometimes after they went to someone cheaper and he screwed up. I had more than 75% of my customers return. That being said, it can be a liability nightmare IF something were to go wrong.

that's where ins comes in to play

SkinnyG wrote: My house zoning specifically prohibits auto repair as a home-based business. Also welding and auto body. I suppose I could potentially work under the table, but liability could become a problem if something goes terribly wrong and the powers discover I was (1) operating an unlicensed business, and (2) Operating without business insurance, and (3) operating a business contrary to zoning. That could be very, very messy. So: no auto repair done here.

another reason for NOT living somewhere where others can tell me anything about my house (though I do understand the concerns about a business license/having business ins.

as though another reason was needed …

So I'm still thinking about doing this. It's getting to be winter and people are going to want their stuff ready for the spring. I think I'm going to go the per hour route for my shop rate.

My FIL likes this idea enough that he is going to help me get started financially, so if there's any tools I need or anything else to help me start this in my garage, I can get that stuff.

I know what I have, but I wanted to see if anybody had any other suggestions as to what I should get.

I don't have a fire extinguisher, so I need one those. I need to get taller jack stands. There are a couple Corvair specialty tools, so I'm going to see if anyone still sells them and get some of that. I actually realized, I only have metric box wrenches, so a set of standard will be necessary. Probably need a compression tester.

Any other suggestions?

depending on authenticity and adte, vacuum guage and dwell meter, which you probably already have. Get some nice fender mats to protect the paint and a couple cheap rubber floor mats to protect the carpet. Maybe a cheap pet-proof-type seat cover if it has nice seats. That kind of stuff makes people feel all warm and fuzzy about leaving their baby with you, particularly in the specialty market. Of course, all that is moot on a rusted greasy basket case car.

Think of any bad things that have happened to you at a repair place and then do the opposite.