If a guy sets up a grill and smoker in a parking lot and starts selling bbg lunches how long would the powers that be allow it to continue?
If a guy sets up a barber chair and starts doing haircuts for cash under the table how long would he last?
If any of these guys were competent reliable quality mechanics they would have jobs doing so. Ask any shop owner or manager how difficult it is to find an experienced reliable quality auto tech.
What a bunch of BS. If these guys can do the work, are disposing of the fluids safely, let them do their thing. The only customers theyll have are people who are seriously pinching pennies themselves.
A local firestone auto care near me has had a “now hiring” sign up for atleast a year. I went down there and applied and talked to the manager. I was informed that I had to be ASE certified. When asked what jobs they do they said oil changes, brakes, batteries…basic things so they dont tie the bays up. The job also paid 10 dollars an hour and you had to supply all your own tools. So to get this straight, you had to pay to go get certified, hold likely 5 grand worth of tools, and youd be paid 10 dollars an hour. Mind you, you only get paid when a car is in the bay, and their rate is 90 bucks an hour. So they make 80 for having a roof and a lift. I decided against entering the mechanic workforce and do it as a hobby on the side. I commend these guys for getting the job done. I used to know a guy who did all kinds of mechanic work out of a storage shed. People find a way and I dont mind at all. I say more power to them!
“If any of these guys were competent reliable quality mechanics they would have jobs doing so. Ask any shop owner or manager how difficult it is to find an experienced reliable quality auto tech.”
+1
Similarly, I can’t understand why some people will allow itinerant “gypsy” body repair guys to work on their car. Years ago, a neighbor hired a door-to-door body repair guy to work on her Volvo. I warned her that somebody sitting on his haunches at the curb and using a few spray cans would produce results that were bad, but she was lured-in by his very cheap price–despite her ability to pay for a REAL body shop to do the work.
When the work was done, if you stood…maybe…50 feet away, it looked okay.
Closer inspection revealed really bad workmanship.
Six months later, it looked like hammered sh*t, even from 100 feet away.
I think Rick has made a lot of excellent points, especially in the post where he said this is a complicated issue. Normally. in a modestly robust economy, a competent mechanic would have a job, but the linked article pointed out that the unemployment rate there is 35%. At that unemployment rate there will be a lot of good, competent people unemployed in a lot of fields including automotive repair.
It’s also true that even a good mechanic is limited without the proper facilities and equipment.
From everything I’ve read, it sounds like these guys are just trying to make a buck in a depressed area. I have mixed emotions about the scenario, but I’m inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. The state and city are probably not happy, because they’re not getting “their share” in taxes, but they might not have the budget to bother pursuing these guys. They’re operating on private property, so unless the property owner complains or they can prove tax evasion there may not be much they can do. Besides, I have absolutely no mercy for the taxman. IMHO the “state” takes too much of our hard earned cash and uses far too much of it to buy votes (to please special interest groups).
I have mixed emotions. I’m inclined to applaud what they’re doing, but I hope they work honestly and within the limitations of their facilities and equipment.
If any of these guys were competent reliable quality mechanics they would have jobs doing so. Ask any shop owner or manager how difficult it is to find an experienced reliable quality auto tech.
Well said. But its so hard to pass a drug test.
LOL, that too!
I would not use their service. That said, working in a depressed area with lower prices than paying a shop $100hr labor. They have no overhead, paid under the table. This ups their income 40%. Or they could work for someone else and get paid less and have taxes taken out. I see it as industrious and making the most of a so, so economy.
At least they’re WORKING or trying to work for a living. I don’t see how one could condemn that. OTOH the points posters have made regarding liability issues & such might justify the Powers That Be curtailing this activity.
This article speaks to many issues already explored here. It speaks to a few not explored here, too. This is California, the most difficult place to open and run a business in the country. Very high regulation, very high taxes, very high regulation. All put in place by the government to control commerce (other reasons, too, it is an endless debate). It also has very high costs of living and very high unemployment, arguably as a result of those very same policies. The parking lot mechanic, street corner BBQ, garage barber and many other under-table, back alley service providers are a natural response to this. Cash businesses providing a service in-demand at a lower price. If Solo Bolo provides quality work, his customers will look him up for future work just like any other service business. Risky? Sure, but so is picking a shop from a phone book, but the cost of learning is less. We see posts every day here at Car Talk about poor professional work. I don’t condone it but I think I understand why people do it and use it.
Although I would never let these guys work on my car, I can’t fault them for doing what it takes to survive in an area where the unemployment rate is 35%. You can’t assume these guys aren’t qualified to work in a shop when the unemployment rate is that high.
The guy said on a good day he could make $500. That’s tax and overhead free I assume. Another reason to rid ourselves of the income tax in favor of a value added or sales tax. I do sympathize with minimum wages and high unemployment areas but when I was 15 I went to work at less than minimum wages and by 17 I had enough money saved to pay for the start of a private college. Never expected to make a career out of weeding tomato plants or flipping burgers. And you can always move to where the work is.
I must say, @mustangman @bing @asemaster @vdcdriver @asemaster @
This is a great conversation, there are so many angles to this it will make your head spin and everyone has made great points whether they are for or against these guys.
I am on the fence, but if they are disposing of fluids properly and not outright ripping anyone off, leave them alone, they are not bothering anyone and providing a service thats needed in that community.
I had some bar b que last week from a guy set up in a parking lot… I assume that the guy had all proper permits and such since he was set up in a parking lot right by our countys health department but I didn’t ask. It was the best pulled pork for the price I ever had. The guy was professional, polite and used gloves and had a sink and the whole bit.
I think as the economy continues to tank for the average person that you will see more of this kind of thing, under the table services have been going on for ever and will continue to do so.
@Bing, I wonder how many good days he has. I doubt there are many.
@WheresRick, like your BBQ stand, some of the best and most authentic Mexican food I’ve had has been from underground taquerias and unlicensed taco trucks.
There are few things as uniquely American as thumbing your nose at the tax man while working your butt off to make a living. It’s why some people consider Cliven Bundy a hero. However, I’ve got to wonder why those same guys who arm themselves and travel great distances to support someone as rich as Cliven Bundy aren’t also traveling great distances to support these men. I’m sure race and bigotry have no part in the differing ways Fox News and conservatives supported Bundy before he made his racist statements, but don’t support these men. 
@WheresRick … “I also have to say that fast food is hard work and if America couldn’t have their big macs for one day the country would shut down”. That’s very true but at the same time remember if the owner of the company goes broke because of the $15 an hour wage…the business will close. Then…there will be no wages for anyone that used to work there. It’s a 2 edged sword of the sharpest kind. I don’t have the answer to this dilemna but I do know that $15 an hour is not it.
There’s no single right or wrong about this.
One way to look at it is that these guys are doing all they can to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. If they can’t find jobs anywhere else then they’ve got to do something to survive. And they’re helping others keep their cars running in the process.
Another way is to say that they are hurting the economy. The people that pay these guys to fix their cars are depriving the local independent shops of much needed business. And by extension the local, state, and federal government that rely on taxes to keep the roads repaired, the fire department going, etc.
these guys are probably saving us tax money. at the income level that they achieve thru this type of work, they would likely get more back, from the feds at least, than they put in.
“these guys are probably saving us tax money. at the income level that they achieve thru this type of work, they would likely get more back, from the feds at least, than they put in.”
Huh?
If they are working in the “underground economy”, then they are likely robbing money from those of us who follow the law and who actually file tax returns based on income earned “in the mainstream”.
Due to the Earned Income Credit, low-income wage earners do pretty well in terms of how they are treated by the IRS. However, once you introduce untraceable income from the “underground economy” into the mix, those of us who follow the laws wind up being penalized.
@asemaster, a lot of the services they seem to be providing are things car owners would normally do for themselves, like replacing bulbs in burned out tail lights, replacing windshield wiper blades, and replacing air filters.
These guys are already getting far more in return than the nothing they put in. Free or reduced school lunches, subsidized or free medical/dental care, subsidized day care, housing, anything that is offered on a sliding scale based on income. These guys are screwing the system designed to help the less fortunate. For the record, I have absolutely no problem with the above programs. But if you want to play the game you gotta follow the rules.
@Whitey you’d be surprised how many times a day we get interrupted by someone needing a pair of wiper blades or a headlamp replaced. There are a great number of people who simply can’t or won’t do these things themselves.
there are plenty of indy shops who fudge their taxes too.
“you don t need a receipt, do you” or some variant, is something I ve been asked at more than one shop