Mechanic Opportunity Research - Requesting mechanic feedback

General Discussion
41

Volvo - Workable? 60%.

Back of the napkin on monthly expenses vs. revenue is tight - this isn’t a get-rich-quick concept for us. It remains focused on providing a next step. You have all helped on a few gotchas such as business acumen and “the other side of the wrench”. CV-19 is another one. Only 1 working bay vs. 2 is another.

Other research - yes. There are several technical schools that pepper in some business management work and we have 2 schools that have accepted our request to spend about an hour with several classes to just ask questions and learn from both students and instructors. The commitment was we are not selling anything, and no opportunity exists from our time, but we are researching desire, ability, perception and options for mechanics outside of dealerships and muffler/brake shops. The schools know our business concept and we have been asked to not solicit, collect or further contact students once we have concluded. Just want to be clear here that we are not stalking prey or luring kids into bad decisions. Nobody wins.

A point made above was - it is likely that a mechanic has no real idea what they NEED TO MAKE to have a business survive. I am going to add that to the list of topics.

42

I just don’t buy into the concept of this working in any way, shape, or form. What I keep going back to more than anything else is the walk-in traffic comment “which would have to be equally divided by yada, yada, yada…”.

No way am I going to allow anyone to insert themselves between me and a customer; be it another mechanic or the owner of the building running an operation like this. Mechanic A test drives a car and while gone Mechanic B the next bin over starts hustling Customer C who has always been a loyal customer of Mechanic A and just happened to drop in while Mechanic A is gone.

Nor would I allow the owner of this business to steer someone to another mechanic while I’m test driving a car or out to lunch. Some very volatile and violent escapades could easily start with something like this.

Not to mention that a 15 x 25 bay will only handle 2 cars and small ones at that. Smart Cars or Fiat 500s maybe. Fifteen wide or 15 deep; either is a huge problem.

And there’s the issue of stall separation. Each 15 x 25 bay all walled in with their own doors and locks? If not, one can safely bet tool theft will run rampant.

I was off work one time with back surgery for 6 weeks and when I returned I discovered the locks on my tool box had been picked and a few things lifted. I also discovered that our weasel of a service manager had done this before bugging out for parts unknown.

I just do not see an upside to this at all.

43

Theft and “nosey neighbors” have solutions. Plenty of security options - but also not your point, I understand.

Walk-ins were actually never in scope and were an after-thought. Very valid reasons to avoid that. It isn’t the building that is trying to get customers/traffic - it would be the mechanic getting his/her own customers.

A bit more on the premise of the concept…not trying to sell it at all, just sharing the train of thought…

A mechanic that would be ready for a next step has likely been doing this for a few years, already has customers/clients, and has grown into the spot of being ready for the next step through growth by word of mouth…just needs to get out of the family home/garage and have a more formal shop. The premise remains this is only a “place” for that growth to occur. The mechanic still generates his/her own work just as they have been doing. They charge as they have been doing. They answer their phone and take appointments - but now they have a “shop”…an address. A business.

The building invests in the mechanic by providing a covered environment, utilities, internet, clean safe flooring and lighting, recycling services, service bay with lift, air outlets, facility tools like welder, torches, parts cleaner, press, diagnostic computer, etc…for a fee.

The mechanic invests in a small piece of a larger building, has an address for a business, work their own schedule, advertises themself, acquires their own customers and hopefully grows further via social media, word of mouth, etc…maybe it costs $300-$500/week.

In the Southeast here, average billable hourly rate for auto repair is $60-$80/hr. May be more, may be less - but close. A mechanic can work in this concept environment with a very competitive rate that can challenge the big guys, and still pay himself and save. If one could run $50/hr for 30 hours a week, thats $1500. Instead of earning $22/hr doing a brake job at Midas/Pep Boys, the mechanic can now make that $150-$200 for that same work and grow. 4 brake jobs in a week? Some electrical/emissions work?

Again though - from the experiences shared here, this may look better on paper than in practice…and the honesty is truly appreciated, even if it isn’t positive.

Thanks for the continued conversation.

44

Really? Are you kidding? Walk-ins are a significant part of a garage’s business. It has to be. Cars don’t schedule to break down.

1 Like
45

And we have another contestant for the Understatement Award .

46

I dunno. I do a fair amount of driving except over the past six months, but gee, I haven’t needed the services of a mechanic for a long time. Outside of new tires and rotation, I think it has been a couple years since I do my own oil changes. So I just question who are these people that continually need and use the services of a particular mechanic? If routine oil and filter changes are part of the mix, good luck on anyone trying to break even on those. Sure I have a couple of places that I go to outside of the dealer for warranty work but I spend more for hair cuts than mechanics. Lets face it 50K warranties, 60+K plug changes, 5 year coolant, and $300 leases? What’s left, brakes and diagnostics after 50K? Not to be negative but I feel for these folks trying to make a living at it.

47

As long as it is only a nomination for the award…

Alrighty - I shall concede that experience trumps concept. All the points are valid enough that this probably has no legs…and for very legitimate reasons.

You are great for playing along and diplomatically providing the other sides of the coin, and it is appreciated. Thanks again for sharing all that you have and being engaging and constructive!

Guess I will go back to work on a better adhesive for muffler tape…

You all take care and be safe out there!

48

Just a final word on this and in regard to the 15 X 25 stall size. My living room is 14 X 30 and while picturing a large sedan or king cab pickup parked in it this evening I think the lack of space would make any servicing very difficult even without accounting for a lift.

49

That would be me

I consider myself pretty good at what I do . . . but then again, I’ve been at it for quite awhile now

I’ve been a public sector fleet mechanic for several years now. My pay is fair, but my benefits are great, in my opinion. I won’t get into the details, though.

I could probably make more money working in the private sector, but the benefits would almost certainly be less. And I don’t know how much longer I could keep working at my current pace. Just being realistic. Right now, I’m all about working efficiently, which might seem like working fast.

You talking about UTI . . . ?!

Because that’s word for word what they did

50

Thanks db and ok

15x25 was a average industry standard used for layout and concept

At this point, based on all we have learned, this is more of a solution for a problem that doesn’t really exist. The investment in a concept like this is in the family of $80k. As mentioned earlier, this isn’t a get rich quick concept but it does require driven mechanics that can sustain steady work and the concept has kinks as have been pointed out. Business vs mechanics is a big deal and wasn’t well thought out.

Anyway. This goes in the book and that’s about it

Again, thanks to you all for the great conversation and advice and insight!

51

The problem with a single stall is that with most cars there are always delays; be it parts, wrong parts, customer can’t make up their mind, or what have you. Now the stall is tied up.

Actually, I got fed up with working for car dealers a long time ago due to the inordinate amount of BS that is shoveled in the direction of the mechanics. I’m sure db4690 knows what I’m referring to.

At one point enough was enough and I went to work for myself. The first 6 to 8 months was skimpy to say the least but eventually word of mouth led to the point where I stayed very busy. Busy enough that at times I would make the 25 mile drive home at 5, eat dinner, and then drive (or ride a cycle) back in that evening to work until 10 or 11.
I generally saved those “alone” evenings for engine and transmission repairs when concentration was most important and there was no dealing with walk-ins and phone calls.

db4690 has the best gig; a fleet job.

52

Our first independent shop here in town was started by a former VW technician working out of a 2 bay garage and for a time he had so much work that the entrances to the lot would be blocked in by cars if he needed to catch up. Only had the shop for about 10yrs before selling it. It appears after the 3rd or 4th shop to open up there it’s now a used tire store.

53

Thanks

It has its drawbacks, as well

Sometimes, I’d rather be flagging lots or hours and working on late model “high tech” sedans and mini-vans, versus plain jane fleet vehicles with low tech and few options

Not having access to all the correct factory tools is also sometimes frustrating. Usually we find other ways to take care of the problem(s), though

I know exactly what you’re referring to. A particular service manager was a “great” source of that BS.

Here’s an example . . .

For warranty repairs, the manufacturer typically requires you to justify why you’re replacing and/or repairing a vehicle. It sometimes involves printing out certain screen shots and performing certain tests with your multimeter, compression gauge, etc. You get the idea

Anyways, that wasn’t good enough for the service manager

he would require us to above and beyond what the manufacturer required before he’d allow us to perform warranty repairs

WAY above and beyond

We’d easily spend an extra hour in many cases, before he was “satisfied”

We politely tried to tell him that we’re not getting paid for those extra tests, and because time is money, his actions were literally costing us money

He wouldn’t listen to reason

We asked him why he kept submitting extra paperwork, tests, etc. that the manufacturer wasn’t even asking for

He said he “wanted to look good” . . .

In fact, one time some representatives from the manufacturer came by and were asking why all this additional paperwork was continuously being submitted. They clearly stated that they didn’t waste any time reading it and threw it straight into the “circular filing cabinet” :wink:

But it didn’t change anything. The service manager still had us do the unnecessary tests, even after the manufacturer reps told him straight to his face that he was wasting everybody’s time

It’s really frustrating to have somebody like that calling the shots

Another thing that sucks is the favoritism

Certain guys would get paid for tests performed under warranty

yet another guy would do exactly the same thing and not get paid for those tests

No satisfactory explanation was ever given

It’s not fun when your own warranty administrator is cheating you . It’s basically taking money right out of your pocket

Other guys would be masters at NOT being there when their comebacks came back.

And instead of giving it to the idiot(s) when they returned the next day, they assigned it to another guy who had absolutely nothing to do with it

and there were also “golden boys” and “prodigies” who could do no wrong, even if they were total hacks

A few times when their comebacks arrived, they were assigned to other guys

Sometimes golden boy would be busy on some gravy job(s) . . . working literally right next to another guy who was trying to sort out golden boy’s comeback

I’ve ranted enough :smiley: