I know these existed at one time, basically you rent a bay in a shop that’s got a hoist, compressor for impact wrench, maybe a hydro press or bench vise. Any ideas? I’m in NE Massachusetts.
Be sure to check into the issue of liability insurance for the lessor and the lessee. You don’t want to find out after a shop accident that you needed coverage.
I’d imagine that any place offering this would require you to sign the mother of all liability waivers. I’m fine with that.
It would be a good idea to check with your attorney, just to make sure that you don’t need your own policy.
They quickly went broke, their lots flooded with abandoned, half-repaired cars they could not easily dispose of.
That’s how Click and Clacks garage started. But they ended up repairing the cars as many people who rented didn’t have a clue what they were doing.
The main reason these places don’t exist is the insurance. If someone comes in and gets hurt using a impact wrench which they have no idea how to use…YOU’RE LIABLE.
I seem to recall reading that the reason Click and Clack evolved from renting bays to repair was that novices would get the cars in the bays and find themselves in “over their heads”, and often didn’t have the tools necessary to finish the job, requiring Click & Clack to hire techs to help the novices and to invest in more and more equipment. They then had to start doing repairs because the bay rentals couldn’t cover the cost of the techs and tools. At some point it made no sense anymore to be renting the bays…the rented bays were losing money and taking techs’ time away from the working bays, which were making money.
I’m sure, as Mike said, insurance was a factor also. But the business model simply didn’t work. It could only work if everyone renting the bays knew what they were doing and came with everything they needed sans lifts and compressors.