DIY Auto Center -- What do you think?

[Greg Troester]

Hi all.

As part of a project for school and a personal interest of mine, I'm
looking into the feasibility of opening a DIY auto center in SLC. The
basic concept of the garage would be a combination of lifts available
for daily rental, basic garages (basic air and power, with access to
rent a lift in the main facility) available for monthly rental, and a
full service garage (i.e. w/ a lift in the garage) also available for
monthly rental. Services available for members to use would include
parts delivery, equipment rental, side-by-side work with a mechanic
(to learn how to do tasks you are not familiar with), classes, etc.
I'm familiar with the Wrench-It Center in West Valley - this would be
similar, though more focused and would offer more services.

The goal of this facility would be to increase the accessibility of
motorsports at large for all types of interests - whether its someone
with a Porsche looking to do maintenance his/herself, prepare it for
DE events, or build a full blown race car, an off-road/4x4 vehicle
owner doing something similar, a bike racer/enthusiast, or even go-
kart racers needing tools or storage.

All of my friends here in the club are right up the target market
alley -- what do you think?

I appreciate the feedback!

Greg

[Adam]

Hi Greg,

That sounds like a great idea! I don't know if there would be enough
money in it though. BTW there would likely be an interest
from other groups besides Motorsports, the valley has a lot of smaller
groups such as BMCU that have interest in working
on their vehicles and may appreciate this type of facility. I would
also think some might want lesser time periods of rental,
maybe a week or just a day for exhaust or brake work for example. I
would also think a key part to customer might also be access
to specialist tools such a corner weight adjustment etc.
Anyway sounds like an exciting enterprise, I wish you the best of
luck!

--
Adam King.

[Greg Troester]

Adam

What is BMCU? My best guess from a quick search is the British Motor
Club of Utah - is that correct?

Also, regarding length of rental times I totally agree. The facility
would be largely based on an hourly or daily rental system of
individual service bays with lifts. Another respondent mentioned
corner balancing, as well as alignments -- I hadn't considered a
market for users interested in corner balancing their cars yet --
great idea!

I'm thrilled with all of the feedback that has been given so far
through my email. I'll be responding to questions directly, as well
as posting up some of the responses I've gotten, along with my
response.

[Greg Troester]

D. wrote:

<strong>i like this idea. there is one on about 1300 S and 700 W, by
the NAPA. the prices they list are exorbitant, so i'd never use their
facilities.</strong>

My pricing model would be somewhere around the Wrench-it Center's
daily lift rental rates, but long term rates would be much less.
Here's an idea of what pricing might be:

Hourly lift rental: $10/hr on "non-peak" hours/days, $15-20/hr on
"peak" hours/days
Monthly basic garage (no lift in garage, but secured area and with
access to the common lifts) $250/month
Monthly premium garage (lift installed in garage space - maybe a 13x30
ft garage) $450/month

Other discounts/promotions would apply to members on parts, equipment
rental, etc.
<strong>What does everyone think about pricing at this level?</
strong> It should be assumed that additional specialty tools would
cost something extra (hourly or daily rental).

I'll post up questions individually from here on out -- loving the
feedback, keep it coming!

Greg

[Greg Troester]

David wrote:

I like to do my own work on my car, in my own garage -- but I'm forced
to trust someone else with my baby when I need something that takes a
large tool I don't have. Here are some things that would intrigue me:

Alignment tools for toe, caster, and camber
Corner weight scales
Very flat floor for alignments and scales
Wheel balancing
Engine hoist
Car trailer with a winch, so I could get a nonrunning vehicle to the
shop
Good fences / alarms so cars left overnight are secure


Alignment - down the road, most likely yes -- to start, some basic
alignment tools might be all that the facility affords, but preferably
we would expand to a computerized alignment rack
Corner balancing - very good idea, I hadn't thought about this in
particular yet. Definitely on my list of services desired now,
though.
Wheel balancing, engine hoist - yes and yes. These are two of the
machines/tools that would be very useful to any sort of DIY car
person, and I think that the facility would be able to have many tools
like these - tranny jacks, hydraulic presses, basic machining tools
(bench grinder, etc).
Trailer - I had considered this as a possible service -- would it be
preferred that there be a trailer for rent? My first thought would be
a strategic partnership with a towing company - this is mostly in the
interest of deferring some of the massive sunk cost involved in the
launch of the facility, and a trailer/truck would not be out of the
question down the road.
Security - an absolute must. I'm envisioning something that starts
with fences, alarm system, and cameras - then hopefully a passcode
system that tracks who goes in at what time, along with a wall around
the facility.

[Greg Troester]

Rich wrote:

"I don't really have an opinion on the business or plan, BUT, what
would a month cost for a bay? I tear my kart down every year before
the new season. Currently I store my porsche for the month and do it
in my garage. Not sure if your idea would be better for me or not, but
if 3 guys were working in the bay it would be more fun. Satellite tv
would be needed. ;-) and a fridge."

This is EXACTLY the kind of facility that I would hope to create -
people moving their stuff in (long term or short) working on their
stuff with their friends, meeting new people that share their
interests, and getting some things done that otherwise wouldn't be
possible/affordable/etc.

[Bohemian Brewery]

I would look into the one on 1300s and 700W. They have one there but I don't know if it's very busy or used much.

Pete

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[Bohemian Brewery]

The problem with the overall concept is that people typically work on a project for 3-5 hours, leave it half complete and go home to eat and see the kids. Then they come back the following weekend to finish. Charging hourly or even daily is tough. No one will justify the cost and simply take it to be fixed for less money. This model works better in a larger city with limited garage space. In SLC there seems to be a lot of garage or even backyard space (in the summer) to work on stuff. One hot hobby around here seems to be backyard builds of rock crawlers and jeeps. Targeting those people would get more traction I think. The one and only draw to having a rent a shop concept would be if every stall had a lift. That's something which even backyard mechanics can't get their hands on and it makes doing things like exhaust systems or transmissions much much easier and worth the rental cost. But again, having the option of leaving the car on the lift is nice but not worth the money when going on a hourly rate for people.

Pete

[Bohemian Brewery]

Other tools nice to have access too would be a MIG and TIG welder. Plasma Torch. Bearing puller and Bearing press. And last but not least... a onsite machine shop with at least a lathe, drill press and cut tools like a various metals band saws.

Pete