RehabJP
Senior Member
- First Name
- JP
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
- Threads
- 34
- Messages
- 281
- Reaction score
- 149
- Location
- Costa Mesa, California
- Website
- www.stoneautotech.com
- Vehicle(s)
- 2020 Civic Si Coupe
- Thread starter
- #16
Yea, upon further reflection its not as easy as it sounds. I just opened my own mobile mechanic service. No brick and mortar shop,, and I am in the hole over 10K easy. I mean you have to start a company then get all the proper licenses and then find real estate and commercial real estate is stupid expensive (especially in California and why I do not have a brick and mortar shop) then you gotta get insurance and not easy to find insurance companies to insure you sometimes. I had a hard time finding one willing to write a policy for a mobile operation for some reason. Then you gotta buy tools and other expensive equipment.A place like this started in my town last year. I don’t think they survived 6 months. Not sure if that is a reflection of the business model or the business man.
Then you do all that and you hope and pray that you get enough business to pay the bills and back debt and maybe put a few bucks in your pocket.
I guess its a weird time in DIY mechanical. On the one hand repair data and how to guides are plentiful but on the other hand cars are getting more complicated and less old school analog take a screwdriver and make and adjustment or unbolt a part and swap it out. In example had a dude with an 03' Saturn and he had to replace the Alternator and did. Still would not charge the battery. Returned the thing 3 times with a different one still no charge. I went over it and everything was fine; The fusible link, the ground, the sense wire. He even bought a used ECU just to try and that did not work. Finally he found a shop that specialized in Alternators and charging systems and they had to reprogram the ECU to accept the new alternator (GM does not make the OEM part for that car anymore so that was not an option)
90% of service calls I get are in some way electrical related which I hate because I much prefer wrenching on engines but that is the nature of modern auto repair. Gotta know your lectrical if you wanna work on cars plus the new smaller engines are packed into the engine bay so tight you gotta take the whole dame thing apart to do stuff that used to be considered fairly easy like swap out a clutch disk. Even changing belts on some cars has gotten crazy so I see why maybe people would rather pay someone else to do it even if they can find the guide on how to to it on You Tube.
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