New do-it-yourself hoist rental shop

The US military used to have “Auto Hobby Shops” on every base. Two post lifts, drive on lifts, every tool imaginable. Pay the $1.00/hour lift fee or the $0.50/hour bay fee, with unlimited free tool rental. Huge selection of tools, from impact, sockets, pullers, and wrenches, to a hydraulic press, brake lathe, tire machine and balancer, they had everything you could ever need.

The staff would advise and help.

I learned to work on cars at the Oceana Auto Hobby Shop. Engine swaps, suspension work, oil changes, and everything in between. Spent a lot of time there.

After leaving Virginia Beach in 1997, I took my 4 Runner in for some work in 2012. I was a bit older, a couple ranks more senior, a bit less hair, but it felt like going home.

Same staff. Looking at me, one of them said, “haven’t seen you here in a while, Sir.” I had to smile.

Yep. Like going home.

They‘re all closed now. Lack of patronage. Young military members are just not interested in fixing their own cars.

A genuine loss.

I set up my own shop, though it costs me a lot more than the Hobby Shop ever did.

I don’t see the value proposition of these shops at the quoted rate. A couple hours rental, and I could’ve paid a mechanic to do the work. Granted, like many of us, I prefer doing it myself to know that it’s done right, but the dollar value just isn’t there in this business model.

There is one right near my shop.


Wonder how they’re doing?
 
the DIY mechanic is a pretty whiley customer for this service.
Really need to price it right to get us in.
We have friends, can "do it in the dirt" etc.
I can see it as an emergency (hell I might pay anything to get back on the rd ina case or 2).
 
It really is purely economics. There are so many repair shops around, and their prices are set by the local competition. DIY place has to meet a lot of the same costs as a shop in the same area (building, local codes, lifts, tools, insurance, electricity, internet, front office, etc.) and in reality, their only cost savings is the cost of the technicians that would normally work there.

That's why DIY at home is so much less expensive. No local code compliance, no lifts, no specialized insurance, and the list goes on.

Their business model will only work in markets that are not served by a lot of local repair places, but in a free market economy, this will self correct in a very short time.

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Sourced from
 
I'd like to see the social welfare system offer it to the needy @ a good price, us at other hrs for a fair share. I'd subidize it & even hang around in cases of folks interested in ideas. But I'm ol'n semi-retired.

"...their only cost savings is the cost of the technicians...."
BTW: labor costs (FUDA, SUDA, unempl, health insur, 401K,etc, etc) would B the main costs, no? Over 3/4?
 
There are not too many hoist rental shops around but now Calgary has two. I’ve been using one called U-Wrench but now there is one called Lugnutz. There are separated by a goodly amount so hopefully one won’t steal business from the other. They have professional class hoists where you bring in your vehicle. Lugnutz also has a undercarriage spray gun you can use. Current rate is $44 per hour, about $31 USD/hr. Apparently they have a deal with NAPA for parts deliver within 1 hour. Not sure if the insurance issues have killed this in the USA. Www.lugnutz.ca Enjoy.
Wondering if these are franchises... 'cuz I am attempting to find one in Vancouver and area, but no joy thus far...

Oh, I see u gave the names. I will Google the names...
 
Wondering if these are franchises... 'cuz I am attempting to find one in Vancouver and area, but no joy thus far...

Oh, I see u gave the names. I will Google the names...
I used one in New West years ago when I moved into the LML.
Since then they've gone under and nobody has offered anything similar.
 
I'd like to see the social welfare system offer it to the needy @ a good price, us at other hrs for a fair share. I'd subidize it & even hang around in cases of folks interested in ideas. But I'm ol'n semi-retired.

"...their only cost savings is the cost of the technicians...."
BTW: labor costs (FUDA, SUDA, unempl, health insur, 401K,etc, etc) would B the main costs, no? Over 3/4?
Some vo-techs are heavily funded by the state. Of course a huge YMMV by state. In New Mexico they want to stay on good terms with Joe Taxpayer and you might be surprised what they'll do if you only ask.

Like a "beauty school" (which, ironically was next to my Machine Shop Technology) it's a win-win because it's simultaneously a real-world learning experience for the students.

Obviously, I can't promise that "for-profit" scams, er I mean vo-techs, like WyoTech would give the average citizen the time of day -- but maybe they would, I have no idea.
 
Said above of the CT price for both diffs' and TC fluid change: "That seems like a fair price considering the fluids and the Labor
Maybe if they remove the pumpkin cover and actually clean it out. Most fronts don't open so it's a suction job (incomplete).
The TC is either a suction job or real easy (assuming both plugs turn).
And they (CT) gotta charge you if you want "custom" fluid.

Would CT include a bevel gear filter change (like a P3 Volvo) for that price? Would you trust them to do such a job?
 
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Said above of the CT price for both diffs' and TC fluid change: "That seems like a fair price considering the fluids and the Labor
Maybe if they remove the pumpkin cover and actually clean it out. Most fronts don't open so it's a suction job (incomplete).
The TC is either a suction job or real easy (assuming both plugs turn).
And they (CT) gotta charge you if you want "custom" fluid.

Would CT include a bevel gear filter change (like a P3 Volvo) for that price? Would you trust them to do such a job?
About 7 years ago, I had the local GM dealer do a similar “ Deal” on my 3/4 ton and went over the part numbers on the invoice. Allegedly they did use the AC Delco synthetic 75w90 the owners manual specs for the front and back. The front had both a magnetic drain plug and a normal fill plug. They pulled the cover on the pumpkin and I’m hoping they cleaned the circular magnet below the gears but who knows. The serial number did match up with Auto-Trak II for the Transfer case which has a drain and fill plug. Editors note: Always undo the fill plug first to make sure it comes out. :D
 
I like the video on how to put a rear main seal
Sorry, to finish the story on changing a rear main seal on a 3/4 ton 4x4 with an LS engine you have to pull both the transfer case and transmission and very carefully center the seal, something I would not want to do lying on my back. Still, there are lots of Billy Bob setups in the boonies with guys driving on railwood ties extending out of the side of a hill. In fact, let’s post some photos of such. :)
 
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I wish we still had one or two in my city. We use to have three, but they all closed back in 2015, as with anything that is worth using and of good value in this trash city.
 
The US military used to have “Auto Hobby Shops” on every base. Two post lifts, drive on lifts, every tool imaginable. Pay the $1.00/hour lift fee or the $0.50/hour bay fee, with unlimited free tool rental. Huge selection of tools, from impact, sockets, pullers, and wrenches, to a hydraulic press, brake lathe, tire machine and balancer, they had everything you could ever need.

The staff would advise and help.

I learned to work on cars at the Oceana Auto Hobby Shop. Engine swaps, suspension work, oil changes, and everything in between. Spent a lot of time there.

After leaving Virginia Beach in 1997, I took my 4 Runner in for some work in 2012. I was a bit older, a couple ranks more senior, a bit less hair, but it felt like going home.

Same staff. Looking at me, one of them said, “haven’t seen you here in a while, Sir.” I had to smile.

Yep. Like going home.

They‘re all closed now. Lack of patronage. Young military members are just not interested in fixing their own cars.

A genuine loss.

I set up my own shop, though it costs me a lot more than the Hobby Shop ever did.

I don’t see the value proposition of these shops at the quoted rate. A couple hours rental, and I could’ve paid a mechanic to do the work. Granted, like many of us, I prefer doing it myself to know that it’s done right, but the dollar value just isn’t there in this business model.

There is one right near my shop.


Wonder how they’re doing?

NAS Jacksonville still has the auto skills center, along with NS Mayport and even when I was at NAS Pensacola (2011). The US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs had a decent skills center as well.
 
It seems to me that type of business has a flawed model. If a repair shop charges 125.00 per hour, and the tech is flat rate, you know exactly how much the job will cost and the "expected" time to complete the job.

Now, Joe DIY takes twice as long to fix the car for the same job, and his cost is then $90.00 per hour (so to speak in comparison with the shop tech). The 90.00 is based on the 45.00 per hour charge they used here two years ago. Therefore, Joe saves 35.00 per hour if it only takes him twice as long. Let's say it's a 4 hour job - Joe saves 140.00 and gets the satisfaction of doing the work himself.

IMO this is why this failed. Why lose a whole day to save 140.00 (Joe spends 8 hours to do a 4 hour job). That doesn't even include the preparation time of getting parts together and all the other things usually needed to complete a job.

And what's worse, what if Joe is even slower! Then it's not even close to worth it.
My thoughts exactly…
 
If you ever listened to Click and Clack from the Car Talk radio show, it's how they started out. They had a garage that they rented out by the hour but they'd get DIY types who would take apart their engine or whatever and then they couldn't figure out how to put it back together so they ended up opening up the garage.
 
That's fine, but Bitog has thousands of posts about being ripped off by repair shops, be it dealerships or otherwise. For others, this is a hobby.
Agreed, and some just want to DIY for the sake of DIY

I virtually never have anyone work on my junk so it's almost "creepy" when I do.

I just had my JL at the dealer for some warranty stuff. I had a can of bug spray in the stupid door nets, somehow it got crushed and they just left the dented can and the broken plastic top lying in the vehicle.

It's ok, it's just a can of bug spray and I know mistakes happen, but when you never have anyone touch your stuff it's weird when you allow it and things get damaged or moved.

They also replaced my steering stabilizer (application was for a Ram but it worked beautifully on my JL with 37's) with the V41 recall. Again, they THOUGHT they were helping.....but the only way I knew the stabilizer had been replaced was immediate death wobble driving away from the dealership. Thanks guys.

I might sound anal or uptight but it's not that. It's more like living alone for 10 years then suddenly having a room mate.
 
That's fine, but Bitog has thousands of posts about being ripped off by repair shops, be it dealerships or otherwise. For others, this is a hobby.
I don't disagree.

From an economics standpoint, however, this business model will most likely fail IF the owner of the business is looking to make a profit and have a sustainable business model.

If however, the owner is a hobbyist and decides "hey, I'll add two more bays, buy insurance, get a business license, etc" and call this my business the owner can write off the entire enterprise. If he rents out a bay once a week, so be it.

Even if he never rents out a bay, but he has his full "hobby" shop running as a business - he can legitimately write off the whole thing and have the whole shop to himself.
 
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