Sounds like a great idea . I remember them back in the 60's & 70's then they stopped . I personally wouldn't due it with everyone out of work , looking for money and LAW SUITS ! All I see is law suits and who would ever insure you ? I think you are asking for big trouble & law suits . Times are tough & morals go out the window when you need money to eat & keep your house ! Just my 2 cents worth !
how about a condominium garage? you build a new building or redo an existing building into separate garages ,then sell them. it becomes their property , so it's their responsibility. i know there are a few of these in the minneapolis/st paul area. there is a 10 unit one here in my small town and all units appear to be sold
Shops that I've seen where lots of people share tools, wind up with a bunch of missing tools and broken tools. I think you'd be better off just supplying the basics like compressed air and a few hard to screw up large tools like a hydraulic press or floor jacks, and let them bring in their own hand tools and power tools. A lot of people who use somebody else's shop are pigs. They leave crap all over the place and don't put anything away. I think a paint booth would be something a lot of guys would pay to use. Seems like putting in a good video surveillance system would be a good thing to have so you could see who steals and breaks things when people are in there after hours when you're not around.
I'd do it, but don't rely solely on the DIY's money. Open up a cat house in the back, it'll draw addtional customers. Plus if all the bays were full, guys could "wait" in the back. Even non-car guys would show up, having given their wives the story " I gotta go work on the car".
Did you ever listed to the "Car talk" show on NPR radio with Tom and Ray Magliozzi? That's how they started out in the late 60s or early 70s. Even had a mechanic to help people out who got stuck on fixing something. It lasted a few months as I recall, before they ended the D.I.Y garage and became a general repair shops. I went there once while it was the DIY operation, with a friend to work on his car because you could rent the floor lift. Most of the people working on their cars were fairly clueless, and the mechanic was doing most of the difficult or complex work. I agree with the others: these days the Liablilty isuue would be HUGE.
there used to be a few in the Toldeo metro area..they didnt last long..all of them went out of buiz..and that was back when things were good hey dont get me wrong ..its a nice idea..I just think theres too thick of a brick wall to break through to get this done..and to make a buck at it.
There was a guy in Gilbert, AZ that did this, no idea if it is still there, but if he is that means it could work, but if he isn't, well,,,,,,,,,
The idea of a club house is very common in other parts of the world. In Europe a group will get together and rent a building and each one has a space. They can build a car or just store one there. The idea is good, please keep us informed on how it works out for you. If you are wanting to make it open to the public, you still could do it as a club where you pay some dues to rent the space the first time. The dues could be 1 dollar even. Go for it.
You're not really trying to find a new place to live, are you? I'll come over and mow the lawn for you if you'd like.
Do you speak spanish? I wouldn't pay a dime for that service because I know my co-renters will be the same guys beside me at the parts counter. The same guys that seek me out at the junkyards wanting to borrow tools and getting pissy when I say no. I ain't a pro, just a guy who's been doing this at home long enough to be halfway aware & prepared. The autozone I used to go to had this guy that'd have 3 cars on stands in the parking lot changing axles and timing belts. Thus my guess is you're asking the wrong place. That guy changing parts in the autozone lot is your bread & butter. Not me, cause if I'm your customer too.....He's just gonna drag me down by hogging & fucking up any shared resources. The growing disparity between the high end and low end of the DIY automotive market can't be ignored. But then again they used to say the world was flat and somebody had to prove em all wrong. good luck with the venture. BTW since you seem new, the HAMB is all about the best value for your time. Thus it ain't too suprising you asked for 2 cents and got $1.86, this place is generous like that.
I can't imagine what you'ed have to charge to cover all the expenses and headachs of something like this.A guy that don't even have his own wrenches probabaly can't do more than change oil if that,you'ed have to have somebody there to hold their hand all the time.I don't see average people putting a car up on a lift by themself,or I wouldn't want to be working beside them.
I would tend to believe that class instruction in the various automotive technologies could ultimately be your real bread and butter. Could it be modeled similar to, say, stained glass stores that give lessons, etc.? The student would purchase the needed supplies and/or tools from you and then learn which ever technology they sign up for? It would seem to me that the "hobby shop" rental of space might cause more headaches than you would care to endure? The little bit I know about Brentwood, Tn, is that it's an affluent suburb of Nashville. Where will your customer base come from? Since I don't need a "place" to work on my stuff, I have no idea what that might be worth to someone. I think it's a good idea, and if the overhead can be controlled, you could be successful. Good Luck. Stu
Perfect , and most of the time the $1.84 extra, is money you didn't want........ I wouldn't be interested in your business, but I'm not your target audience anyway, I have a shop myself, just for me (not a business). If I didn't, I would be interested in long term project space, and maybe be willing to spend about $100 a month. The long term guys would be your backstop, just to cover expenses, and the guys who wanted a stall for a few hours would have to be your profit, at $25 + an hour. I can't see people paying too much a month for hobby space in this economy, those that can afford too, probably already have a shop.. Things are different in the city, and I can see the opportunity in it, but don't let the opportunity blind you from the pitfalls of liability and theft (from you, and from other customers).
would you be interested in and how much do you think would be fair YOU ASKED .... NO,NO,NO Thanks anyway..........
No, I would not be interested and since I wouldn't be interested I guess I can't answer the second part BUT I will expand and tell you I'm not interested in it because I have my own garage and what I can't do here I take to a friends place that has a HUGE garage with a lift and all the tools and he loves helping me work on Big Olds. I also might add I am not the only friend that uses his place.
There was one in north Cincinnati a few years ago... I think they had a yearly fee of $80 and then you paid for the time you needed for the stall you needed... (Spray booth / level floor, 2 post lift, 4 post lift). Depending on what you needed, depended on what you spent. I think it was in business about 1 year and disappeared. I had planned to paint a car there, but they closed before I could get the car done. I was interested because it would be cheaper than paying a body shop to spray my car and easier than prepping (and cleaning... especially cleaning!) my garage to spray... I heard it went under for the same reasons that have been quoted above... Good luck... Andy
I had a friend that had this same crazy idea back in the early 80s. After watching him go from being comfortable on money and having some nice hot-rods to being bank-rupt with no cars left and having to take a daily job I would say it's a bad idea !! I'm not sure if he ever did get all the debts paid off >>>>.
Looked into doing this around the Dallas area a couple of years ago.. I was mostly looking for longer term customers, car restoration vs. maintenance. - Yes there are customers - No they won't pay enough to make it worth it - No insurance company is going to provide liability insurance, a absolute no-go for any business.. This is also the reason why you don't see places like this anymore. It's the reason you can't work on your car at the local storage place or in the parking lot/garage at your apartment or even rental home. Great idea, but check with an attorney and a specialized insurance company first.
Fuck all of em, go for it. Everyone said I was crazy 14 years ago giving up a real good job to open my own business. Best move I ever made in my entire life. If your hearts in it, you can make it work.
I would be interested and would be willing to pay $20 an hour, but I would not be willing to leave my car there unattended for worry of theft, damage by others.
What happens when somebody books the lift for a day and he finds out he's screwed and needs to order parts that take 3 days to get and it has already been booked by other customers for those three days. Sure you can move a car with no axles, tires, etc. but it would suck. Same goes for the guy that thinks he can paint his car in a day and runs out of paint or it does not dry, etc. Sounds like a headache. I would be worried about leaving a nice car in a place that is open to the public without a 24 hour watch person. I think your heart is in the right place, but not a good spot to make money.
Put a liquor store on one end of this operation and you stand a strong chance of surviving. Bookend it with a check cashing center and you'll have a goldmine.
are you new to internet forums in general because this is pretty typical and the absolute standard on the hamb. you asked for $.02 and got $5.36.
A guy tried to do the exact same thing a few years ago in Bergenfield, NJ. Surprisingly few people took advantage of the resource. What did happen though was a couple of guys rented the space under the guise of working on their own car(s) but were doing repairs for other people and charging them repair shop rates.
$$$$ Bingo first problem !!! And wait til your working on your ride and the fuck tard in the stall next to you catches his shit on fire !! Now you have your rod parked in a shop thats burning with no quick way to get it out !! Like you have your prize rod in the shop with the engine out or better yet the entire suspension out and the shop burns !! So who's ass do you go to for your dough ??? Or #### Or ****Or better yet !! Some ass hole says he's working on his car in one of the stalls and really he's in the damn place brewin METH !! Now we all know these fuckers are all expert chemist ,, and he makes the wrong move and the roof goes blowing off the place >>>>.
This is what I was thinking. It usually ends up taking more time than expected to do a job, even more if the guy is not experienced. You would have to bring your asshole level way up to be able to push people out of the stalls, make them pay for overages on time "it was only a 1/2 hour over" will come up constantly, collect money for broken equipment, etc. If they had something like that around here, I would use it from time to time. Every now and again a lift would come in handy. A spray booth too. i've seen spraybooth rentals pop up every once and a while, but never a whole shop.
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