Hey everyone! I am just creating this post to get feedback and opinions. I used to be in the US Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, and I am a car junkie. Anyways, Camp Pendleton has an Auto Shop on base where you pay a certain rate per hour to work on your car. Some of the bays have lifts, some don’t. Also the price per hour includes all needed tool, air tools, specialty tools and pretty much anything you can think of. They also have a paint booth you can use as well. I think it was like 5 or 10 dollars per hour. I was actually talking with the president of my current company who by the way was a former Marine and knows about these on base auto shops, and I gave him the idea to open an auto shop similar to the ones on base. Basically a per hour place to work on your car DIY shop. I told him that it could bring in a lot of business and it gives people like you and me to work on our rides ie: motor swaps, exhaust, suspension, body work. The reality is that a lot of people have the skills to do most of the work, but either don’t have all of the RIGHT tools or place to do it. I think this would be a great opportunity and wanted to get the feedback of fellow HT members. This DIY Auto Shop would be located in Orange County. Maybe even a DYNO could be an option. All feedback is encouraged and appreciated.

 

Just some questions to start discussion...
How much would it cost to purchase floor lifts and several sets of proper tools?
How much would maintenance cost? (Can't use worn/dirty tools, gotta keep the place organized.. ex: cleaning paint gun)
How many customers would need to come in each month in order for the company to stay alive and net profit?
What about insurance costs?
What happens when people screw up their ride at your place by trying to do it themselves (assuming no experience...) ?

 

i am sure my boss will figure out the numbers...however..i just wanted feedback on the idea...

 

Sounds like a good idea on paper... but in practice is always another story

 

it COULD be a good idea, but some people (like myself) like working on their car at the privacy of their own home where there's no one there to watch you screw up .
if you do decided to go through with it. GOODLUCK!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ballerchild &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it COULD be a good idea, but some people (like myself) like working on their car at the privacy of their own home where there's no one there to watch you screw up .
if you do decided to go through with it. GOODLUCK! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats very true...but not everyone has the luxury of having a lift and air compressor and all tools...and some people dont trust anyone working on thier car except themselves...so hence DIY Auto Shop

 

damn i love this idea

 

Sounds like a good idea to me. I have the knowledge and tools but my brother doesn't want me to stain his garage floor so I'm limited to what I can do at home. Wish I had a place like that around my house.

 

good idea

 

I’m pretty sure there would be many legal issues involved but it is actually a good idea. I’ve heard that places like these exist a couple of years back –down south. They’re all gone now.

 

bump...anyone else ...need feedback.... all of these will be presented to the boss!!!

 

gota watch out for thieves

 

someone will drop a car on their head and you will get sued

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chunty *** kevin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">someone will drop a car on their head and you will get sued</TD></TR></TABLE>

not if you have a release of liabilty

I already researched that!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chunty *** kevin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">someone will drop a car on their head and you will get sued</TD></TR></TABLE>


lol if your a moron then you need not to apply

 

Trust me, you wouldn't be able to obtain insurance for your shop. Very risky, I could go in there and drop something on Joe Shmoe and he could and can legally sue your *** off!

And trust me.. You want insurance, and you won't get it.
Believe it.

 

so then how does the auto base auto shop run their business and BTW its run by civilians!

 

i like the idea, go for it

 

the low rate on the paint booth sounds cool

 

Well, if the place you are talking about is for public use. They don't have insurance and have to pay out of pocket for anything that happens genius. I'm giving you advice, no need for bickering. Go ahead and open it up with no insurance, I'll be sure to go and 'work on my car' wherever your place is located. Use your noggin' that's what it's there for!

 

its a good idea.. but you still gotta pay people to stay on top of things. one thing its to have a shop at a marines base and another open to the public.

its a good idea for people that really know what they are doing and they know how to use all the tools, but that aint going to happen.

plus it will have to be way more than 5-10 bux. an hour to be worth it to the owner. a swap might take like 5- 10 hours ( again depending on the people if they know what they are doing ) 10x10= only 100 bux for use of space,lift,tools,power not worth it.. plus who is going to cleap up after they are done..

 

Like I said, the reason why it is open on base and for the force only is because it is for people with merit. They obviously are trained to represent this 'great' nation. What I am trying to say is, they have more of a reason to keep it clean and not break stuff then the normal Joe Shmoe who works at crabshack so he can get discounts every night. Feel me?..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by im a monster hehe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Like I said, the reason why it is open on base and for the force only is because it is for people with merit. They obviously are trained to represent this 'great' nation. What I am trying to say is, they have more of a reason to keep it clean and not break stuff then the normal Joe Shmoe who works at crabshack so he can get discounts every night. Feel me?..</TD></TR></TABLE>

No i dont feel you, Marines are not trained to take care of tools and have common sense...they are trained to kill...trust me...I HAVE BEEN THERE!

 

Equipment/Lifts 50K = 833 a month for 5 years
Rent 3K a month
Insurance 2K a month

Thats around 6 Grand a month to keep up the shop.

8 hours x 10 bucks = 80 dollars a day
560 dollars a week
2240 a month

and that is just for one booth. If you want multiple lifts you need to add at least another 50K but that doubles your equipment expense.

Youre not going to make a profit with the price you are charging, and if you jack up the prices to about 20-30 dollars an hour then people would rather go to another performance shop to get their work done. I'm not going to pay some oil change place 10 bucks to let me change my own oil.

A good business would be a 24 hour Repair Shop with Towing.

 

24 Hour Shop, that's what I told my cousin, who owns a auto shop on WESTMINSTER BLVD. Where traffic never moves! Trust me I would know how much things would cost, and how to obtain insurance, we did the loan for the shop and the land. So obviously, I would know. Why would you bite the finger that feeds you, genius? Go open your shop, and TRY to get a business license for that first, and then TRY to get insurance, which you will get only if you have a crooked broker that will lie about everything and once you have a claim you have to cough up the money. It's called AMERICA. You can't just open something and have people come into your store and do whatever they want without something called "INSURANCE". First off the profit margin SUCKS *****, and you just seem to be DREAMING too much. Come back to reality. Someone like you would be good in a cubicle, complaining about micro-management.

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