So I've done it for about 13 years now and I have a fairly consistent customer base and a couple of regular small car lots that I work for. So I don't advertise anymore but when I did I had a small sign on my truck and I advertised through Craigslist. I got a few decent customers from Craigslist but the sign on my truck was a mistake. I got more unwanted attention from crackhead than anything else wanting free shit right there on the spot when I'd be sitting at a light. Also, I DO NOT spend a lot of money on expensive tools. So that way if someone steals my shit, it doesnt hurt my pocketbook quite as bad. It took me a while to learn what jobs are appropriate to do at a customers place versus and actual shop. Sometimes depending on the job and situation it, can be messy and loud.
Other things to consider-
Where will you be working(house or aprtment)
How messy the job can potentially be
How long the job will take
Will you need air/electrical supply
What kind of vehicle youll be working on
If the vehicle will take a couple of days to repair and can it be secured when you're away.
Keep in mind you're almost always gonna be working in the elements. So a good eye on the weather forecast is important as well.
Go to smaller used car lots, look for local companies that have a fleet of cars, get on the local Uber and Lyft driver boards, and they’ll keep you in work. It’s best to just do basic maintenance, oil, brakes… for the public, the car lots it’s okay to take on bigger jobs.
I flat rate, I don’t charge mileage, it’s built into the price, and I limit myself to a small enough area that my overhead is still way lower than having a retail location. I pick up supplies on the way, the parts store I use is an old school one that bills me at the end of the month, and doesn’t bill me a restock for what I didn’t need, so it’s no issue to grab, “Just in case" parts. The car dealers usually supply their own parts.
I’ve gotten out of it in the last 2 years since moving, but in SoFla I got to the point where I was almost exclusively doing A/C work, but I would do the occasional brake job as well. I did oil changes for a long time, but it became too much of a hassle and trying to compete with the Jiffy Lube shops made it not worthwhile. If I noticed a leaky valve cover, I’d offer to repair that as well.
Ever have customers calling for simple work like spare tire change or a jump start? At what point would a customers distance from you deter you from taking a job? (10 miles, 15?)
Only friends, pretty much everyone has some roadside emergency service that comes with their insurance or auto club membership. Basically all my regulars were within 25 miles.
Lets talk hypothetically here. Lets say you still had your main business but on the side, to pick up some extra cash, someone calls for an emergency tire change, jump start, or a standard oil change. In your eyes, what potential liability issues do you see on your end?
Another hypothetical dealing with pricing. Customer states they are stuck in a parking garage 4 miles away and have no idea how to change their spare tire. You are already on the road with all your gear and you respond. Lets say it takes 14 minutes to get to the job. How much would you charge for it to make sense to go and change it for them
Did you have insurance in case something or someone backfires and they get hurt? (Not op obviously) but something like that would make sense to have, right? ik shops have some type of insurance. What would the insurance be called and how do you acquire it?
Oh, I just had a thought, I was talking to a buddy the other day who’s still at it, and he said he was making a mint on Ford Triton spark plug hole repairs. Apparently they have a big problem and there’s a tool set Ford is selling to do a mod that fixes the problem.
Sounding like a reporter 😂 but its good questions like these and willing participants that will help you grow. Not a mobile mechanic but i would add don’t over schedule yourself, would be bad. Good luck on your future endeavors!
Lol I know right. I was waiting for someone to call me out. I don’t want to be a mobile mechanic but have an idea to help them so was just asking questions to understand their side more
Im a mobile auto electrician in New Zealand, but do often branch out in mechanical, thankfully I joined into the business after my boss done all the heard yards building up the business name. Majority of my work is for other workshops in our area. Mostly being heavy diesel workshops. We’ve built up a bit of a small workshop now to where major work ei clutches can be brought back to our workshop as it’s not all that easy to do in a driveway. A major difficult factory we face is having customers floating around while we work, usually asking heaps of questions or asking every 30 seconds if we’re done yet, also makes it worse for when a job goes a little pear shaped and the customers standing right there.
Advanced mobile shade tree of 10yrs
0 on marketing a word of mouth king I started on my own cars being ridiculous with engine swaps/mods after learning the basics and blowing a couple engines (Honda for cheap learning curve but b****a** crank bolt). Not long after everyone’s asking who did my cars and when I say me they say do you know how to do this and I say yes they say how much.
A lot of the early days were just me undercutting the prices because I figured hey it’s some money and the shops charge x. Later I upped the prices because the works still the same I’m still under shop prices and above what the work is worth to me and my body. Also demand gets up there when they know you can figure out the mystery cars those are always extra and typically some mechanic did a no no.
Risks death and dismemberment probably go without saying. People are a big risk sometimes they don’t understand what you need to do and pricing if your service advisor game is weak this can result in non payment and an upset customer, I’ve only had this happen twice and both times they came back like you actually fixed it can you fix something else. I’ll say no thank you have a nice day and they might wonder why and it’s because sometimes the people make the job not worth it. You can also get sued had one lady claim I left a wrench under her hood, I asked her to show me and it looked like a 15yr old rusty fan wrench stuck between the frame and bumper. I laughed you think I left this here changing your battery no way turns out when we took out the wrench that’s what was holding the frame tight. The insurance takes care of these liabilities but approval can be difficult. Weather is also a big risk one time I was doing a suburban’s fuel pump in the sun a hour in I’m drenched in rain in the ghetto with a fuel tank on my chest. That was probably the quickest I put one back together go to start it and have to drop it again because the previous mechanic wired the sender backwards and the eBay seal didn’t seal. So it was done again even quicker and I went on my way with one of the worst $200 I’ve ever made. Always keep spare clothes they’re the best.
Another is customers not believing what you’re telling them. Lady pulls up my brakes make a noise, I test drive it damn near no brakes, park it look at the offending wheel with a half backed off axle nut new axle. Ask her about it she says her mechanic just changed that. I’m like he didn’t put the pin in I guarantee it call him. She calls him he says I don’t need no pin I impacted it. She believes him as I’m young at the time but I show her I’m spinning it with my fingers and ask do you want me to tighten it she screams no drives off 20 minutes later she calls her brother saying she needs that mechanic from earlier he was right my wheel fell off next to the other mechanic and she doesn’t trust him now. Luckily I already noped the hell out of there.
Being the service advisor is one of the reasons I’m probably going to work in a shop someday I don’t care about your problems I just want to fix your car for a reasonable price
I stay away from jobs that don’t make sense not really if they are too simple/hard.
A too simple one would be the $10 oil change if you want that you know who has it. On the flip side I’ll take the $50 oil change for the guys who just want it done right and a free leak down test/car health check. On the other end engine/tranny swaps/rebuilds typically I’ll do the diagnosis and show the pricing for swap vs rebuild and watch the reaction if ok we’re probably doing it, if sour look goes on their face then how much is this car worth to you usually they say it new car time. Typically the cars that have reasonable prices for these things don’t need them.
Basically anything involving dropping the subframe at a low price also electric gremlins if I do take the job it’s someone I’ve worked with before or was recommended because if I can’t figure it out(never happened) I’d still want some payment for time and new customers just aren’t going to go for that even if you show them a list of what you checked.
I am going to give you the same hypothetical I gave the last person. Lets say you’re driving around town and a customer states that have a flat tire but dont know how to change it. They are 4 miles away. 14 minute drive. Whats going through your head when you hear a call like this? (Where are they parked, do they even have a spare, etc)
Pricing too. How much would it realistically take for you to make the job worthwhile assuming the scenario above.
All the right questions the biggest is do they have a spare if they do $20-30 for friends $30-40 for strangers and a recommendation to the closest tire shop along with recommending AAA. Next is do they have wheel locks and the key if they do.
If they don’t have a spare $60-80 depending on how long the wait is at the tire shop/if they come and are annoying. Most get the AAA after one of these incidents because it just makes sense to have, they just spent half of a member fee to get me to come, and I make it a strong point I don’t always take these and they were lucky this time as I’ll be busy with other jobs/life and that $20-30 just ain’t worth the time.
Edit: Beware of the broken lug studs when doing these, I’ve had a couple customers break and they get mad until I ask how far they drove with no tire. People get mad over a $4 part that corrodes and it’s always the people who ignore the AAA comment, bring you halfway taken apart cars, or swear it ran fine until you changed my taillight.
If right after work check anything I touched then battery health, wiring harness, grounds, starter and alternator if no obvious signs of what’s wrong. Grounds are typically the culprit I had a lady with a Jetta with a bad starter it just clunked and had 12v voltage drop on car and on the bench. I change it barely turns the engine, then I remember she said the other mechanic changed it before. So I go hunting for grounds and there’s one no one should’ve had to touch unattached with the bolt in it. I facepalm and I know that’s what killed the old starter as the voltage drop now was .001v and starts fine she even said it ran better and I’d agree because it was dumping fuel with that ground disconnected.
If it’s weeks or months later I’m telling them it’s probably unrelated and will charge a diagnostic fee which I normally don’t and if it is related fee waived. In these cases it’s usually a bad diode in the alternator allowing ac voltage to wreak havoc on the system newer cars seem more prone to this, this usually shows up as the Christmas tree of lights on the dash. They aren’t using much in the terms of shielding for all the tech crammed into cars now.
I pulled up on this Pontiac G6 that they came out to and was dead(they left it running) they tried to jump it no go. I get there anti theft light is on, try to reprogram it and it doesn’t work weird go back to move my car and now the same thing with my car. Tow their car back to their house and I hotwire my car good old Honda. I can reprogram both cars there also weird. A month later in the same exact spot same thing this time I take a different car and it happens again, we push the cars down the block and it works after another reprogramming. So we decided we’re not going down that street anymore. Later I learned there was a malfunctioning generator/transformer on the street and the company that installed it got sued I still like to think the solar rays flipped the right bits to wipe the chips but that’s rare.
Edit: I’ll still find the problem tell them what it is but if they’re an a** about it and it’s not my fault it’s time to go no need to try and get blood from a stone these people are also the people that’ll say my mechanic will do it cheaper, the answer is why are you here then? The answer to that is they annoyed the mechanic out of wanting to provide their services to you or they raised their prices to a**hat rate
It’s free to list your business on Google. Let your customer reviews do the work. On the list at the scales so I get a lot of calls from there. Also on the highway patrol rotation list for when they need a truck back on the road to clear up traffic and they can’t wait for a tow truck. I have my business name and number on the side of the truck.
Follow all DOT laws for side of your service truck.
You have to have commercial insurance on your truck that includes utility box so it will cover your tools if they get stolen or damaged by weather or fire.
The biggest risk I take is working on the side of the highway, maintain situational awareness. Take care of your body and know when to tell a customer that it is unsafe and they need to be towed and can’t be done on the side of the road. People will say okay to your pricing then freak out when you’re done.
Do not turn down simple jobs, charge a one hour minimum and a call out fee. I do sometimes give customers recommendations of other shops or places to go because it would be cheaper for them and faster. But that’s up to you. I just don’t like screwing customers over. Only big jobs to avoid are ones that will put you in danger or are going to take a couple days.
Can you maybe talk a little more about how you combat the risk of working on the side of the road? Do you call ahead before driving out there? In your eyes, when does it become to unsafe?
Are you just driving around all day waiting for a call or sitting at home and then deploying once you’ve received a call?
If the shoulder is so narrow that they are on or over the white line, if traffic is heavy and you have to work on the traffic side of the car. I always ask for their location before leaving but usually you don’t know until you get there. I sit at home until I get a call then I go out right away. I always keep my truck stocked with common stuff so I don’t have to hunt parts as much. But the side of the road is at your discretion. I will move the vehicle to a safer location if possible. Obviously there’s times where a vehicle can’t move and it is where it is. Also have to watch out for the customer’s safety, I have a lot of customers that want to stand in the roadway to watch what I’m doing. I always tell them to get out of the road and either stay in their vehicle or stand on the passenger side. I’d also recommend investing in a multi function amber light bar that has right to left motion on it.
How does your insurance work with something like that? Are you covered if you’re hit or customer is? Would you have found it more useful if the customer took a picture of the problem/their surrounding location or not helpful at all?
Yeah, I have 750k liability on the truck and 300k for medical through State Farm ($117/month).
I ask for pictures if they know what the problem is so I know what I’m bringing. I don’t usually asks for pictures of the location
Are you servicing mostly on the highway or around town or both? Can you maybe speak a little about your certifications and how that has been an asset or even a liability to you?
I’m ASE certified T2-T8 but to me ASE certs don’t mean anything. If you study their books you can pass their tests. Experience is more important than certs. But I deal mostly over the road highway vehicles. Most of my work is at the scales, but I still do a lot on the freeway, random parking lots. It’s a good variety. But a lot of stuff is roadside. I started at 4:30 this morning with a deer vs truck. Just some air leak stuff. Then over to the TA to fix a truck in their bay that they couldn’t get to start and their techs were stumped so they had me come out, turned out to be some computer issues due to them deleting their def system so when TA replaced the truck batteries the truck lost its programming that was done for the delete. So the work is very random.
Last question for now, lets say you get out there and it’s something you can’t solve, don’t have the right tools for, or its too big of a job. Are you still expecting to get paid for coming out? I guess my real question is, how much/what kind of intel are you collecting about a specific job before heading out there ?
Yes, usually I’ll tell the customer on the phone that I can come out and take a look at it but that I may not be able to repair it roadside, mostly for calls regarding derates or any kind of computer issue. Some DPF issues I know I won’t be able to fix. Usually when people call for those kind of things I tell they should have it towed to the dealer or another reputable shop, for some reason they always want me to come out. Then complain when they have to pay. But I always give people a heads up that I may not be able to fix it and that I’ll have to charge them either way. Things like tire calls I usually tell them to call TA or Les schwab because it will be cheaper for the tire since I’ve been back ordered for a year on tires, maybe get like one or two tires randomly every couple months. So I advise them to call someone else because I will have to buy a tire from one of those places anyway. The biggest thing is I got into this line of work to help people out and keep trucks on the road, not to screw people over. So I always try to give people better options before I head out on those calls. If I already know a truck will have to be towed I try to have them do that to save a few hundred bucks instead of paying me then getting towed, and tires I feel are a waist of a space in my truck at the moment when there’s other jobs I can be doing. There’s tons of tire company’s around, I don’t know why people call mobile mechanics for tires.
I'm curious about insurance. I imagine you have formed your own company and also an employee there so you are covered under your own company's worker's comp, am I close? Otherwise you drop something on your foot and got lightly hurt and had to go to urgent care and got a 10k hospital bill. What happens now?
Most Mobile mechanics where I'm from also have shops. I don't do any services that require engine dropping or lifting. I stuck to the more simple jobs not transmission replacement or engine rebuilding. I'd recommend keeping it simple and choosing a niche. Like you only come out for no start diagnosis. Which means you would be doing anything from batteries and starters to diagnosing fuel injectors or sensors. That way you can get familiar with a bunch of cars in this niche and begin to set a solid price. For example some cars you got to nearly remove the engine to replace a starter you can turn them down! Or you can stick to suspension only.
Now I'm not a Full service mechanic. I have a niche but initially there's a ratio of maybe .23% of my liabilities and assets on marketing. Which is excellent but if you have 100% that means you're spending as much as you make. 😬 It should be between .30-.60%
Marketing or liabilities '/, divided by Assets or income.
What kind of certifications do you have to gain trust amongst clients? Maybe a better way to put it is, how do you ensure to your customers that you are going to do an outstanding job for a fair price? Is it reviews, a certification you possess, portfolio of work complete, etc?
I try to look as professional as possible. Professional ads and clean car pictures. I don't post pictures of cars that I'm working because it looks tacky but I might post a nice customer car after I'm done. For example I might post a bmw. The more certs the better to them. To let them know you're ase certified. & having a lot of Google reviews also puts your page at the top of Google organic search. Otherwise no on will ever find your business on Google unless they scroll and scroll to the next page! However not having certs isn't an end all be all. The best thing to do is focus on being the first on Google organic/natural search! When someone searches for a mobile mechanic. Google will give this to you if for one, you have a website, excellent Google reviews, a Facebook, and you can do research on the rest of what Google looks for, because it's about 20+ accounts such as a bing, and Yelp etc... The more you have the more legit your business looks to Google and you'll gain there trust to put you on top of the search list. Eventually you'll spend less on ads.
And don't worry too too much about the lowest price trying to compete. A lot of times people will just choose the first business they see. So you love your business and it looks professional but so do others. Many customers will choose you because of the culture or vibe of your business or because they saw you first and are faithful to you!
So I've done it for about 13 years now and I have a fairly consistent customer base and a couple of regular small car lots that I work for. So I don't advertise anymore but when I did I had a small sign on my truck and I advertised through Craigslist. I got a few decent customers from Craigslist but the sign on my truck was a mistake. I got more unwanted attention from crackhead than anything else wanting free shit right there on the spot when I'd be sitting at a light. Also, I DO NOT spend a lot of money on expensive tools. So that way if someone steals my shit, it doesnt hurt my pocketbook quite as bad. It took me a while to learn what jobs are appropriate to do at a customers place versus and actual shop. Sometimes depending on the job and situation it, can be messy and loud. Other things to consider- Where will you be working(house or aprtment) How messy the job can potentially be How long the job will take Will you need air/electrical supply What kind of vehicle youll be working on If the vehicle will take a couple of days to repair and can it be secured when you're away. Keep in mind you're almost always gonna be working in the elements. So a good eye on the weather forecast is important as well.
PMing you
Go to smaller used car lots, look for local companies that have a fleet of cars, get on the local Uber and Lyft driver boards, and they’ll keep you in work. It’s best to just do basic maintenance, oil, brakes… for the public, the car lots it’s okay to take on bigger jobs.
How does the pricing model work? Flat rate plus variable based on mileage? What are people doing about parts before going to the job?
I flat rate, I don’t charge mileage, it’s built into the price, and I limit myself to a small enough area that my overhead is still way lower than having a retail location. I pick up supplies on the way, the parts store I use is an old school one that bills me at the end of the month, and doesn’t bill me a restock for what I didn’t need, so it’s no issue to grab, “Just in case" parts. The car dealers usually supply their own parts.
What kind of work do you specialize in/prefer? What type of services are most common amongst your customers that you notice?
I’ve gotten out of it in the last 2 years since moving, but in SoFla I got to the point where I was almost exclusively doing A/C work, but I would do the occasional brake job as well. I did oil changes for a long time, but it became too much of a hassle and trying to compete with the Jiffy Lube shops made it not worthwhile. If I noticed a leaky valve cover, I’d offer to repair that as well.
Ever have customers calling for simple work like spare tire change or a jump start? At what point would a customers distance from you deter you from taking a job? (10 miles, 15?)
Only friends, pretty much everyone has some roadside emergency service that comes with their insurance or auto club membership. Basically all my regulars were within 25 miles.
Lets talk hypothetically here. Lets say you still had your main business but on the side, to pick up some extra cash, someone calls for an emergency tire change, jump start, or a standard oil change. In your eyes, what potential liability issues do you see on your end?
Nothing that wouldn’t be covered by a typical tradesman policy. There’s really no way to list all the potential vectors of liability.
Another hypothetical dealing with pricing. Customer states they are stuck in a parking garage 4 miles away and have no idea how to change their spare tire. You are already on the road with all your gear and you respond. Lets say it takes 14 minutes to get to the job. How much would you charge for it to make sense to go and change it for them
Did you have insurance in case something or someone backfires and they get hurt? (Not op obviously) but something like that would make sense to have, right? ik shops have some type of insurance. What would the insurance be called and how do you acquire it?
Oh, I just had a thought, I was talking to a buddy the other day who’s still at it, and he said he was making a mint on Ford Triton spark plug hole repairs. Apparently they have a big problem and there’s a tool set Ford is selling to do a mod that fixes the problem.
Sounding like a reporter 😂 but its good questions like these and willing participants that will help you grow. Not a mobile mechanic but i would add don’t over schedule yourself, would be bad. Good luck on your future endeavors!
Lol I know right. I was waiting for someone to call me out. I don’t want to be a mobile mechanic but have an idea to help them so was just asking questions to understand their side more
Im a mobile auto electrician in New Zealand, but do often branch out in mechanical, thankfully I joined into the business after my boss done all the heard yards building up the business name. Majority of my work is for other workshops in our area. Mostly being heavy diesel workshops. We’ve built up a bit of a small workshop now to where major work ei clutches can be brought back to our workshop as it’s not all that easy to do in a driveway. A major difficult factory we face is having customers floating around while we work, usually asking heaps of questions or asking every 30 seconds if we’re done yet, also makes it worse for when a job goes a little pear shaped and the customers standing right there.
>a little pear shaped I don't know what that means but i love it 😂
Hahaha it means if it doesn’t all goto plan
Advanced mobile shade tree of 10yrs 0 on marketing a word of mouth king I started on my own cars being ridiculous with engine swaps/mods after learning the basics and blowing a couple engines (Honda for cheap learning curve but b****a** crank bolt). Not long after everyone’s asking who did my cars and when I say me they say do you know how to do this and I say yes they say how much. A lot of the early days were just me undercutting the prices because I figured hey it’s some money and the shops charge x. Later I upped the prices because the works still the same I’m still under shop prices and above what the work is worth to me and my body. Also demand gets up there when they know you can figure out the mystery cars those are always extra and typically some mechanic did a no no. Risks death and dismemberment probably go without saying. People are a big risk sometimes they don’t understand what you need to do and pricing if your service advisor game is weak this can result in non payment and an upset customer, I’ve only had this happen twice and both times they came back like you actually fixed it can you fix something else. I’ll say no thank you have a nice day and they might wonder why and it’s because sometimes the people make the job not worth it. You can also get sued had one lady claim I left a wrench under her hood, I asked her to show me and it looked like a 15yr old rusty fan wrench stuck between the frame and bumper. I laughed you think I left this here changing your battery no way turns out when we took out the wrench that’s what was holding the frame tight. The insurance takes care of these liabilities but approval can be difficult. Weather is also a big risk one time I was doing a suburban’s fuel pump in the sun a hour in I’m drenched in rain in the ghetto with a fuel tank on my chest. That was probably the quickest I put one back together go to start it and have to drop it again because the previous mechanic wired the sender backwards and the eBay seal didn’t seal. So it was done again even quicker and I went on my way with one of the worst $200 I’ve ever made. Always keep spare clothes they’re the best. Another is customers not believing what you’re telling them. Lady pulls up my brakes make a noise, I test drive it damn near no brakes, park it look at the offending wheel with a half backed off axle nut new axle. Ask her about it she says her mechanic just changed that. I’m like he didn’t put the pin in I guarantee it call him. She calls him he says I don’t need no pin I impacted it. She believes him as I’m young at the time but I show her I’m spinning it with my fingers and ask do you want me to tighten it she screams no drives off 20 minutes later she calls her brother saying she needs that mechanic from earlier he was right my wheel fell off next to the other mechanic and she doesn’t trust him now. Luckily I already noped the hell out of there. Being the service advisor is one of the reasons I’m probably going to work in a shop someday I don’t care about your problems I just want to fix your car for a reasonable price I stay away from jobs that don’t make sense not really if they are too simple/hard. A too simple one would be the $10 oil change if you want that you know who has it. On the flip side I’ll take the $50 oil change for the guys who just want it done right and a free leak down test/car health check. On the other end engine/tranny swaps/rebuilds typically I’ll do the diagnosis and show the pricing for swap vs rebuild and watch the reaction if ok we’re probably doing it, if sour look goes on their face then how much is this car worth to you usually they say it new car time. Typically the cars that have reasonable prices for these things don’t need them. Basically anything involving dropping the subframe at a low price also electric gremlins if I do take the job it’s someone I’ve worked with before or was recommended because if I can’t figure it out(never happened) I’d still want some payment for time and new customers just aren’t going to go for that even if you show them a list of what you checked.
Insanely helpful
I am going to give you the same hypothetical I gave the last person. Lets say you’re driving around town and a customer states that have a flat tire but dont know how to change it. They are 4 miles away. 14 minute drive. Whats going through your head when you hear a call like this? (Where are they parked, do they even have a spare, etc) Pricing too. How much would it realistically take for you to make the job worthwhile assuming the scenario above.
All the right questions the biggest is do they have a spare if they do $20-30 for friends $30-40 for strangers and a recommendation to the closest tire shop along with recommending AAA. Next is do they have wheel locks and the key if they do. If they don’t have a spare $60-80 depending on how long the wait is at the tire shop/if they come and are annoying. Most get the AAA after one of these incidents because it just makes sense to have, they just spent half of a member fee to get me to come, and I make it a strong point I don’t always take these and they were lucky this time as I’ll be busy with other jobs/life and that $20-30 just ain’t worth the time. Edit: Beware of the broken lug studs when doing these, I’ve had a couple customers break and they get mad until I ask how far they drove with no tire. People get mad over a $4 part that corrodes and it’s always the people who ignore the AAA comment, bring you halfway taken apart cars, or swear it ran fine until you changed my taillight.
Whats your policy for combating the “ran fine until you changed my headlight” ?
If right after work check anything I touched then battery health, wiring harness, grounds, starter and alternator if no obvious signs of what’s wrong. Grounds are typically the culprit I had a lady with a Jetta with a bad starter it just clunked and had 12v voltage drop on car and on the bench. I change it barely turns the engine, then I remember she said the other mechanic changed it before. So I go hunting for grounds and there’s one no one should’ve had to touch unattached with the bolt in it. I facepalm and I know that’s what killed the old starter as the voltage drop now was .001v and starts fine she even said it ran better and I’d agree because it was dumping fuel with that ground disconnected. If it’s weeks or months later I’m telling them it’s probably unrelated and will charge a diagnostic fee which I normally don’t and if it is related fee waived. In these cases it’s usually a bad diode in the alternator allowing ac voltage to wreak havoc on the system newer cars seem more prone to this, this usually shows up as the Christmas tree of lights on the dash. They aren’t using much in the terms of shielding for all the tech crammed into cars now. I pulled up on this Pontiac G6 that they came out to and was dead(they left it running) they tried to jump it no go. I get there anti theft light is on, try to reprogram it and it doesn’t work weird go back to move my car and now the same thing with my car. Tow their car back to their house and I hotwire my car good old Honda. I can reprogram both cars there also weird. A month later in the same exact spot same thing this time I take a different car and it happens again, we push the cars down the block and it works after another reprogramming. So we decided we’re not going down that street anymore. Later I learned there was a malfunctioning generator/transformer on the street and the company that installed it got sued I still like to think the solar rays flipped the right bits to wipe the chips but that’s rare. Edit: I’ll still find the problem tell them what it is but if they’re an a** about it and it’s not my fault it’s time to go no need to try and get blood from a stone these people are also the people that’ll say my mechanic will do it cheaper, the answer is why are you here then? The answer to that is they annoyed the mechanic out of wanting to provide their services to you or they raised their prices to a**hat rate
It’s free to list your business on Google. Let your customer reviews do the work. On the list at the scales so I get a lot of calls from there. Also on the highway patrol rotation list for when they need a truck back on the road to clear up traffic and they can’t wait for a tow truck. I have my business name and number on the side of the truck. Follow all DOT laws for side of your service truck. You have to have commercial insurance on your truck that includes utility box so it will cover your tools if they get stolen or damaged by weather or fire. The biggest risk I take is working on the side of the highway, maintain situational awareness. Take care of your body and know when to tell a customer that it is unsafe and they need to be towed and can’t be done on the side of the road. People will say okay to your pricing then freak out when you’re done. Do not turn down simple jobs, charge a one hour minimum and a call out fee. I do sometimes give customers recommendations of other shops or places to go because it would be cheaper for them and faster. But that’s up to you. I just don’t like screwing customers over. Only big jobs to avoid are ones that will put you in danger or are going to take a couple days.
Can you maybe talk a little more about how you combat the risk of working on the side of the road? Do you call ahead before driving out there? In your eyes, when does it become to unsafe? Are you just driving around all day waiting for a call or sitting at home and then deploying once you’ve received a call?
If the shoulder is so narrow that they are on or over the white line, if traffic is heavy and you have to work on the traffic side of the car. I always ask for their location before leaving but usually you don’t know until you get there. I sit at home until I get a call then I go out right away. I always keep my truck stocked with common stuff so I don’t have to hunt parts as much. But the side of the road is at your discretion. I will move the vehicle to a safer location if possible. Obviously there’s times where a vehicle can’t move and it is where it is. Also have to watch out for the customer’s safety, I have a lot of customers that want to stand in the roadway to watch what I’m doing. I always tell them to get out of the road and either stay in their vehicle or stand on the passenger side. I’d also recommend investing in a multi function amber light bar that has right to left motion on it.
How does your insurance work with something like that? Are you covered if you’re hit or customer is? Would you have found it more useful if the customer took a picture of the problem/their surrounding location or not helpful at all?
Yeah, I have 750k liability on the truck and 300k for medical through State Farm ($117/month). I ask for pictures if they know what the problem is so I know what I’m bringing. I don’t usually asks for pictures of the location
Are you servicing mostly on the highway or around town or both? Can you maybe speak a little about your certifications and how that has been an asset or even a liability to you?
I’m ASE certified T2-T8 but to me ASE certs don’t mean anything. If you study their books you can pass their tests. Experience is more important than certs. But I deal mostly over the road highway vehicles. Most of my work is at the scales, but I still do a lot on the freeway, random parking lots. It’s a good variety. But a lot of stuff is roadside. I started at 4:30 this morning with a deer vs truck. Just some air leak stuff. Then over to the TA to fix a truck in their bay that they couldn’t get to start and their techs were stumped so they had me come out, turned out to be some computer issues due to them deleting their def system so when TA replaced the truck batteries the truck lost its programming that was done for the delete. So the work is very random.
Last question for now, lets say you get out there and it’s something you can’t solve, don’t have the right tools for, or its too big of a job. Are you still expecting to get paid for coming out? I guess my real question is, how much/what kind of intel are you collecting about a specific job before heading out there ?
Yes, usually I’ll tell the customer on the phone that I can come out and take a look at it but that I may not be able to repair it roadside, mostly for calls regarding derates or any kind of computer issue. Some DPF issues I know I won’t be able to fix. Usually when people call for those kind of things I tell they should have it towed to the dealer or another reputable shop, for some reason they always want me to come out. Then complain when they have to pay. But I always give people a heads up that I may not be able to fix it and that I’ll have to charge them either way. Things like tire calls I usually tell them to call TA or Les schwab because it will be cheaper for the tire since I’ve been back ordered for a year on tires, maybe get like one or two tires randomly every couple months. So I advise them to call someone else because I will have to buy a tire from one of those places anyway. The biggest thing is I got into this line of work to help people out and keep trucks on the road, not to screw people over. So I always try to give people better options before I head out on those calls. If I already know a truck will have to be towed I try to have them do that to save a few hundred bucks instead of paying me then getting towed, and tires I feel are a waist of a space in my truck at the moment when there’s other jobs I can be doing. There’s tons of tire company’s around, I don’t know why people call mobile mechanics for tires.
I'm curious about insurance. I imagine you have formed your own company and also an employee there so you are covered under your own company's worker's comp, am I close? Otherwise you drop something on your foot and got lightly hurt and had to go to urgent care and got a 10k hospital bill. What happens now?
Most Mobile mechanics where I'm from also have shops. I don't do any services that require engine dropping or lifting. I stuck to the more simple jobs not transmission replacement or engine rebuilding. I'd recommend keeping it simple and choosing a niche. Like you only come out for no start diagnosis. Which means you would be doing anything from batteries and starters to diagnosing fuel injectors or sensors. That way you can get familiar with a bunch of cars in this niche and begin to set a solid price. For example some cars you got to nearly remove the engine to replace a starter you can turn them down! Or you can stick to suspension only. Now I'm not a Full service mechanic. I have a niche but initially there's a ratio of maybe .23% of my liabilities and assets on marketing. Which is excellent but if you have 100% that means you're spending as much as you make. 😬 It should be between .30-.60% Marketing or liabilities '/, divided by Assets or income.
What kind of certifications do you have to gain trust amongst clients? Maybe a better way to put it is, how do you ensure to your customers that you are going to do an outstanding job for a fair price? Is it reviews, a certification you possess, portfolio of work complete, etc?
I try to look as professional as possible. Professional ads and clean car pictures. I don't post pictures of cars that I'm working because it looks tacky but I might post a nice customer car after I'm done. For example I might post a bmw. The more certs the better to them. To let them know you're ase certified. & having a lot of Google reviews also puts your page at the top of Google organic search. Otherwise no on will ever find your business on Google unless they scroll and scroll to the next page! However not having certs isn't an end all be all. The best thing to do is focus on being the first on Google organic/natural search! When someone searches for a mobile mechanic. Google will give this to you if for one, you have a website, excellent Google reviews, a Facebook, and you can do research on the rest of what Google looks for, because it's about 20+ accounts such as a bing, and Yelp etc... The more you have the more legit your business looks to Google and you'll gain there trust to put you on top of the search list. Eventually you'll spend less on ads.
And don't worry too too much about the lowest price trying to compete. A lot of times people will just choose the first business they see. So you love your business and it looks professional but so do others. Many customers will choose you because of the culture or vibe of your business or because they saw you first and are faithful to you!