hi looking into starting my own servicing company and wondered wat you all thought of the idea, basically 3 service levels, 6 month, annual and 3 year and they go as follows
6 month, approx cost £40 plus any extra parts
oil/filter change
levels check
tyres/pressures check
coolant level check
brake/discs check
rad fan check
spark plug/glow plug check
annual service, approx cost £70
as 6 month service plus
brake pads/shoes changed
air filter changed
fuel filter changed
compression test
valve clearences checked
exhaust checked
electrics/mot test items checked
spark plugs/glow plugs changed
3 year service, approx cost £250-300
as annual service plus
brake discs changed
coolant change
cambelt/tensioners changed
fanbelt changed
headgasket, head decoked
waterpump changed
gearbox oil changed
bushes/rubbers mechanical components checked
can anyone spot anything glaringly obvious i missed or have an opinion on the idea are the costs right or to expensive obviously things will differ car to car and the timings for services aren't fixed but ive always ran my cars by the above and they've been great and haven't ever suffered a major mechanical failure
cheers
chris
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DO you know much about cars?
NOI, but it all looks a bit cock-eyed to me. What's the 3 year service all about (cambelt? headgasket and decoke!! waterpump?). Don't think you'll need to change glow plugs annually either!
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If it helps, I have 2 cars, one under warranty and one 8 year old.
The warranty one goes to Renault as per the schedule to make sure my warranty stays intact,
The other one gets oil and filter changes at National and goes to my local friendly mechanic when something goes wrong.
I can't see me making use of your fixed price servicing either way.
I think the priority for the independents is to build up a good reputation by word of mouth. There is nothing in your "sales pitch" to attract me to you in the first place.
Sorry, don't know how typical a customer I am?
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First you need to learn to be a mechanic.
Then you need to learn a little business nous.
There's a good reason that 80% of businesses cease trading within five years of start up.
This may sound harsh, but from what I can ascertain from your initial post you really do have a lot to learn.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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carried all work out on my own cars includes all servicing head gaskets full rebuilds, various engine conversions so can wield a spanner competently, ive always ran my cars to those services and ive never had problems with them. 3 year service is based on average mileage would be about right for cambelt change and as it's off id do all tensioners and waterpump aswell, headgasket and decoke is aimed more at slightly older cars around the 10 year mark and obviusly isn't a must have item but again something ive always done, glow plugs are dependent on car really i have a 306 turbo diesel and it will happily eat a decent set of glow plugs in a year but again not always necessary and would be tailored for specific car
cheers
chris
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Are you a qualified mechanic?,if so start your own business.If not think hard and fast about doing it,Too many around now that think they are but have no idea.only on their own cars
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Steve
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'can wield a spanner competently'
I hate to sound like I'm being pedantic or possible even mean, but your last posts excluding this one are asking questions ranging from idle speed to power steering.
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If not think hard and fast about doing it
Don't you mean long and hard?
:-P
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Compare your ideas with car manufacturers' service schedules and recommendations. This should answer a lot of your questions, and tell you which items you plan to renew routinely when it's not necessary.
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L\'escargot.
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The auto service industry has too many cowboys already!
Although cars have common service schedule items, their variations are there for a purpose. It may relate to the exact nature of equipment fitted, or omitted, or may relate to the manufacturers history of failures.
Fixed price servicing is a nonsense. Fixed price means fixed tasks which can only mean one or both of two things :- a) work done which isn't necessary and/or b) work not done which was necessary.
This just isn't the sort of idea that the industry, or it's customers, need.
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I think it is possible that these ideas may be a little way off the mark. A lot of people who can do a bit on their own cars think that running a garage must be easy.
Well, it has been my families business since my father set up his garage in the late 40's, then MOT station and haulage business in the 70's. He retired in 1990, and now my cousin runs a smaller garage nearby. My father's constant advice to me, as I was growing up and expressing the interest in cars that most young lads do was simply; don't do it!
When my father began, I think he said half a dozen different sets of points, plugs air and oil filters would be enough stock to service almost anything tht was likely to roll up outside! The complexity and annoyingly non-standard computer interfaces that you are faced with today make servicing modern cars a serious undertaking.
Although I don't want to start bandying my qualifications around, suffice it to say that I am very well qualified in both craft and technical aspects of vehicle engineering, and have worked as a mechanic in both the family businesses and a local main dealer (and there's still lots I have to learn!!), and I would find the prospect of starting from scratch a daunting prospect.
As such, my cousin is forced to turn away a lot of custom because he has neither the relevant experience or the equipment to fix the fault. I sometimes get involved and help him with some small jobs, to keep my hand in.
If you look in your yellow pages, you will see the competition you are up against - there is no shortage of small garages!
You need to be able to convince, or persuade people that they can trust you with their motor cars - in some cases their pride and joy, in most cases their second largest asset. This can be done partly by chossing where you set up.
If you pick a prominent site by a busy road, you will get passing trade, but you will have to pay heavily in terms of rent and rates to do so - this may change what you would choose to offer such customers, and how you might make enough money to keep the doors open (hint, it probably isn't changing head gaskets, think more of tyres and exhausts!)
If you pick an out of the way site, you can expect to pay lower overheads, but you will probably need to offer something special to attract customers. You may choose to specialise in say air conditioning or automatic gearboxes or some other niche.
I think that if you decide to go ahead, you need to think very carefully about what your customers want, **not** what you want to supply to them.
If you do choose to go ahead, good luck to you!!
Number_Cruncher
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Another excellent post the by NC.
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I think that if you decide to go ahead, you need to think very carefully about what your customers want, **not** what you want to supply to them.
I just wish that Number Cruncher could get this over to every business, not just in the auto industry!
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I think the future for the independent is in 'specialisation' - i.e. do one thing (air con, engine electronics etc) or one brand (i.e. Merc, SAAB etc). Trying to cover everything is becoming impossible.
I buy and sell a couple of MB's a month and also do some repairs on them. Nothing major, just enough to earn holiday money between consultancy jobs. I know these cars very well, so can spot one with a bit of profit in it without too much risk. I also look after one of two people locally and have recently got into servicing a number of Japanese grey imports that a few local lads run. I rather enjoy it, but wouldn't like to do it for a full time job.
If you really want to do general servicing then consider going mobile - but be prepared for the weather making every job unpleasant at this time of the year.
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Seems like a service schedule from 20 years ago...I wouldn't want my glowplugs touched unless there was a problem !
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