sugarsn10

iTrader: (2)

Over the past few years I've seen "Self Serve Auto Shops" open up that allow the general public to rent space and tools by the hour in order to work on their cars. Of course all of us are also familiar with the common self-serve car wash. These two business models have given me inspiration for another service that may have value.

Throughout my years of renting houses after college, I struggled to find a good spot to work on my cars, including detailing. I found it equally challenging to find a good self serve car wash that provided me with the quality of wash I was in search of. This brings me to the service that I'm looking to get some feedback on.

Imagine a clean, professional shop where car enthusiasts can go to wash, detail, and maintain their cars; all while hanging out with other car enthusiasts. Customers would have access to well lit bays with professional equipment and high quality auto care chemicals. This shop would also provide training to the inexperienced customers on the proper techniques for taking care of their vehicles and provide them with all of the tools and products necessary to complete the job to their liking. Initial target price points would be $15 for a wash and around $60 for the full package (wash & interior/exterior detailing).

So here's my question for the group: Do you see value in this service and would you personally use this service at the approximate price points listed above?

I welcome all feedback and any questions you might have. Thanks for reading!

vinny R

I have seen something similar for auto repair. I saw a news report where someone opened a "rent by the hr" shop. Complete with lifts and tools. you pull your car in, bring your parts and go to work. I only saw repair stuff nothing for detailing.

I like your idea I just don't know if the demand would be there. I think that only a handful of us still like to detail our own cars. Most would rather just call a guy and have him come to you or get an Auto Spa membership. Others like me who do their own detailing have a place to work on their cars. I do like the idea of working alongside other car guys. Your price point seems fair. I think if you had the demand that you have a pretty cool idea.

RKeats

I've thought about a similar thing many times, but I think you may run in to some insurance issues when it comes to the usage of tools. Say someone with no experience used the hoist wrong and the car fell off, or they got injured, you could wind up in a whole stew of legal battles. Similar to what happens when you call out 344 mile IROC's for having previous paint work. There are a number of full serve auto spa kinda places near me where you drive up, hand them your key and $30, go sit in the lounge, and in 25 minutes you get your car back completely hand detailed. I think that those places will continue to gain popularity purely because it's so easy. Drive up, sit down, drive away. I personally don't let anyone touch any of my cars, because I don't trust them, and I love doing it myself, but it seems like that feeling is becoming pretty uncommon among most people

TireSmokin'

Insurance and liability are big issues, even with waivers. If someone uses your facility for a fee, your professional tools, professional chemicals, and damages their vehicle or themselves, you are liable.
An umbrella policy helps in these circumstances, but one law suit could ruin the business.
The auto spa's are already established, and with today's generations being lazy, and wanting instant results, they won't likely want to do the work themselves. They will pay the $30 or so, and be on their way.
That's for the people that actually take care of their vehicle, and the rest will just use Drive and Shine. Look at the lines there.

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

I don't know.... it's an interesting idea and may work in some markets. You would have to sponsor car club meets and get groups of people to meet up at the location, etc I think.

People fall into a few different categories here:

1. Nice car, no where to detail it, and desiring to do the job themselves <------- Your target audience.
2. Nice car, not going to do it themselves <------- Your established competitors audience.
3. Nice car, doing their own detailing at home. <----- most of ThirdGen.org
4. Dumpster fire, no where to polish their turd, and desiring to save any buck they can but need to take cousin on date <------- This a$$hole WILL be your customer.
5. Dumpster fire, no F*cks given. <----- the rest of ThirdGen.org?

Now - make a list of EVERYONE you know. Categorize them. Who are your customers? Do you want these people as customers?

Now you know if the idea is viable.

GD

sugarsn10

iTrader: (2)

Thanks to everyone for the feedback! The insurance and possible liabilities are definitely major items I'd need to research in depth before moving forward.

The first question I'm trying to really understand is if the paying customers are out there. My target audience is definitely the car people who don't trust others to work on their cars or enjoy working on their cars, but don't have a great place to work on them (GeneralDisorder's Group #1). I think that's a great idea to try and visualize my customers among the people I already know. I also think that in order to get my target customers in the door, hosting events like car meets would be very valuable. I may not have mentioned it above, but I also envision this proposed business to offer full fledged detail/auto spa services. My thought is to differentiate myself from the competition, we would also offer this "self serve" service.

Thanks again for the feedback so far. It's exciting to hear that there is some positive feedback and interest from this community!

RKeats

I've always wanted a place like that. Pay hourly or a flat fee, and have full access to everything you need! I personally would use it on the regular as I'm in a building that doesn't allow any working on vehicles, and obviously doesn't have a garden hose. I think that if you're in a large enough city, and you base yourself in an area that's mostly middle class, you'll have enough success to get comfortably rolling.

Buddy

I think the demand is there, go to any big car wash area now on a nice day and there is a line up, and guys outside around the lot after they have washed drying or lining up for the vacuums. If there was a spot to go as a membership, maybe folks would like that, probably a lot cheaper in the long run than always feeding the coin wash every trip. Maybe give membership discounts to car clubs - bulk memberships. A lot of possible ideas to think up.

88IROCvertZ

iTrader: (1)

I think you could have detailers there that can charge to do the work too. There are probably mobile guys that would pick up days there.. Many mobile guys don’t have a garage and depend on weather to work. They could pay to use the space and charge the customers enough to profit just fine.

i find a lot of people want to know what products I use and techniques I use to get the results I get. I don’t mind telling people what I do because if they want to spend 6-hours detailing their cars that’s cool. At some point they’ll bring it back.

You can wash, vacuum and use dressing on a car in under an hour, but a real detail takes hours. Cleaning a car and detailing a car are very different.

Maybe a reasonable hourly charge would work. You don’t want someone taking up a bay for 10 hours for a flat rate..

Lots to think about, but it’s a decent idea.

The workspace is the biggest draw.. People would probably bring their own products.. maybe just have some basic things, microfibers and Terry towels.. Get a laundry there to deal with that..

mikeceli

iTrader: (2)

sugarsn10

iTrader: (2)

I love a good Seinfeld reference! I don't want to really admit it, but there were definitely a couple of similarities between my post and Kramer's crazy plan !

mikeceli

iTrader: (2)

At my age, I have a TV/Movie reference for most situations! My wife and I have maybe 300 Comcast channels, yet we watch more old movies and TV reruns, than anything!