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Toronto Start-Up Will Send a Mechanic To Your Driveway To Repair Your Car On Demand (techcrunch.com)
Toronto-based startup Fiix, part of Y Combinator's Winter 2017 class, has built a platform to send a mechanic to your home to fix your car within hours of being requested. TechCrunch reports: Customers request service by calling or chatting with the company on the website. Interestingly, Fiix prefers to deal with customers over the phone so they can accurately diagnose the issue. This lets them send the right parts and mechanic without actually seeing your car, and make sure the issue can actually be fixed in a driveway and doesn't need a full garage. That being said, the startup says over 80% of repairs done in a shop can be done in a driveway as long as you have an experienced mechanic. All of Fiix's mechanics are independent contractors -- some who are generalists and some who specialize in foreign cars like Mercedes. In fact many are mechanics who work during the day in dealership repair shops and work for Fiix to make some extra cash on the side. Since the startup has no fixed overhead they can pay their mechanics more than most shops or dealerships can. TechCrunch notes that it's not the only on-demand mechanic startup -- YourMechanic, for example, launched in 2012 at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. What do you Slashdotters think of this start-up? Would you trust an on-demand mechanic to visit your home and work on your vehicle, or would you prefer to take it to a local shop?
A lot of people live in condos nowadays. And pretty much all of them state clearly in the HOA rules that you cannot repair cars in your driveway or on common property... wonder how they'll get around that.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
See for example https://www.lubemobile.com.au
and have been for years. At least Y Combinator decided to follow the trend, I guess?
this has been around for over 20 years in my city and probably longer if I had needed it.
YourMechanic, that is. I've had three different mechanics and they have all been efficient and polite. The home office schedules the visits and arranges parts ordering and what not. It took them 3 or 4 false starts to get the right drivers side mirror for the mechanic to install. I think we were both pretty ticked about that, the mechanic more so than me. But visits since then have been straightforward. They let you source your own parts now, so if you want them to install hand-milled italian organic ceramic brake pads, or lube your transmission with hummingbird tongue oil, you can do that.
This is nothing new, mobile mechanics have been fixing cars in other people's drive ways, parking lots, etc for many years.
Trouble shooting vehicles over the phone and without seeing the car happens every day at parts shops. (Think Autozone, Napa, Advance Auto, etc)
I guess the editors live in such a bubble they've never seen or heard of this. Must be nice.
Source: 25+ years in parts.
" deal with customers over the phone so they can accurately diagnose the issue."
Seems like an effective strategy.
Lets continue creating "marketing apps" that shorten the bridge between a service and the consumer.
Illegal where I live by contract agreement. Besides, nothing you can do without a lift I can't do myself. So there isn't any reason to call you, since you can't do the real work like replace my engine mounts, work on the suspension, replace the water pump, even an oil change is a pain in the ass without a lift. I go to my buddy's with a lift to do that... Then again, I don't think much of Uber either, so maybe I am not the audience... heh like so many things... Slashdotters just are not the audience.
Y Combinator is a brogrammer hive of stupid millennial kids who literally play show-and-tell with shitty web apps.
What do you Slashdotters think of this start-up?
Mobile mechanics have been around for decades. I've used them in the past.
I approve of the idea of mobile mechanics.
There's a business in town that does mobile tire repair for motorcycles and they've been around for years. I intend to call them for service when spring comes around.
This kind of service exists for trucks and farm equipment, so it is possible that it would work for cars too. There are caveats though, which I'm sure /.'ers will point out.
Every part in your car exponentially increases the chance of failure. Electric cars have significantly lower failure rates because they have significantly fewer parts. Not only that, when the new solid-state batteries that are nearing commercialization go into production, the battery damage issues and the runaway thermal reaction problems will be a thing of the past. It's good news for electric cars and anyone with a Samsung phone. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
I wouldn't trust myself to accurately describe, let alone diagnose a vehicular system fault or failure, apart from the common cyclic replacement of consumables (battery, brake pads, rotors, bulbs).
Tech companies seem to want to push the point of on-demand services to the ridiculous edge.
People, there's a reason that you go to the mechanic's shop, or the doctor's office, etc. etc. It's because their time is quite valuable and the equipment they use is specialized.
Making someone whose time is of high value travel unnecessary distances (i.e. a low value use of time) will make them have to charge higher prices for that unnecessary time, compared to if you yourself can bring the car to them.
Maybe for people who can afford to pay for a mechanic's travel time will opt for this (or whose time is more valuable than the mechanic's), or in markets where mechanics are underemployed. But for the majority of people, I think this will be expensive.
Just as an example, if a mechanic's time is ordinarily $100/hour (fully utilized), and they work an 8 hour day for $800 -- now if they have to travel to you for 30 min before each 1.5 hour job (and set up equipment, pack up equipment, etc), instead of 5.3 jobs per day they can only do 4 jobs per day (6 hours work instead of 8 hours) and they would have to charge $133 per hour. Are you willing to pay?
Experienced mechanic here (35 years)...a mobile mechanic who's well-outfitted can do well for a lot of jobs, but the whole "accurate diagnosis over the phone" thing is a bit disconcerting. We have 10's of thousands tied up in diagnostic gear (scan tools, oscilloscopes, dvoms, etc) and it can still be pretty tough on some jobs to get the car to glitch and figure it out. The folks who make you jump through the most hoops to help them ("can you come to me?", beat you to death haggling, etc) are generally the hardest to please, too. I wish these guys the best, but unless they're cherry picking, it could be a pretty tough gig. As for me, no thanks; I have plenty of work as an independent, and an excellent reputation that I don't want to jeopardize...I can serve the customer much better in a full-on shop.
Yet another Uber, that handles labor like in the nineteenth century: no employee, no duty.
The trend really deserve a law to fix the broad issue.
This has been done in the US for quite some number of years. Look up mobile mechanics.
The idea of having a shop was to house all the proper tools. Hard to bring a car lift to my driveway, or a tire balancer or any number of other bulky and expensive tools a shop has to expedite repairs, and I sure as heck aren't paying more for them to then have to haul my car back to the shop to continue repairs...
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
independent contractors do they set there own rates or they forced to take the apps rates and the apps' parts rates?
Plz take this off. The article is dumb written by someone who lives in a cave...
...already does this in Canada.
It's not a profitable model.
So, RAA have been doing this for literally 30 years in Australia, so I really don't think this is 'novel' in any way and has nothing to do with either new or old technology.
I'm sure all those certified automotive techs are jumping at the chance to do mechanical work on a car in a driveway, in Toronto, in the wintertime. Speaking as someone who once turned wrenches for a living, it sounds like hell. And just so the owner can save a $100 towing fee.
The people who go for this gig will be life's losers, and illegals working off the books, or other ne'er-do-wells
As a former mechanic I know I can do a lot better job at the shop. And the customer knows a brick and mortar place is more likely to be legitimate. Sorry, no dice on the spot repair scheme.
I guess paper/online phone books and craiglist ads is too passe now?
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Mobile mechanics are very common here. They're very well equipped and professional.
We often assume that being on an island at the end of the Earth makes us backward but it's funny how behind the rest of the developed world sometimes is e.g. we've had polymer banknotes, EFTPOS/swipe cards etc. for decades.
I've used a craigslist plumber, as well as other craigslist services. Did the job, no leaks years later. Paid cash, was happy.
If this has a rating system, it is far better than craigslist.
Bring on more person to person direct services trade facilitated by the internet! Sure you get the odd unqualified lout, but a ratings and reward system would correct some of that. If the company gave refunds, i would start looking at what i can farm out personally on a cold canadian day when i dont want to get under the vehicle.
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... my dad was working as a mobile mechanic (self employed) in the late 60s through late 70s. This is not a new thing.
I don't get it; what's the big deal? I was getting my car serviced at home 30 years ago ("Lubemobile" was just one of the outfits that did this). Is this model only now just getting to the USA? Welcome to the 1980s, Seppos.
Eh? I've been phoning mobile mechanics to come and fix my car at home for at least twenty years. This is just a clear case of affixing "ah, but on the internets!" to an existing service.
I had a dream, bright and carefree, but now there's doubt and gravity
Not only do you have sketchiness of a random person, you also have the precariousness on the person visiting you.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Similiar here. It is illegal to do here (and in fact multiple PROFESSORS has been harassed about it at home, having mistakenly been believed to be operating automotive shops out of their garage. They got lucky and it was cleared up that no such thing was happening (they only worked on their own projects in there, which was cleared up thanks to registration documents), but there is a whole bevy of penalties plus environmental laws to run afoul of where I am. Furthermore there are HOA agreements outright banning ANY non-house mechanical repairs outside of a garage, and in many places noise restrictions even INSIDE of one.
Furthermore at least 2-3 classmates were running similiar mobile automotive fixit businesses via phone and word of mouth 10+ years ago. And in fact explicitly didn't work via the internet to avoid stings enacted by the government to 'stay tough' on this sort of mobile automotive repair. The margins are already slim working from a shop and besides all the CYA, doing it out of your garage or driveway doesn't benefit you unless you cannot afford a shop yet, and in that case you wouldn't be holding bonded trade insurance necessary to operate such a business in the first place.
My local car association in Australia also does this. I paid some trivial amount like $80 a year, for this service.
My grandfather worked for one of these associations for most of his life.
How can a startup disrupt this? By putting it in an app?
If you work in IT, you know how difficult it is to find out an issue over the phone and you can ask people to do certain things and you have remote access.
And isn't this what you local AAA is for? I had my car not start, called them and they fixed it. Was a broken belt and they did not even ask me to do their diagnosis and I would not have known anyway.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
1982 just called, they want their business model back.
https://www.lubemobile.com.au/...
I guess becuase "It's on the Internet" its new?
But I work in IT for a Fortune 500 company and every now and then my job requires me to work with customers who have problems getting files from us or decrypting them. I can tell you that customers often do a very bad job of describing their problems and often come to erroneous conclusions about what the problem is. I can just imagine that fun of this job where a customer leads the mechanic to think the problem is one thing and it's actually something else completely unrelated that the mechanic didn't bring the parts for because they believed the customer was accurately describing the problem.
I live in the USA and I can tell you that the vast majority of my male friends can't even do as little as change their own air filters in their cars. So I can see how a lot of simple tasks could be done in a person's driveway. I just wonder what happens if the problem ends up being much more complex than anticipated and the car has to go into a shop.
I wonder how many of these "independent contractors" have notified their insurance company that they are working on the road now with their entire tool box.
Insurance is also the reason why this wont last, when mechanics work at a shop, insurance is paid based on that physical location and that insurance in turn covers test drives, possible damage to the car, and damage to the property.
The first time something bad happens we will really see how well their business model holds up.
What happens if a mechanic's vehicle and tool box are stolen?
Tools are expensive and hard to track, and not just the wrenches, its the diagnostic electronics that get really expensive..
What happens if a customers car falls off jack stands?
I checked their website and brakes and tires seem to be a big chunk of their business, with electrical coming up right behind that.
What happens if jack stands damage the surface of the customers driveway?
What happens if a mechanic is working on the car and the car falls off the jack stands?
There are many reasons why mechanics work out of shops, the most important of them being safety with tool availability in order to deal with unforeseen problems being a close second. But hey, lets just use big buzzwords and have a webpage that is pretty much the same for every catagory of repair, car or location. What concerns me is that their website gives remarkably little information (for example the location of head office where one could go yell at someone should something go wrong) but hey those combinator people must know what there doing because every company i hear about is saying that they are the product of one... oh wait...
Personally i cant wait until prices on motors, controllers and batteries drop a little bit, combined with a kit car chassis and ill be good.
1.) I have never had a problem with finding a mechanic, the problem is with the cost of the mechanic ($70/hr labor is typical where I live)
2.) If I had a driveway which a car could be worked on, I would work on the car myself. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment that does not permit vehicle work to be done on premises. I still do the basics anyways like changing bulbs and O2 sensors.
The best startup I have seen is in Gurnee, IL called: I Can Fix This! (http://www.icanfixthisshops.com) They rent space in a garage for an hour that includes access to lifts, tools, and an on-site expert.
-==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
As opposed to all the not-on-demand repairs?
They used to be fairly common, until lawyers and liability insurance rates put an end to them. I did a few engine swaps in those places during my younger hot-rodding days. They provided a garage bay, overhead lifts, air tools, and engine hoists. Hand tools were strictly BYO.
Wondering how the new startup is getting around the liability issues inherent in allowing the general public access to tools, equipment, and working situations that could easily kill or injure someone who isn't careful or is just generally clueless, though...
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Probably a rate set by the mechanic themselves when they sign up for the service.
There's no such thing as a "mechanic" - they all specialize. Some are generalists and will be able to do basic tasks like brakes, tires, oil changes, etc. Common everyday tasks. Then there would be more specialized mechanics - one may only work on transmissions, another on electrical systems, etc.
And by their nature, they all have varying rates. This app is really more of a way to get people's car fixed in a convenient way.
Hell, there has to be provisions for when the mechanic may need more help, or to bring it to a garage, etc.
It may be a great way to also not get completely bamboozled by your garage - it's rather common for women to be preyed upon by their lack of car knowledge into signing away for expensive unnecessary repairs. If this app can help screen out the shady, then people may even be willing to pay more knowing they'd get an honest guy over taking a chance.
Dear John.
I hope you can help me. The other day, I set off for work, leaving my husband in the house watching TV. My car stalled, and then it broke down about a mile down the road, and I had to walk back to get my husband's help. When I got home, I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in the bedroom with the neighbor's daughter!
I am 32, my husband is 34 and the neighbor's daughter is 19. We have been married for ten years. When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted they had been having an affair for the past six months. He won't go to counseling, and I'm afraid I am a wreck and need advice urgently. Can you please help?
Sincerely, Shiela
Dear Shiela
A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the vacuum pipes and hoses on the intake manifold and also check all grounding wires. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the injectors. I hope this helps,
John
Have gnu, will travel.
How about when it's -30 or -40?
Had my car die (water pump broke off) and I limped it a mile to my driveway. What were my options? Call an expensive tow to the nearest repair shop? I found your mechanic and they had a guy out there the next day and he fixed my car right there in the driveway. The guy was awesome, very honest and cheaper than the shop and no towing needed.
I will use them again for changing my sparkplugs (stupid modern cars make this hard..). I've used it a second time for replacing my alternator.
Great service. This is not a paid advertisement. Just a really happy customer.
-- Senior Software Engineer, Attorney appearance services, locallawyerapp.com.
INSANITY. Most people are literally incapable of describing reality in a way that makes sense.
...they've invented the RAC with Victorian employment ethics.
He left managing a dealership mechanics shop to work out of his house. He would do house calls for a little extra. It worked great until he got so busy that his appointment schedule was too booked to get in.