Another very happy customer here! My car wouldn't start one day, and after determining that it wasn't a dead battery, I was dreading the nightmare/cost of having it towed to a shop.<p>Fortunately, I remembered YourMechanic from when they were working out of the Hacker Dojo. I gave them a call, and a mechanic arrived within 30 minutes. He did an amazing job patiently troubleshooting different components in the engine and electrical system before determining the problem (busted ignition), implementing a temporary fix (new fuse), and helping me understand what we'd have to do for permanent fix.<p>One particularly awesome thing about my experience was that my mechanic (his name's Whitney, if you ever need to make an appointment) explained everything he was doing each step of the way. I learned more in about 45 minutes than in all my years referencing manuals/forums/friends.<p>I'd never expected to be delighted by an auto repair/maintenance experience, but these guys proved me wrong. I expect them to do very well.
I am very surprised that there's so much work mechanics can do without a lift.<p>One very obvious thing I'm sure YM considered was used car inspections; having a place I could sign up on a website to have a potential used car inspected would be killer.
Is the idea of a mobile mechanic new in the US? Lube Mobile [1] has been in Australia for at least 25 years and has spawned a bunch of local copies. I'm not knocking YourMechanic, but I find it interesting that the idea hasn't made it to the US earlier than this. Is there some difference to Lube Mobile that I am missing?<p>[1] <a href="http://www.lubemobile.com.au/" rel="nofollow">http://www.lubemobile.com.au/</a>
Another happy customer here. What really surprised me about YM was they told me upfront how much a service would cost and while getting the service came the most pleasent surprise of all, the mechanic said I did not need front brakes, just the rear, and the quote YM gave originally was chopped in half! And finally, the guy was so nice and friendly, it felt like you were dealing with the owner.<p>And before I got the YM service I did call the dealer and a few other shops. The dealer would <i>not</i> quote me a price until I brought the car in, had the wheels taken off and "inspected", this despite the fact that I told him I need a quote for replacing all four brakes and rotors on car type x - it was such a turn-off. Especially when I asked what the inspection would cost - $150 if I don't get it serviced there.<p>Really glad to see a company improving my experience, saving me time, and saving me money on a chore I don't enjoy.
I wish these guys the best of luck. But, as someone who operated the same kind of business successfully for a long time, I have to say that their work is cut out for them. You think people are hard to deal with when it comes to computers? Its 100X worse with cars. Computers are cheap, and relatively easy to replace/repair. Now cars, well, good luck with that.<p>The biggest issue in this market are the clients trying to get money out of you for stuff you didnt break. Day in/da out. Its tiring. Reapir shops also go through the same deal, that is why most shops turn into assholes. People make mechanics lose faith in humanity.<p>If any of the yourmechanic.com guys is reading, shoot me an email. I ll gladly talk about what difficulties I had. maybe Ill save you some time/money.
I used to work with a mechanic that did this and even now I own a site that collects requests in an east coast city and forwards them to some local mechanics I have an arrangement with. It's a great idea and people absolutely love it. Every tool needed is in the mechanics mobile shop, usually an outfitted van, and even fluid collection and disposal is not an issue.
The problem is permits and insurance. These expense take a nice chunk out of any margin you have set up that keeps your prices competitive. The other issue is scaling. Mechanics will not work for per-job pay, they all want hourly. Putting a crew with a mobile unit on standby and waiting for a job is very inefficient if you have to pay them while they wait.
While YM may have figured out how to make it scale as one large organization, it would be much better to build a marketplace where qualified independent mechanics compete for jobs as they come in, with work certified and backed by YM - like the Uber model.
The use of 'contractors' is interesting (following on from Exec, iCracked, TaskRabbit etc.) Perhaps this is the future of employment - providing more flexibility to both the firm and the individual?<p>As well as this the mobility of the contractors is really fascinating. The internet has really started to disrupt the need for retail-service premises; think of print shops (Printing.com), computer repairers (iCracked), florists (1-800 Flowers), real estate agencies (Redfin), education (ie TutorSpree). Interesting to see what verticals remain untapped.<p>I wonder the implications of completely opening up these sort of platforms entirely - ie allowing 'anyone' to complete a car repair job. [Obviously in the case of YourMechanic there are warranty implications :P]
Satisfied customer here - the difference between YM and the old way of doing things is night and day. If you live in the area and value your time, you really owe it to yourself to try them out.
Question - how do you deal with private lots that prohibit people working on their cars? I know my community has restrictions against this - I've never run into it myself doing simple things like checking oil level and such but I wouldn't attempt a major service like timing belt replacement in my community (hence why I find a friend's driveway to do such work in :-P). How does YM work around this?
Yet another satisfied customer here, and to me, one of the huge advantages of YM is that the mechanic comes to you... no more worrying about how to get your vehicle to a shop, whether you will make it there by closing to pick it back up, which of your friends to bug to give you a ride, etc.
Wow as soon as I saw this the Lube Mobile ad and phone number (13 13 32) popped into my head immediately (I'm in Australia). Who said TV advertising is dead?!