just after some feeedback on this please;

if there was a unit close to you where you could rent ramp time per hour so you could work on your car would you consider using it.

also maybe the rental of handtools/compressor/welder/etc.

what would you think would be a reasonable rate per hour for

a/ ramp rental only
b/ ramp rental with access to tools/equipment.
with poss discounts for continued use of 3 hours or more?


it would be supervised at all times and all equipment checked before the user left the unit to stop theft of tools etc.also would need to be supervised to ensure correct use of the equipment-ramp etc.
also possible collection of broken vehicles with recovery truck.


i realise there is probably a lot more to do with it all but its just a thought as the car sales game is crap at the mo to a point im considering giving up my unit unless i get a brain busting idea!!!!

i seem to remember something similar in the late 80's when i was serving my time and it seemed quite busy,and with people trying to save money at the mo.....

any thoughts?

 

Theres quite a few places that do this, seems ok and something to do if your business is quiet.

 

On paper it sounds a good idea but I could see it been a proper ballache to run. What if someone books it in morning and someone else in afternoon, bloke in morning is a numpty and makes a balls of everything and car is unmovable, guy in afternoon aint gonna be happy. Run right it would be great and useful but can see it been a fair bit of grief

 

place near us does one has 8 ramps i think. does well in the evening and weekend also has a car wash outside. cant remember the rate but seems to be picking up as time goes by.

 

a very good point-and something to consider.

i also think there should be one rate for say 8am-5pm mon-fri and another rate for out of hours ie 6pm-9pm and weekends.

 

Seems like a really good idea to me but i think you'll encounter more problems than it's worth. i.e

1) Gettin around health and safety issues, insurance etc... just incase somebody injures themselves and then looks to claim off you!
2) Guy takes his car apart then the part he has for the repair is incorrect. he won't be able to get correct part till the monday morn and it's a car of a decent value and the owner doesn't want it leaving outside over the weekend. Will you then have room to park the vehicle?

I'm sure others will add to this but i do think it's a good idea in principle.

 

if you can also do storage facilty that makes a bit of money there is also a place near here whop has a unit a barn and a outside yard and its always full the unit holds about 15 cars the barn about 30 cars and the outside yard which mainly has caravans and wreckers in is massive. but the cars that are kept inside are like restored and old cars and most of them have also a on site valeter who cleans the car every 4 weeks. just a idea. ive been thinking about this idea for a while with storage.

 

I think you would have to have more ramps then customers

 

yes,the health and safety issues are a concern but there must be indemnitys for them to sign stating they are competent to use the equipment or something?obviously would have to have insurance to cover things too.

for point number 2 i suppose a ramp would always have to be free to accomodate such things and a reduced rate for overnight rental should something happen. i suppose it would be down to the renter to ensure they had all parts before starting work.
i would imagine most things would be an hour for servicing,or a mechanic doing a clutch on the side at weekend.with regards things like welding i would have to ensure it was safe to weld(interior removed/carpets etc).i would always make sure there was someone competent there running the place

keep it going....this is just what i wanted to hear

 

storage needs a huge unit-i dont have that.

my unit would prob only house 4 ramps safely spaced with a workbench and power to each one.

 

Sounds like an excellent idea, the amount of times I've needed to use a ramp to make a job i'm doing a million times easier!

 

as said great idea on paper however in pratice there are so many issues, first off insurance, theft, broken equipment, time overlaps etc etc the list goes on.
if i were you i would do one of two things:
firstly, only rent it out to people in the trade, like mobile mechanics or car dealers, they should have adequate insurance for themselves plus know what there doing and give you a realistic time frame, as good as us diyers are were all optimistic when timing up jobs
secondly, you rightly said that you'd have some one supervising, well why not employ a mechanic instead with the understand that you pay him x amount to 'supervise' and pay him so much to carry out proper mechanic jobs thus again opening your businerss horizons. just make sure you employ him on a self employed basis making him a contractor
just my thoughts on what id do really

 

i think its a good idea. there's nowt worse rolling round on the floor with the car on a trolly jack, its rite fook on. id defo hire a ramp if there was one local to me when i need to do some work, would make life a LOT easier.

 

not sure on this one really firstly, when ever the car breaks at my house ( mum and dads car, my car etc) how would you get the ca to the place in the first place, would need a recovery truck etc - then while your away you would have to leave other customers at the unit, so you would then need a second person to manager / help people that are already there. secondly you woudl have all the other problems other people have mentioned.
but yeah i would rent it out etc if all was priced ok

 

There is a chain doing this very thing, but for the fuck of me I can't remember what they are called Saw it on 5th Gear a little while ago...

 

i have a recovery truck that could be used to collect cars for a small fee.
i think i would need at least 1 extra person to aid with the running/supervising.

 

The company you are thinking of is called pitstart. Have a look on YouTube for the 5th gear review, and check out www.pitstart.co.uk

 

Jay;

All the things mentioned above can be got round and there are companys already doing it.

i cant believe you are struggling with 2nd hand motors, a garage i do bits and pieces is selling cars within hours on the forecourt. 15-20 motors a month is considered a slow month.

why are you struggling so much? too much competition where you live? selling the wrong motors?

 

i have no idea what is going wrong at the mo.... although last year was pretty poor too-prob had a poor 18 months if im honest.im struggled on and on but to no avail

there is no flow at all-one week 3 cars sold easy,next week nothing.i had 5 cars in local autotrader last week and have had 2 calls in total all weekend.thought my phone was broken.to try and get sales im lowering prices which eats away at profits on already low margins
it seems round here that everyone is trying to buy/sell cars to make a few quid on top which is just killing me with overheads i have to cover.at my local auctions i would say 50% people are immigrants/car wash owners who are buying all sorts,30%are the usual asian fraternity,10%local trade and 10% privates who are either buying for themselves or to put outside their house for sale

i dont have a huge wad of cash to fall back on and my mrs was made redundant a few months ago which added extra strain.

ive got a nice selection of cars-62k mile fiesta zetec,74k mile rover 25,and 92 k mile ka-all one owner cars with pas......not a sniff.
53 plate 30k mile astra with a/c and fsh-
subaru impreza,mr2,audi a6 twin turbo,corsa gsi

all very sensibly priced.nicely presented and i dont sell shit and will always have a deal to secure a sale-and no interest at all-not just me though,seems a few are having same problem.

cant push repairs as im on an estate full of motor trade where there are already a lot of car repairers and people who do things for next to nothing just to keep busy.

things are just difficult,hence me thinking about letting the unit go-or find another use for it!!

 

Cars should fly out of your place jay, you always have nice cars for sale, and your prices are very resonable, infact, too resonable at times IMHO

 

I'm sure you've looked at all the figures already, but I guess it would break down as follows;

Rent of unit per year = x
Rates per year = x
Cost of insurance = x
Cost of manager per year = x
Maintenance costs of tools and equipment per year = x
Cost of running recovery truck per year (tax, insurance, repairs, MOT etc.)pre year = x
Cost of consumables (welding gas, wire, saw blades, sanding discs, so on and so on) per year = x

Total figure for the above = y + 10% for contingency. Divide that figure by 12 and then by 4. Which gives you a break even figure per month, but doesn't include your salary.

Then you need to decide how many days a week you want to open, or are legally allowed to open and then the number of hours per day, per day of the week/weekend you want to open for and are legally allowed to open for.

You also need to take into consideration that if you are open from 8am until 10pm Monday to Friday (later if jobs over run) 8am until 6pm on a Saturday and 10am until 5pm on a Sunday (being that weekends and evenings will be your target audience for this sort of enterprise), that you will probably need to employ a third member of staff, adding additional cost.

Once you have worked out all of the above, it should give you a rough cost per hour on a break even basis, provided you could fill the workshop from morning through to night.

This should give you a base to work from, you should also have an idea on number of cars you sell per month year and the amount of service/repair work you get per week/month.

I guess in times like this you need to consider other things as mentioned by other posters, such as car washing and the like, you could also look at becoming a re-seller for tuning products such as alloys, tyres, stereo equipment, exhausts, suspension kits and so on to ramp up your customer base.

The more you can offer the more customers you will attract, as well priced one stop shops are always good business, regardless of the type of business you are in.

Good luck

 

but what about insurance for the customers, as they are classed as staff you will need a hefty public liabilty would you not?

 

nah, get them to sign an indemnity form, same as you have to with anything you do that is dangerous these days, saying that you wont hold the business liable for being a twat and chopping your finger off with an air saw, or for putting the grinder down disc side down whilst it's still spinning!!

 

I was buying and selling cars for about 4 years there.Checked them over,replaced any bits needing doing,serviced them then valeted and polished them.Was honest and willing to do deals and a nice hobby but the last year was dire and more hassle than it was worth so stoped as they just dont seem to be a lot moving anymore.I know alot of folk like you in the trade who also are contemplating throwing the towel in.

 

It's tough at the moment jay isn't it?I'm basically in the process of fucking it all off myself as the public are just total wankers too deal with,if one more prick walks into my business saying they can get the job done cheaper I'm going to respray THEM!!!Had a beauty in this week wanting to spend £400 on a car with tax and mot,offered him my little 1.4 escort,92k two owner car,plenty of tax test,power steering and straight too,had £800 spent on previous mot and he told me I was taking the piss at £350 cos his neighbour bought a 1.8 for £200....no t&t mind you!!!Peeps think us traders are taking the piss but I've got to make at least £20 per hour times 40 hours per week so when I charge £30 peeps think it's a piss take.I use autodata to plan jobs so I'm only going off guidelines and peeps tell me it can be done cheaper and why have I charged them for oil,antifreeze etc,what,that's free is it?Asian guy came in today asking if one of the boys could do the job in their time to save him money as my price was too high,quoted him £140 to paint a bonnet,rust on a wing and too buff out the door bottoms,nearly smashed the cunts head off!!did have some good news though as we've just got a trader on board who's chuffed with our work so it'll keep me busy for a bit.on your idea,I've done it myself a few times to people I know and tbh some peeps are great and really appreciate it but others take the piss,it would be hard to supervise and you could end up losing little tools etc as it's so hard to police everything.like you said,there's plenty of people on your estate that you don't really want to upset as they do meccy stuff,painting etc but if you think about it you'll be pissing them off by allowing people you don't 100% know work in your place at a reduced rate,they'll see it as taking work from them anyway so frankly,why not do it yourself?fuck it mate,it's survival of the fittest now,you've got to do what you've got to do,after all,if they pick up a little bargain then they don't think of you when they sell it on.I've got an mot centre two doors down from me,I offfered him approx 2-3 mots a week if he could do them for £40 with free re tests, like the other place offfered me and he just said no,so I fucked him off and I've taken 10 mots there in the last two weeks.