YourMechanic

When you get your car repaired at the shop, most of what you pay goes to the shop, not the mechanic,especially dealerships. This cuts out the middle man. I do t know if it's worth it driving around fixing people's cars in their driveway if the mechanic isn't making too much, but maybe they're using the bottom of the barrel.

Is there a similar thing for Canadians?
I would love to just have a mechanic companion that I can just call and give money to whenever I need.

Even working out of a van, how is $70 for labor worth it? I mean even if you don't include everything the mechanic has invested in tools and equipment, it's still got to be like an hour to get to the job and set up, then maybe another hour to do the part, then clean up and get to another job. Ends up probably being like $25/hr for total time. If mechanic can do 3 jobs like that a day, $220. But he still has all that overhead of gas and tools and hopefully insurance.

There are some jobs that are a total ripoff at garages, like the alternator on v6 Explorers I remember the shop wanting ~$350 for a $100 part and 3 bolts and a plug. That would be an easy one to charge $50 labor on for these mobile guys. But I can't imagine the driveshaft being that easy.

It's not. Something is obviously missing from the equation here. Where are the estimate numbers coming from? Do they call a random local shop and dealership everytime someone wonders about the cost on this app? Obviously not. Do they just pull the book hours from alldata and get a part priced out from a local Kragen or whatever? That can obviously lead to huge problems. Very few jobs on alldata, mitchell, etc. can be done in the book time on a car you have 0 experience with while you read the poorly written instruction on the site. This whole app just seems like a disaster, and anyone actually willing to wrench for them must be completely incompetent to begin with so I foresee some real disaster stories if it gains any traction. I wouldn't even give someone advice on their car for $70 in a setting like this, not worth assuming the liability.

Not a fucking chance it's actually legit with them doing quality work. Maybe changing out a battery or something but actually expecting some fuckstick who rolls up in a van to do real work in your driveway and not just nigger-rig it? Please.

I had a great experience with a front end rebuild. Fast and cheap as hell.

>assuming the liability
That's probably the main thing that concerns me. Even without the overhead and rent of working in a shop, they still should have some sort of insurance.

OP equated this to Uber. I wonder if they are using "Independent Contractors"'or real employees. It has to be sketchy independent contractors if the rates are that low. I guess OP will find out when the mechanic pulls up in his 1994 Nissan Frontier with a cheap AutoZone jack and Harbor Frieght tool box rolling around in the back.

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>Even working out of a van, how is $70 for labor worth it? I mean even if you don't include everything the mechanic has invested in tools and equipment,

I wish anyone took the investment in tools and equipment into consideration.

It is low but it's not as low as you think compared to what you make working at some dealers and many jiffy-lube type places. Putting a driveshaft shouldn't be all that bad btw

Mechanic here with experience in mobile stuff on the weekend on-books.

Petrol isn't a worry as it's 100% tax claimable (in Australia) as you're technically travelling from workplace to workplace -- **as well as carrying your tools with you in the vehicle**.

So while it may not be cash straight up in your pocket, it's still money you see in some form, albeit at the end of the fiscal year.

Setting up is not very difficult if you aren't a shit mechanic. Jack up, shove the jack stands in if necessary, do the other side -- that should take no more than 5 minutes.

Cleaning up is also not a huge issue if you're well prepared. Have some way of carrying disposed oil and coolant. Sealable drain trays so you don't make a mess getting to and from your waste fluid collectiong. Work smarter, not harder.

Relative to a drive shaft, it honestly depends on the car. Assuming front engine RWD, you can have a drift shaft in and out in less than hour. Sometimes it can take up to two, but I've never spent any longer than that on one.

Tools and equipment personally for me are viewed as something I bought for a lifetime to use to make money -- an extension of my arms. I don't always think about the labor fee covering the costs, but I do think about how if I didn't have my tools, I wouldn't be making any money at all. Mind you I've spent close to 30k AUD? on my tools in my life.

To me, mobile jobs are worth it as mechanics in Australia are paid hourly, not flat-rate. So if I can spend at most, 4-5 hours on a weekend to make close to what I would on a full working day's wages even after considering overhead, I will absolutely do it.

hahaha I called it a drift shaft fuck, I meant drive shaft I'm not a shit mechanic I swear

It's not in my state, Michigan doesn't have shit nor usually get shit. But sounds like a good idea though and would use it.

I work 12/h 6 day shifts and go to school. So my time is limited and my car needs work done on it since I put a lot of miles on it.

I am going to be a self proclaimed expert in this thread. I have been doing mobile car repair for the last 4 and half years as a full time job.

I have around $2000 in tools spread out over 4 years. Van was $650 with blown transmission so I probably have around $2000 in it also spread out over 4 years.

Most of my customers are within a 20ish mile radius. So assuming I am only doing one job =40 miles. I usually average 21-22 mpg in my van so we are talking 2 gallons of gas = $5.

As to your specific vehicle my cost at Advance for a driveshaft is $63. I would charge $70 labor. So after tax you would be around $160 in my world.

I have found that people have a "shop mentality" after years and years of being raped. I have people turn away because they can't believe I am doing work so cheap. They think I am not doing the whole job or don't know what I am getting into etc. Anyways I would love to answer any questions Y'all have if I am around.

Plus those goddamn potholes here the fucking worst.

Lol do you work in Michigan

Nope. Ohio though.

The shilling is real

>Assuming front engine RWD, you can have a drift shaft in and out in less than hour. Sometimes it can take up to two, but I've never spent any longer than that on one.
Nonononono... Heavily dependent on the car. You'd be fucked if you tried to get the driveshaft replaced in many cars in two hours. Why? You have to drop the exhaust system and heat shields, those can be a GIGANTIC bitch to get off because of corrosion. BTDT