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DIY Garage
March 2nd, 2006 | Filed under Ideas, Links
While I’m not the world’s most competent mechanic, the girlfriend is way better, I would kill for a facility such as this to make simple auto repairs. Changing your own oil or flushing your transmission fluid would be so much easier if you had the ability to jack your car up. For $7.25 per half-hour you get access to your own repair pay with lift, and a full set of professional level tools. I’m not sure if you get to use their diagnostic machines, but I would definitely pay more to be able to hook a computer up and see what is wrong with my engine.
Considering 75% of repair costs tend to be billed for manual labor this looks like a pretty cool deal. Now if only I had taken auto repair back in school I’d be set. Check out the story from Phillip Torrone (formerly of Engadget) over at the fantastic Make Magazine blog.
March 2nd, 2006 at 6:01 pm
My father was a DIY mechanic all his life, and up until he passed away, I never had to pay for an oil change, tune-up, or even a busted water pump. He could take care of anything that came our way, and when it was over and beyond him, there was always a buddy who knew just what to do. You really take things like that for granted until suddenly that convenience is gone, along with the knowledge. I really regret not taking more time to learn from him, and spending time with him doing the things he loved to do. It bothers me seeing his garage sit empty and unused; and it burns my ass having to pay for them damn oil changes! I’m no grease-monkey, but I’d give it a go, just for the memories.
March 3rd, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Matt….this is not a new concept. Granted, this was a little before your time,
but there was a place just like this in Hutch back in the day. It was called
“U-Tun-It”. It was for working stiffs to have a place to work on their daily
drivers. They had all the cool tools for check out and it was a great idea.
It lasted for quite awhile, but, I guess the computer controlled vehicles kind
of did away with it. A wise business person should do just what you said and
make a code reader available for those that need it, for an additional fee.
Of course, I’m lucky enough to kind of have that sort of thing available to me,
but we won’t go in to that here, will we? Liability insurance would be a
big problem for the owner these days…thanks to our sue happy society.
I read Jim’s post just ahead of mine. It made me think a little. I did
pay attention to my Dad when he showed me how to work on cars. It
helped that I was in to it, but I am glad I’m able to carry that knowledge
forward. It saves me a huge chunk of change. The girlfriends think it’s
cool when you fix their ride too!!!
Others don’t quite get how one minute I’m working on a circuit board,
and the next minute, changing a water pump. I can tell you which one
I prefer!!!
By the way, it was Dean Bontrager that owned U-Tun-It. He now owns
Bontrager powder coating and races sprint cars. He had a great idea
though….too bad it’s not still around.