Recently Underst8 (Dan) and I were looking for a place to put his new suspension on, and it was a lot more difficult than I would have thought to find someplace to work. Not only that, but it seemed that we were not the only ones who were looking for a place to work on our machines.

I am thinking about finding a place in the twin cities area, installing a lift and then renting out the lift on an hourly basis so people could work on their cars with a lift in a temperature controlled garage.

The question is, would this be something that you would use, and what kind of rate would be acceptable to you? What would it be worth for you to be able to use a lift to work on your car in a heated garage?

 

I don't expect that this group would be the funding source for this endeavor, but I am just looking for input from this group.

It would be open to pretty much anyone that needed/wanted to work on their car.

 

hahah ive had this idea for about 5 years now... making a business out of it. get a place with several lifts, lots of tools and a few "assistants" or "mechanics" to help out people and make it a self serve shop for you to rent out the lift on an hourly or half hour basis for people who want to do it themselves and save a few bucks but still need the tools and lift, and maybe some help doing their mods/repairs/service.

only thing is that im sure the insurance on something like that would be outrageous because youve got people coming in off the street who might not know how to use the lifts and some of the tools.


good luck putting this together though... wish i was close enough to take advantage of it

 

hey i'd do it josh. but damn you know, idiots would be looking for ways to sue you, unless you put up a disclaimer and have people sign stuff saying you are not responsible for any damages to the person or their car while it's on your property.
as for the price, the average shop charges 60 bucks an hour for labor. so it'd obviously gotta be less than 30 an hour for the fee. then again, 30 bucks to use a heated shop with a lift for an hour sounds pretty good to me
just factor in your heating and electricity as well as other expenses and get enough back to pay them off and maybe pocket a few nickels

 

I'd love it (you already know that). And I think anything under $20/hour would be fair, esp if there were basic tools there (wrenches and such - obvi the user would have to acquire their own specialized equipment if needed)

If you do it you have a guaranteed customer for a header install, every oil change, brake job, wheel swap, etc.

 

sounds like a good idea. i probably wouldnt use it because i use the lifts at work but im sure others would. you should try and hook up with that new car club place that sells slips and is like a second home for your second car, there are probably a lot of people who might want to get in on it

 

Hey Josh sounds great, But you have to talk firts to a lawyer. Trust me on this I work for a Manufactoring plant and We are constantly being sued by idiots that should not be runnig the equipment we make. As long as you have lawyer in this country it is bound to happen. NEED GOOD INSURANCE!!!!!! I do like the idea get enough people to go into it get a building start our own business I want to make money and not loose any. Besides I just got my thermo spacers and a crank aluminum pulley great way to test this out.

 

Insurance is the biggest variable right now, I have to talk to someone about finding out what it will cost, and what kind of options I would have. My brother owns a motorcycle shop and his insurance is not that bad, but then he is the one doing the work, and he is a trained mechanic.

If it works, it sounds like $20 is the high limit for an hour on a lift. I would also LOVE to get a dyno, I think that would be more of a money maker than just the lift at $50 per 3 runs (1/2 hour). Realistically, I am not looking to make a mint, but to cover the costs of the place so that I would have a place to work on my own car for free. Maybe even funding a few mods as well...

Like I said, IF it works, it would be awesome to be working on cars again and get back into the industry. It would totally not replace the day job for a lot of years yet...

Thanks for the input.

 

Dyno would raise the prospects for sure. You'd have everyone with a tuned car in the state running to you. Plus I bet every tuner shop in the area would want to work out a deal...

 

Dyno would cause income to increase, but it would also cause the cost of business to more than double. I would have to get the garage/lift part of it to work before I could spend $60K on a Dyno.

I'll let you guys know if I end up finding anything and getting set up.

 

I'd be interested to see how feasible this actually is...

...good luck.

 

this is going to cost a lot of money, i don't see it happening

 

Actually, its not going to cost much to start up at all. It's once I add the AWD dyno that it is going to get expensive.

By the way, thanks for the vote of confidence...