I posted below about having this idea and thinking it could be the next Uber for a different industry. I had the idea after having a guy work on my car, off Craigslist, for about a half of what I would pay in the shop. He then worked on my dad's car and so far we are both satisfied.

I found that another company, YourMechanic, has a similar idea. They are based in California, and they provide inexpensive mobile mechanics that come to your door and fix your car, either at home or work. They claim to save up to 30%. There is less overhead, obviously, and mechanics can work on their own time.

On the one hand, it seems great, sending out armies of mechanics to people's homes. Who wouldn't want that convenience, and that peace of mind, and the dollars saved? I personally never want to use a shop again, except for major repair issues.

But for most minor issues, and some large ones, a mobile guy can do the job and for much cheaper.

My idea was slightly different than YourMechanic. It's an app alerting customers to nearby auto mechanics on duty who can service your vehicle. They coordinate a time and they meet up. The company takes a small percentage of every job, maybe 20%.

Most mechanics probably do side work on their off days. This gives them that side work with no hassle.

Some issues:

- Pricing
- Making sure mechanic can actually solve the problem
- Quality mechanics with background checks
- Educating the market


There's more but that's all I'll write for now. Curious what others think of this model.

I think that Amazon is doing a better job than YourMechanic at taking the Online Auto Repair market. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...11%2Ck%3Aauto+

Diagnostic equipment that is needed is expensive. The shade tree mechanic
is a thing of the past.

That's not the case with people I've talked to

Why limit it to just mobile car repair.

Check out this company, they are doing something similar with tons of different categories. They take a piece from every job. Operates much like uber, complete with a rating sysem.

https://jiffyondemand.com/

OP, I don't see how your idea is any different from YM's, except that it's less convenient for the customer since he can't book instantly.

This is definitely NOT true. Every mechanic on the planet does side work. These guys are the same people who fix your car at the dealership too.

EDIT: That being said the OP hasn't come up with an idea that nobody else has. I'm sure eventually there will be an uber for mechanics, but the idea is worthless. It's not that it's a bad idea, it's just super obvious. The reason it hasn't been done yet is that the adoption problem is really tough. As it stands today mechanics can sell their time for decent money on Craigslist without paying anyone a cut. There's not much reason for them to join the platform. A solution to THAT problem is worth $. Also lol background checks. You wanna make the adoption problem harder?

That's true, but there can still be a decent incentive to join the platform, I'll give you an example.

Basically the app sends out the job to 20-30 mechanics in the area, and whoever is available and wants to the job can accept it. There's no downside to joining for the mechanic. If you're not busy and you want to make a few bucks, you can accept.

Never said mine is better - I thought mine was original till I saw theirs the next day.

I do think they are doing it wrong. Why would take too long to explain

I like it

The solution to the adoption problem is to charge customers more than what craigslist mechanics charge. 75/hr for 'genuine certified technicians' is a value play for the kinds of people who normally go to car dealers to get their cars fixed. These are also the type of not terribly price sensitive customers that use apps but will never **** with craigslist.

Definitely no background checks. Just make them verify that they work as a technician for a car dealership and you're gtg.

EDIT: Of course this means that it's all going to come down to execution. And make no mistake there isn't room for more than 1-2 of these apps to actually be successful in the whole market.

Good points. But do you really think that people would use the service if there are no background checks - people coming to their house?

(I know I would, so I guess a lot of people would, but just playing devil's advocate)

Engie seems like an interesting player-

http://engieapp.com/how-it-works/

https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/26/en...c-marketplace/