

How to Get Funded in the Recession: The Frugal Mechanic Story - gthuang
http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/02/12/how-to-get-funded-in-the-recession-the-frugal-mechanic-story/

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swombat
This is not "how to get funded in the recession", it's "how one company got
funded in the recession". Reasonably interesting article, but a bit of a
linkbaiting title, don't you think?

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kennyroo
Having worked at eBay Motors in the past, I can tell you that what these guys
have accomplished is far from easy. The catalog work necessary to present
results in this format is far from easy. Good work and great start. Congrats,
guys.

I think the long-term trick for a company like this one is driving organic
traffic. They'll need to create a good bit of quality content to start ranking
in Google search results. Without it, they'll be forced to buy traffic.

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shimon
+1 for providing a damn useful service. It is ridiculously hard to find even
something as simple as a wiper blade or light bulb online, and a service that
provides an amazon-quality shopping experience, especially across multiple
sites, would be excellent. No reason everyone should be visiting the
dealership for totally basic stuff that can be ordered online for super-cheap.

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vaksel
"They settled on auto parts not because they were car enthusiasts,"

And it shows. As a car enthusiast I can tell you that their site sucks. They
don't get the hobby and it shows. They have no idea about the industry at all.

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dotpavan
the site didnt seem bad.. all that matters is variety and price (primarily)
for the customer (as it isnt a hobby site).. isnt craigslist or ebay bad (not
Ajxified etc) as well, aesthetically?

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vaksel
thats the thing, their variety is non-existent. Look for any real performance
part, and you'll see that they have nothing but generic crap that noone wants
to buy in the first place.

I'll give you an example. Lets say I own a 2004 STI(which is a pretty popular
tuner car). And I want to buy myself some coilovers, well guess what...I
can't! Because the only suspension product they have on that site for the car,
is a set of cheap Eibach springs...which cost $20 bucks more than what you can
pay on eBay.

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josefresco
vaksel, you're missing the target market completely. You're not it. It's car
parts for people who use price engines like Froogle, not for car enthusiasts.

There is and always will be sites for guys like you and me (and I'm happy
you're building another), who want performance parts. This is for people who
consider their car simply transportation.

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vaksel
At least with Froogle you can find parts. Search for STI coilovers brings
hundreds of results. And they have the good stuff: D2 Racing, Bilstein, Cusco,
JIC etc.

And to me, I don't see the guys who use their cars as basic transportation,
working on their own cars in the first place.

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blackguardx
I do.

I'm an engineer. A car is just a tool, a tool for transportation. I don't
neglect it, but I don't pay any more than absolutely necessary to keep it
running. I work on my car myself because I am cheap and practical. I can't
stand paying for things that I can do myself.

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vaksel
does work include other things besides oil changes?

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blackguardx
Replaced front rotors, calipers, pads, master brake cylinder. Currently
contemplating replacing rear brake drums and shoes. Probably need to replace
some suspension components soon. My car has developed a troubling squeak and
click in the front left.

So I do only basic things. I draw the line at anything engine related. I have
too much fear that I could screw something up. If I had old beater project car
(like a VW bug), I might consider trying more difficult stuff.

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vaksel
working on the engine is no different really. Remove part a, b, c, d to get to
part e. And then replace that with the new part and put everything back
together.

Most things can be pretty much taken apart with a socket wrench.

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blackguardx
Thats true. Maybe I'll venture further away from my safety zone in the future.

Problems get harder to diagnose in the engine, though. I find the diagnosing
the problem is where the skill is.

Also, as repairs become more complicated, I have discovered that the chances
of needing to replace something that you don't have a spare for go up. It
sucks to have to bike down to the auto parts store and retrieve 40 lbs of
parts in my backpack.

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vaksel
To tell the truth engine problems fall into two categories...serious ones,
like engine knock which you really can't do anything about to something simple
like a heat shield rattle or a loose gasket. There is really no middle ground.
And for the "serious" problems, its usually cheaper to replace the whole
motor, than to do the repairs.

Granted that mostly applies to japanese cars. You drive a BMW and to replace
an engine will cost you 10 grand. While even the most rare JDM swaps will run
you at most 5K.

For example, one guy I know never changes the oil on his daily driver civic.
Why? Because he figured out that its cheaper for him to replace an engine
every 80K miles, than it is to spend the money on an oil change.

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goodgoblin
That founders co-op - do they only fund companies that are in Seattle? Looking
at their FAQ and application - doesn't come right out and say so, but it
appears to be the point of their operation - or at least a driving point.

