

YourMechanic (YC W12) launches in South Bay (at TC Disrupt)  - artag
https://www.yourmechanic.com

======
ujeezy
Another very happy customer here! My car wouldn't start one day, and after
determining that it wasn't a dead battery, I was dreading the nightmare/cost
of having it towed to a shop.

Fortunately, I remembered YourMechanic from when they were working out of the
Hacker Dojo. I gave them a call, and a mechanic arrived within 30 minutes. He
did an amazing job patiently troubleshooting different components in the
engine and electrical system before determining the problem (busted ignition),
implementing a temporary fix (new fuse), and helping me understand what we'd
have to do for permanent fix.

One particularly awesome thing about my experience was that my mechanic (his
name's Whitney, if you ever need to make an appointment) explained everything
he was doing each step of the way. I learned more in about 45 minutes than in
all my years referencing manuals/forums/friends.

I'd never expected to be delighted by an auto repair/maintenance experience,
but these guys proved me wrong. I expect them to do very well.

~~~
orangethirty
You think finding good engineers with people skills is hard? Try finding
mechanics who can talk to people. Good luck. Whitney is one in a million.
Plus, a lot of mechanics out there will go ahead and ask the ladies out with
no regard to marital status (either of them).

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tptacek
I am very surprised that there's so much work mechanics can do without a lift.

One very obvious thing I'm sure YM considered was used car inspections; having
a place I could sign up on a website to have a potential used car inspected
would be killer.

~~~
bigiain
I _would_ have been surprised, but I saw this on their homepage:

"2012-09-09 in Redwood City CA

Whitney worked on 2000 Ford Mustang to do Tail Lamp Bulb - Driver Side"

Whereupon I remembered that just like most people don't whip up a quick Perl
script to "fix" things on their computer, there people who ring up companies
and pay them to replace light bulbs.

When you're the sort of person who's happily scheduled a Saturday afternoon to
pull the engine out so you can replace the clutch, it's easy to forget that
even the most trivial of car maintenance tasks are things that many "regular
people" choose to pay someone else to do rather than learn how to do it
themselves.

(But I'm still thinking to myself "You paid someone to come out and replace a
lightbulb? _Really?_)

~~~
orangethirty
Its a 12 volt electrical system running about 10 amps on that specific line.
Any mishap could potential cause more trouble. I've seen (and fixed) cars
whose owners fried the whole brakelights harness when replacing "just a
lightbulb."

Also, cars these days use the type of fasteners that most people don't have
tools to deal with. Look under the hood of a new Chrysler, for example, and
you will be amazed.

~~~
alexchamberlain
Seriously? You are advocating booking a mechanic to replace a bulb?

~~~
Johngibb
Agreed. I get the point that new cars are intricate, crammed and complicated
but a light bulb is a user serviceable part that is really not much harder
than changing a lamp at home. Would you hire an electrician for that because
you didn't want to blow your home's electrical system? ;)

~~~
orangethirty
Its not the same thing. You are comparing a live closed system (brake lights
have live 12 volt wiring) to a open circuit that you can switch off at at
least two points.

~~~
bigiain
Where by "live 12 volt wiring", you mean "live 12 volt wiring, , but only
'live' when both the ignition and the brakes are on (or sometimes the tail-
lights where they use dual-filament bulbs), which is suitably fused so it wont
catch fire if you short it, and which is completely safe to touch unless you
manage to pierce through your ribcage with two conductive spikes and connect
opposite ends of the low-voltage supply directly onto your heart muscle",
right?

Seriously, I'm trying to imagine any scenario where ham-fisted attempts to
change a brake light bulb could result in anything more dangerous than a mild
surprise and a blown fuse if you manage to short the contacts. You are, in my
experience, _much_ more likely to injure yourself kicking the cat 'cause you
end up so frustrated having to remove 47 easily breakable plastic clips
holding the shitty carpet/trim in the trunk to get to the bulb - than being in
any danger from a 12V electrical system, live or not.

And, as someone who lives where out wall outlets provide 220V AC, and who's
taken more than his fair share of belts from not only 220V but also 415V three
phase power, I find it vaguely amusing when people are deadly afraid of puny
110V electrical systems ;-)

~~~
orangethirty
I've had past clients partially burn their cars after chaging a light bulb.
Keys off the ignitio and all. I talk out of experience. I've owned 3 repair
shops. Seen worse things happen.

~~~
Johngibb
Someone capable of burning their cars changing a light bulb probably shouldn't
be driving :)

~~~
orangethirty
One of them was an electrical engineer believe it or not. He partially burned
the wiring on his 911 Porsche when replacing a lightbulb. Its just crazy.

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femto
Is the idea of a mobile mechanic new in the US? Lube Mobile [1] has been in
Australia for at least 25 years and has spawned a bunch of local copies. I'm
not knocking YourMechanic, but I find it interesting that the idea hasn't made
it to the US earlier than this. Is there some difference to Lube Mobile that I
am missing?

[1] <http://www.lubemobile.com.au/>

~~~
artag
yea. it is similar. one immediately visible difference is that we don't
provide vans to mechanics. also, we have a full pricing engine online (unlike
lube mobile) which allows us to ensure that people are getting fair prices.
Its totally transparent. You can see mechanics reviews, fair labor time, parts
info etc - all without calling us!

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abbasmehdi
Another happy customer here. What really surprised me about YM was they told
me upfront how much a service would cost and while getting the service came
the most pleasent surprise of all, the mechanic said I did not need front
brakes, just the rear, and the quote YM gave originally was chopped in half!
And finally, the guy was so nice and friendly, it felt like you were dealing
with the owner.

And before I got the YM service I did call the dealer and a few other shops.
The dealer would _not_ quote me a price until I brought the car in, had the
wheels taken off and "inspected", this despite the fact that I told him I need
a quote for replacing all four brakes and rotors on car type x - it was such a
turn-off. Especially when I asked what the inspection would cost - $150 if I
don't get it serviced there.

Really glad to see a company improving my experience, saving me time, and
saving me money on a chore I don't enjoy.

~~~
artag
dude! thank you for sharing your story and being an awesome customer! we used
the photo you took in our TC disrupt presentation :)

~~~
abbasmehdi
Royalty check, please! ;-)

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orangethirty
I wish these guys the best of luck. But, as someone who operated the same kind
of business successfully for a long time, I have to say that their work is cut
out for them. You think people are hard to deal with when it comes to
computers? Its 100X worse with cars. Computers are cheap, and relatively easy
to replace/repair. Now cars, well, good luck with that.

The biggest issue in this market are the clients trying to get money out of
you for stuff you didnt break. Day in/da out. Its tiring. Reapir shops also go
through the same deal, that is why most shops turn into assholes. People make
mechanics lose faith in humanity.

If any of the yourmechanic.com guys is reading, shoot me an email. I ll gladly
talk about what difficulties I had. maybe Ill save you some time/money.

~~~
marquis
This is a good opportunity for YM to educate their customers. I have a great
mechanic who I trust and bears with me when I ask exactly what is going on. We
built a relationship based on him educating me. YM could do the same for it's
customers. Your cam belt needs repairing? Why exactly? Your wheels needs
alignment? Why exactly? Keep a dossier on the car and what's going on and your
customers are happier and have less to complain about when they get hit with a
$2k upgrade because your car is 15 years old and you can't get a used radiator
for your model.

~~~
bigiain
"Your cam belt needs repairing? Why exactly?"

I know this one: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigiain/6110973521/>

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chrsstrm
I used to work with a mechanic that did this and even now I own a site that
collects requests in an east coast city and forwards them to some local
mechanics I have an arrangement with. It's a great idea and people absolutely
love it. Every tool needed is in the mechanics mobile shop, usually an
outfitted van, and even fluid collection and disposal is not an issue. The
problem is permits and insurance. These expense take a nice chunk out of any
margin you have set up that keeps your prices competitive. The other issue is
scaling. Mechanics will not work for per-job pay, they all want hourly.
Putting a crew with a mobile unit on standby and waiting for a job is very
inefficient if you have to pay them while they wait. While YM may have figured
out how to make it scale as one large organization, it would be much better to
build a marketplace where qualified independent mechanics compete for jobs as
they come in, with work certified and backed by YM - like the Uber model.

~~~
artag
it is like that model. the only difference is that we dont ask our mechanics
to compete. we set the fair price for them so that there is no bidding.

~~~
chrsstrm
So then how do you schedule them if they don't compete? Is this more of a
"fill your spare capacity" setup or do they work certain shifts? Also, what is
your average response time? Same day or scheduled in advance? I don't really
mean to reveal all your secret sauce, but since I dealt with this stuff for a
couple months I'm curious. The mechanic I worked with wanted to go big time
but my partner and I decided he wasn't a good fit to run an operation at that
scale.

~~~
artag
mechanic set their own time. response time really depends on how busy they
are. we don't promise a response time yet. our mechanics use our mobile app to
do all their scheduling. it is really fill your spare capacity model (work on
weekends, evenings, free days during week) etc.

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vectran
The use of 'contractors' is interesting (following on from Exec, iCracked,
TaskRabbit etc.) Perhaps this is the future of employment - providing more
flexibility to both the firm and the individual?

As well as this the mobility of the contractors is really fascinating. The
internet has really started to disrupt the need for retail-service premises;
think of print shops (Printing.com), computer repairers (iCracked), florists
(1-800 Flowers), real estate agencies (Redfin), education (ie TutorSpree).
Interesting to see what verticals remain untapped.

I wonder the implications of completely opening up these sort of platforms
entirely - ie allowing 'anyone' to complete a car repair job. [Obviously in
the case of YourMechanic there are warranty implications :P]

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joshu
Woohoo! I am an investor in this one - I love the idea.

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swampthing
Satisfied customer here - the difference between YM and the old way of doing
things is night and day. If you live in the area and value your time, you
really owe it to yourself to try them out.

~~~
artag
super appreciate your support :)

~~~
heretohelp
Will you guys do motorcycles? If so, between you guys and Instacart, I'll be
living like a Persian prince.

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iyulaev
Question - how do you deal with private lots that prohibit people working on
their cars? I know my community has restrictions against this - I've never run
into it myself doing simple things like checking oil level and such but I
wouldn't attempt a major service like timing belt replacement in my community
(hence why I find a friend's driveway to do such work in :-P). How does YM
work around this?

~~~
artag
we have run into a couple of those situations. There is not a whole lot we can
do at this point. :(

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oakenshield
Yet another satisfied customer here, and to me, one of the huge advantages of
YM is that the mechanic comes to you... no more worrying about how to get your
vehicle to a shop, whether you will make it there by closing to pick it back
up, which of your friends to bug to give you a ride, etc.

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lacker
I would love this service, just wish it was available in my area. Good luck
and hope you expand soon!

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dools
Wow as soon as I saw this the Lube Mobile ad and phone number (13 13 32)
popped into my head immediately (I'm in Australia). Who said TV advertising is
dead?!

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jayliew
I'm a happy customer - congrats on the launch! :)

~~~
artag
Thanks for being an awesome customer! :)

~~~
samstave
Hi, I really need your services as of the other day!

But I live in Alameda - will you service my?

My car broke down, and its the only car we have - my wife is a stay at home
mom and I bike to work and we have been trying to figure out the best way to
deal with the car issue and as a long time HNer - I would far prefer to try
and support your startup than randomly call unknowns and have the thing towed
some place.

~~~
artag
Sam - please email me at art@yourmechanic.com and please let me know what type
of car it is. I will check with our mechanics to see which one can drive up
there.

