Toronto Start-Up Will Send a Mechanic To Your Driveway To Repair Your Car On Demand (techcrunch.com) 160
Toronto-based startup Fiix, part of Y Combinator's Winter 2017 class, has built a platform to send a mechanic to your home to fix your car within hours of being requested. TechCrunch reports: Customers request service by calling or chatting with the company on the website. Interestingly, Fiix prefers to deal with customers over the phone so they can accurately diagnose the issue. This lets them send the right parts and mechanic without actually seeing your car, and make sure the issue can actually be fixed in a driveway and doesn't need a full garage. That being said, the startup says over 80% of repairs done in a shop can be done in a driveway as long as you have an experienced mechanic. All of Fiix's mechanics are independent contractors -- some who are generalists and some who specialize in foreign cars like Mercedes. In fact many are mechanics who work during the day in dealership repair shops and work for Fiix to make some extra cash on the side. Since the startup has no fixed overhead they can pay their mechanics more than most shops or dealerships can. TechCrunch notes that it's not the only on-demand mechanic startup -- YourMechanic, for example, launched in 2012 at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. What do you Slashdotters think of this start-up? Would you trust an on-demand mechanic to visit your home and work on your vehicle, or would you prefer to take it to a local shop?
Condo rules (Score:2)
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Many entire cities also have the same rules.
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Many entire cities also have the same rules.
Uh, entire cities?
Care to bring an example of where I cannot do work in a driveway of a house I own?
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Good catch, but the bylaw also states that where there are two or more rules, the most restrictive one applies (section 591.8, page 10). Section 591-2 (on page 5) is "the most restrictive."
No person shall make, cause or permit noise or vibration, at any time, which is likely to disturb the quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of the inhabitants of the City.
So forget that air compressor and air gun to change tires, zip gun or hammering to loosen parts, etc.
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Good catch, but the bylaw also states that where there are two or more rules, the most restrictive one applies (section 591.8, page 10). Section 591-2 (on page 5) is "the most restrictive."
No person shall make, cause or permit noise or vibration, at any time, which is likely to disturb the quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of the inhabitants of the City.
So forget that air compressor and air gun to change tires, zip gun or hammering to loosen parts, etc.
Regardless of the cited minutiae here, this restriction is pretty much all related to a noise ordinance, and since I don't need to run a loud air compressor or hammer away on parts to change my oil, my original point stands. One can perform general vehicle maintenance during reasonable hours in your own driveway.
Re: Condo rules (Score:1)
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wonder how they'll get around that.
By offering their services only in places where people don't willingly submit to tyranny? Not everyone lives in "upscale" places full of rich douchebags who think it's their right to impose their will on you just in case you might drop their artificially inflated property value $0.50. A lot of those places are full of people that think doing your own lawn work or fixing your own car is low class and trashy. Or try to get you booted because your car is old and ugly. Those people can afford to have their
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He's a sellout with no pride or self respect. A good citizen for the nazis.
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There's an app called BribeHOA. Lets you bribe your HOA anonymously.
Un-possible. [theonion.com]
In all seriousness, if you have ever tried to deal with an HOA, you'll wish you had never bought a condo.
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It probably will be your neighbors that report the infraction to the HOA. It is these folks that, while coming and going, will see the work being done in a shared parking lot. Your neighbors likely know that the navy blue Accord belongs to Condo 2B even if they don't know you.
HOA have the ability to fine home owners here, and the fine doesn't have to be administered while the car is in service. A reporting neighbor only needs to take a photo or two for proof for including with the submission. HOA also h
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Not even that. Lube Mobile [lubemobile.com.au] is on the internet. In fact using their web site you can book the service / repair, get a firm price (even for some repairs!), confirm a date and time, even select your favourite mechanic if you want to. Someone does have to be there though when they start - they do require a signature before starting work, and someone has to provide payment when it's done, although this is usually via EFTPOS on the spot.
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And the windshield replacement guy who comes to wherever you are.
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Hah-ha! Wait, you wouldn't download a car, would you?
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The summary says the mechanics are all independent contractors, so they will be poorly paid and poorly motivated until they can find a better job, whereas the guys I use all seem to be highly skilled. (At least they've always done a good job for me).
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Or they're just like any other contractor that pays to be on the list. They pay for referrals.
Illegal (Score:1)
Illegal where I live by contract agreement. Besides, nothing you can do without a lift I can't do myself. So there isn't any reason to call you, since you can't do the real work like replace my engine mounts, work on the suspension, replace the water pump, even an oil change is a pain in the ass without a lift. I go to my buddy's with a lift to do that... Then again, I don't think much of Uber either, so maybe I am not the audience... heh like so many things... Slashdotters just are not the audience.
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nothing you can do without a lift I can't do myself.
so maybe I am not the audience
Yes.
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Maybe you can do all that stuff yourself, but I no longer have the physical strength to do anything but the easiest jobs. Fortunately here in the UK such services are commonplace, and useful when it's not convenient to drive to a mechanic and either wait around or get public transport back.
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/* TODO: Add subject */ (Score:1)
This kind of service exists for trucks and farm equipment, so it is possible that it would work for cars too. There are caveats though, which I'm sure /.'ers will point out.
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What do mean will? It was the first post rated above 0!
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Since you nit-picked on the single word 'will', perhaps you didn't notice 'caveats'. ./'ers will point out problems is a dig at how negative some posts are.
But just in case you are not being deliberately obtuse, pointing out that
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Only works for trucks and farm equipment because in many cases they're designed for field repairs. If you're driving down the highway and manage to strip out a CV joint, or snap a tie rod or have a ball joint fail, the guy who's coming to fix it isn't going to have accessibility issues on your truck or tractor. You blow a transmission gear, or strip a gear on a diesel? That's getting towed in just like a car because it requires a partial disassemble to fix or fully replace. On the other hand with a car sin
Looking forward to electric cars! (Score:5, Funny)
Every part in your car exponentially increases the chance of failure. Electric cars have significantly lower failure rates because they have significantly fewer parts. Not only that, when the new solid-state batteries that are nearing commercialization go into production, the battery damage issues and the runaway thermal reaction problems will be a thing of the past. It's good news for electric cars and anyone with a Samsung phone. ;)
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Electric cars have significantly lower failure rates because they have significantly fewer parts.
Statement not supported by facts [autoblog.com].
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Only cheap, shitty manufacturers are interested in planned obsolescence in terms of making a long term reliable car. If you buy a Toyota, chances are it will still be running fine with parts available at 200k miles.
Those manufacturers rely on other things to make people buy new cars. Inevitable cosmetic damage, non-essential updates for in-car tech, credit deals that make continuing with the same vehicle unattractive etc.
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Number of moving parts in an ICE+transmission: hundreds, including a large number of wear parts subject to regular replacement.
Number of moving parts in an electric motor+transmission: 1.
That won't change when electric cars become mainstream.
Re: Looking forward to electric cars! (Score:2)
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Around 90% of the problems my buddy sees at his shop are directly tied to either emission controls or senors used to make sure the vehicle is running the best it can(MAF, O2, knock, Cam/crank PoS/TPS and so on). Mechanical failures are pretty rare these days especially after the initial break-in period, hell seeing a vehicle with all original parts and 200k-300k mi isn't even rare anymore. That other 10% is usually something like a mechanical/electronic hybrid device like an EGR valve, or component of the
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Good luck getting 300,000 miles out of your brakes and battery. There's also a damn good chance you'll be on your second (or later) alternator or starter by then, too. As you yourself actually pointed out.
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Good luck getting 300,000 miles out of your brakes and battery. There's also a damn good chance you'll be on your second (or later) alternator or starter by then, too. As you yourself actually pointed out.
Is it SO bad to have replaced an alternator even twice in 300K miles? That's a LOT of miles. Some repair expenses to reach that number are perfectly reasonable and should be expected.
Oh I know, people want to reach 300K just having put in gas and never spending a dime on maintenance or parts or tires. But that's not realistic. Things wear out. Things break, especially if people drive like idiots on bad roads and neglect maintenance.
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Actually it was the alternator that cooked the battery, the voltage regulator flaked out and I didn't notice it--something I should have but it can be easy to miss. The battery replaced in 2009 was factory and suffered through numerous winters with the temperatures dropping to -40C. Batteries normally fail before an alternator though, not the other way around. And in turn cause the alternator to pump out more juice at a higher peak that damages the alternator. Remember with starters 99% of the time it's
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I nearly forgot that I'd never replaced the rare shoes on that car either. Front pads on the other hand? Every couple of years, those cars chewed through them until I went to ceramic. That was 100% to do with the vehicle design, 80% of the vehicle weight on the SW series cars were weighted towards the front of the vehicle which caused heavier wear on the front pads. But the brakes on them are so easy to do you could change them in your driveway in a couple of hours. And that has to do a lot with the c
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How did your suspension last so long? Shocks, struts, bushings, etc? All of that stuff is pretty wear intensive unless you're lucky enough to only drive on new asphalt in a non-freezing climate.
Transmissions these days also seem to be pretty tightly engineered, it seems like a lot of cars I've looked into have sub-par feedback on transmissions.
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How did your suspension last so long? Shocks, struts, bushings, etc? All of that stuff is pretty wear intensive unless you're lucky enough to only drive on new asphalt in a non-freezing climate.
Factory. Take proper care, properly lube them, keep an eye on them as long as they're not "sealed by design" and you can do spot repairs like replacing a bearing without replacing the entire wheel hub assembly. Not quite so easy these days, modern cars? The hub and bearing assemblies are designed as an "all in one" piece with the ABS sensors built in as well. Which is why they're around $500 each. Considering it's mostly highway miles it's not a surprise, and if by non-freezing climate you mean down to
Would you trust yourself to describe the issue? (Score:1)
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http://www.freesound.org/people/lonemonk/sounds/123686/ [freesound.org]
Oh, yeah, it's the fuel pump:
http://www.automobilemag.com/news/cling-clanger-automotive-diagnostic-app/ [automobilemag.com]
who's time are you paying for? (Score:1)
People, there's a reason that you go to the mechanic's shop, or the doctor's office, etc. etc. It's because their time is quite valuable and the equipment they use is specialized.
Making someone whose time is of high value travel unnecessary distances (i.e. a low value use of time) will make them have to charge higher prices for that unnecessary time, compared to if you yourself can bring the car to them.
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I get your point, but for this particular case I think it warrants the business model.
Sometimes if your car is broken it's simply not capable of being driven to a service shop (either it simply won't do it, it's not safe, or doing so would cause further damage to the car).
In those cases you either have to 1) use a service like this, or 2) have it towed to the shop.
While a mechanic's time may be valuable, towing cars can be rather expensive too. If it's cheaper to pay a mechanic to bring the tools out to th
Hmmm... (Score:2)
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And I really wish that my preferred mechanical and body shops weren't 20 miles apart, but...
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Depends on the problem. Last time I needed help, it was a leaking caliper, easy diagnosis, pretty easy driveway fix but as I live a dozen miles out of town, I needed a buddy to bring me the parts. A proper mechanic could have had me going in short order and would have had the wheel bearing tool to change the thin rotor as well. May have cost more for parts as I'd assume the mechanic would have automatically changed most everything, but brakes are important and my case of having a truck where someone had pre
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I will bet you that these guys will be doing oil changes and brake jobs and leave the complicated stuff to "real" mechanics.
Yet another Uber (Score:4, Insightful)
Yet another Uber, that handles labor like in the nineteenth century: no employee, no duty.
The trend really deserve a law to fix the broad issue.
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Yet another generalisation that doesn't realise that just because a model that exists everywhere else suddenly gets a phone app doesn't automatically make it Uber.
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The whole anti-Uber movement stems from the idea that people have to be slaves to someone, either the state, a union or an employer (who can be made to be slaves of the state).
We simply can't have sole proprietors running around as contractors, dictating their own terms of work and compensation. Where do you think you live? In a free country or something?
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Laws like what you're talking about just make you a slave to your government
As Lacordaire [wikipedia.org] said "Entre le fort et le faible, entre le riche et le pauvre, entre le maître et le serviteur, c’est la liberté qui opprime et la loi qui affranchit." (Translated: "Between the strong and the weak, between the rich and the poor, between the lord and the slave, it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free.").
Proper tools (Score:2)
The idea of having a shop was to house all the proper tools. Hard to bring a car lift to my driveway, or a tire balancer or any number of other bulky and expensive tools a shop has to expedite repairs, and I sure as heck aren't paying more for them to then have to haul my car back to the shop to continue repairs...
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I mean, I'm no car guru, but I can figure out the basics of when the car needs a repair, and have a reasonable suspicion about what generally is wrong, and understand what it is that they want me to pay to fix. My wife OTOH: she's at work trying to leave for lunch, and the car won't start, so she calls me. "Well, honey, when you try to start it, do
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"Well, honey, when you try to start it, does it make a loud clicking noise, or does it sound like the entire engine is turning over?" "I don't know, what do you mean by 'clicking'?" - this is the level of understanding most people have about cars. They're utterly ignorant.
Work colleague here, I am relaying you this message as a courtesy for your beautiful wife who has just invited me to your house tonight:
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No sex for you for six months. Don't bother to come home tonight either.
-Your wife
Men trying to give women advice. (Score:2)
Dear John.
I hope you can help me. The other day, I set off for work, leaving my husband in the house watching TV. My car stalled, and then it broke down about a mile down the road, and I had to walk back to get my husband's help. When I got home, I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in the bedroom with the neighbor's daughter!
I am 32, my husband is 34 and the neighbor's daughter is 19. We have been married for ten years. When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted they had been having an affair for
independent contractors do they set there own rate (Score:3)
independent contractors do they set there own rates or they forced to take the apps rates and the apps' parts rates?
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Probably a rate set by the mechanic themselves when they sign up for the service.
There's no such thing as a "mechanic" - they all specialize. Some are generalists and will be able to do basic tasks like brakes, tires, oil changes, etc. Common everyday tasks. Then there would be more specialized mechanics - one may only work on transmissions, another on electrical systems, etc.
And by their natu
It's been tried before, in the 90s. (Score:2)
It's not a profitable model.
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Err, one of biggest car repairs on the planet [lubemobile.com.au] have been using this business model (and only this business model) for 20 years. They can claim to be the biggest because the mechanics are employees, not contractors or franchises. I gather numerically others are far bigger.
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Tow trucks out of commision?? (Score:1)
Wow they discovered mobile mechanics (Score:1)
I guess paper/online phone books and craiglist ads is too passe now?
Well (Score:4, Interesting)
I've used a craigslist plumber, as well as other craigslist services. Did the job, no leaks years later. Paid cash, was happy.
If this has a rating system, it is far better than craigslist.
Bring on more person to person direct services trade facilitated by the internet! Sure you get the odd unqualified lout, but a ratings and reward system would correct some of that. If the company gave refunds, i would start looking at what i can farm out personally on a cold canadian day when i dont want to get under the vehicle.
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I've used a craigslist plumber, as well as other craigslist services. Did the job, no leaks years later. Paid cash, was happy.
If this has a rating system, it is far better than craigslist.
If (and only if) the mechanic gets to set their own rates. Otherwise it's just as shady as Uber.
How is this new? (Score:1)
I don't get it; what's the big deal? I was getting my car serviced at home 30 years ago ("Lubemobile" was just one of the outfits that did this). Is this model only now just getting to the USA? Welcome to the 1980s, Seppos.
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I was just about to say this. I had to check I hadn't give back in time today. First a story about dead pixels on LCD screens then a story about this fantastic be idea of a mobile mechanic! I fully expect to hear an announcement of a record breaking 1GB HDD being released by Seagate before the day is out.
How old? (Score:2)
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Pretty common here in the UK but we don't have housing associations to stop us doing what we like on our own property.
My neighbour has repaired Landrovers on his drive constantly for the last 20 years or so, did most repairs on mine on the drive.
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the same one for the last 20 years (car)? is it almost fixed?
couldn't resist... love landrovers but hear too many troubling things about reliability
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And this is nothing new, you rarely see trucks hauler being towed, they are all repaired on the road/highway by a mobile mechanic.
Sketchiness raised to a another power. (Score:2)
Not only do you have sketchiness of a random person, you also have the precariousness on the person visiting you.
Uh, car associations? (Score:2)
My local car association in Australia also does this. I paid some trivial amount like $80 a year, for this service.
My grandfather worked for one of these associations for most of his life.
How can a startup disrupt this? By putting it in an app?
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How inovative! (Score:2)
1982 just called, they want their business model back.
https://www.lubemobile.com.au/... [lubemobile.com.au]
I guess becuase "It's on the Internet" its new?
Maybe most repairs can be done at a house (Score:2)
There are 2 problems with this... (Score:2)
1.) I have never had a problem with finding a mechanic, the problem is with the cost of the mechanic ($70/hr labor is typical where I live)
2.) If I had a driveway which a car could be worked on, I would work on the car myself. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment that does not permit vehicle work to be done on premises. I still do the basics anyways like changing bulbs and O2 sensors.
The best startup I have seen is in Gurnee, IL called: I Can Fix This! (http://www.icanfixthisshops.com) They rent space in a
Garages that rent space are not a new idea.... (Score:2)
They used to be fairly common, until lawyers and liability insurance rates put an end to them. I did a few engine swaps in those places during my younger hot-rodding days. They provided a garage bay, overhead lifts, air tools, and engine hoists. Hand tools were strictly BYO.
Wondering how the new startup is getting around the liability issues inherent in allowing the general public access to tools, equipment, and working situations that could easily kill or injure someone who isn't careful or is just genera
Your mechanic (Score:2)
Had my car die (water pump broke off) and I limped it a mile to my driveway. What were my options? Call an expensive tow to the nearest repair shop? I found your mechanic and they had a guy out there the next day and he fixed my car right there in the driveway. The guy was awesome, very honest and cheaper than the shop and no towing needed.
I will use them again for changing my sparkplugs (stupid modern cars make this hard..). I've used it a second time for replacing my alternator.
Great service. This is not
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Is it that hard not to click articles that don't interest you? It's what I do and if I make a mistake, well that's what the back button is for.