[Wosby]

I'm a "do-it-yourselfer" that occasionally gets frustrated with the limitations of working on my car in the driveway or garage. Although putting a lift in my garage would physically be possible, my wife would have my head. I would love to have access to professional equipment and tools. If there was a shop where I could go to rent equipment and tools, I would use it and wondered if anyone else would also?

[Wosby]

Feel free to also post a reply, whether or not you've responded to the poll.

[Focus]

I'd love a place to actually work on stuff , heated, with tools etc.. If someone opened up such a place im SURE it would sell out and be a hit. a DIY Garage. You rent alotted time, full access to a lift.

[NightStalker]

im getting a lift soon for my garage, but it depends on your situation.
i have most of the tools as well as a heated garage(huge)

[Wosby]

Originally Posted by Romiie

im getting a lift soon for my garage, but it depends on your situation.
i have most of the tools as well as a heated garage(huge)

Are you saying that if there were a place like this, you wouldn't get the lift in your garage?

[Wosby]

Cant quite understand the low response of 6, when 131 have looked at the thread. Is "yes","no", or "maybe" that difficult?

[BreakPoint]

We had a DIY garage with about 6 lifts while I was stationed in NC/Marine corps. It was dirt cheap, had every tool you could dream of, and was always packed with guys working on their cars.

[Wosby]

Originally Posted by BreakPoint

We had a DIY garage with about 6 lifts while I was stationed in NC/Marine corps. It was dirt cheap, had every tool you could dream of, and was always packed with guys working on their cars.

From my understanding, I believe most bases provided their troops with a similar facility. I know there's a 3-bay facility at the army base in Brooklyn, NY. I'm curious as to its viability for civilian use here in the Northeast.

[e92stance]

Sounds awesome, but im sure the insurance required to do something like this makes people reconsider. Having a lift is a huge liability.....

[Tari]

Originally Posted by Romiie

im getting a lift soon for my garage, but it depends on your situation.
i have most of the tools as well as a heated garage(huge)

Wassup remember me? Can I use your garage lol

[Tegs4tugs]

yes I would in a heart beat, however I can see this costing an arm and a leg in NY..

[Louchie]

Originally Posted by e92stance

Sounds awesome, but im sure the insurance required to do something like this makes people reconsider. Having a lift is a huge liability.....

This. I don't think you'd even be able to get insured. If someone injures themselves they can easily sue you, and that's bound to happen with a set-up like this.

Guess for now we all just need to find friends with 2 car garages.

[E90 87ss]

legal liability... I have an idea on how you would control inventory... I wouldn't pay for it since I live in the woods with a bunch circle track racers and can use their tools and garage any time I want... But right now I'm in the city and if I had a relatively big job and didn't want to pay a mechanic to do it I would rent a garage space...

[Wosby]

Originally Posted by e92stance

Sounds awesome, but im sure the insurance required to do something like this makes people reconsider. Having a lift is a huge liability.....

Insurance can't be that much of an issue since a few of these places have opened over the past couple years.

[runwild]

If you were to sign a waiver agreeing the shop cannot be held liable for any injuries that occur at the shop, you my be good... but im no lawyer, im sure theres ways around it

[328i]

People are too sue happy these days, and keeping track of tools would be difficult. If you can fit a lift in your garage do it! Remember it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission lmao.

[3002 tii]

yes i would and if you're asking as someone who's considering offering this services, then i'd say no from your standpoint. too much liability (and insurance co would charge so much to allow non-professionals to work in your facility), chance of them wrecking/losing/stealing your tools, etc...

and to cover your rent cost, i feel like your breakeven would require you to charge an hourly rate that is not much cheaper than what a shop would charge to actually do the work. so from a customer's standpoint, it might be worth spending the extra $30 per hr (ie $50 to use the tools/garage, $80 to get the job done) to have a pro do the work for me, and have the peace of mind that it was done correctly with gurantee to back it... if you already have a shop, maybe it would make sense to offer 'garage days' once in a while if business is slow, anything to help cover your fixed cost would be better than nothing. considering DIY'ers would value this more during the winter months, maybe you'd want to host these 'garage days' then...

edit:
why is that when i type the word "space" followed by ")", it gets starred out as if it were a curse? lol... i had to change my post from "space" -> "facility". weird...

[itsbrokeagain]

Originally Posted by Dubbedown

yes i would and if you're asking as someone who's considering offering this services, then i'd say no from your standpoint. too much liability (and insurance co would charge so much to allow non-professionals to work in your facility), chance of them wrecking/losing/stealing your tools, etc...

and to cover your rent cost, i feel like your breakeven would require you to charge an hourly rate that is not much cheaper than what a shop would charge to actually do the work. so from a customer's standpoint, it might be worth spending the extra $30 per hr (ie $50 to use the tools/garage, $80 to get the job done) to have a pro do the work for me, and have the peace of mind that it was done correctly with gurantee to back it... if you already have a shop, maybe it would make sense to offer 'garage days' once in a while if business is slow, anything to help cover your fixed cost would be better than nothing. considering DIY'ers would value this more during the winter months, maybe you'd want to host these 'garage days' then...

edit:
why is that when i type the word "space" followed by ")", it gets starred out as if it were a curse? lol... i had to change my post from "space" -> "facility". weird...

This. Couldnt have explained it better. A DIYer will work on someones car, but if something breaks or something else happens down the road related to the install, technically they have no liability, they could just say, sorry tough luck or they dont have the experience to figure out whats wrong. Then a person ends up paying double because they bring it to a pro to have it fixed.

I have fixed more than a handful of cars where a friend decided to help someone out and botched the install, and in the end it was brought to me or AutoCouture or whoever to have it fixed.

Not to mention borrowing my tools...you use them improperly and break one, now I have to wait a week for my tool guy to show up, then wait another week or two to get a replacement or even pay to have it fixed. For you, it makes no difference because you are out the door after you are done, whereas im now short changed until I get a replacement. And to me there isnt enough money for me to justify renting my tools for x/per hour because I, like most shops have $10k or more invested in tools.

[Alex@Helix]

^ well put Matt...

As mentioned before in this thread, insurance is a HUGE thing. If someone goes to a shop there is a fine line between being involved and watching and getting too close to the point where its a liability. People get there cars modified because its something they enjoy. Its their hobby and we completely understand that half the fun might be seeing everything coming apart and being put back together. Unfortunately if something happens to that person while they're watching its the responsibility of that shop. Now if the mechanics were to be out of the picture and it were just the customers, its the same thing. If anything happens... its on the shop. Even small things like putting a car up on a lift can be super super dangerous if you dont know what youre doing.