Fixed Ops Journal – February 2016 - (Page 12)

FIXED OPS JOURNAL " "A [dealership-provided] shuttle service just isn't enough to meet the demand for convenience anymore." THILO KOSLOWSKI, Gartner Inc. Domestic bliss, as envisioned by the YourMechanic.com home page. Competition in the palm of your customers' hands ■ Uber-style mechanics make house calls in 22 states and D.C. NORA NAUGHTON foj@autonews.com D ealership service departments have long competed against the independent mechanic or shop down the street. Now they have to compete against the mobile mechanic driving up the street. In the style of Uber, a Silicon Valley company called YourMechanic.com enables consumers to use their phones to bring car repairs to their doorstep. YourMechanic's mission is simple: establish transparency and build trust in automotive service, CEO Art Agrawal said. "If you don't know anything about cars, the [repair] experience is very black box," he said. "We wanted to solve this problem of little to no transparency when getting your car repaired." The mobile mechanics concept is common. Independent providers all over the U.S. offer their services through companies such as Craigslist and Angie's List. Agrawal's innovation is providing consumers with a one-stop-shop experience. Consumers requesting service give YourMechanic information about the vehicle, including the year, make and model, and what appears to be wrong. Based on CEO Art Agrawal: "Thousands of repairs" can be made outside of a shop. PAGE 12 FEBRUARY 2016 that information, YourMechanic gives the customer a list of the parts, services and costs needed to repair the vehicle. YourMechanic operates in 32 markets and 22 states. "We only move to a city when the demand presents itself," Agrawal said. "We're working on getting our name out there nationwide, and people are seeing us and asking for us." Paying for convenience Convenience is the most important feature that mobile mechanic operations such as YourMechanic offer, said Mark Seng, an IHS Automotive analyst. "As we've seen from companies like Uber, customers will pay a premium for convenience," he said. "I don't see how the idea of mobile mechanics could fail to catch on." The mobile mechanic business faces growing pains, but "they'll figure that stuff out," Seng predicted. "The demand is already there, and will probably only continue to grow," he said. "The rising age of cars on the road means people will need to do more routine maintenance, and they'll want to save both time SEE MOBILE, PAGE 15 http://www.YourMechanic.com http://www.YourMechanic.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal – February 2016

Editor’s Letter: Welcome to Fixed Ops Journal
Service Counter: Tracking fixed-ops numbers
Legal Lane: Court cases that affect you
Mobile mechanics: Do shop-free technicians threaten your business?
Mark Smith: A fixed-ops-focused dealer aims to change the industry
Adding capacity: Sales spur FCA, Subaru dealerships’ fixed-ops growth
Richard Truett: Toolmaker targets new techs
Designed for service: A look at a Minnesota dealership’s makeover
Weekend work: Service extends to Saturday, even Sunday
Tech exodus: How outdated policies worsen the tech shortage
Before Xtime: The origins of widely used scheduling software
Older parts: Toyota, Ford respond to older cars on the road
5 minutes with: Ford’s Toney, Toyota’s Laukes
Shop Talk: One question, multiple service directors
Fixed in Time: A look at service of yesteryear

Fixed Ops Journal – February 2016