Fixed Ops Journal - October 2019 - F16

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

SPECIAL REPORT

GOING MOBILE

As at-your-door mechanic services grow, dealers and automakers start to respond

ALEX KWANTEN
foj@autonews.com

roviders other than new-vehicle
dealerships continue to dominate
the market for mobile auto service.
Still, as more customers demand that
businesses deliver services and products to
their home or workplace, dealerships and automakers are taking their first steps to get
technicians out of the shop.
Independent mechanics who make house
calls aren't new. But companies offering such
services on a large scale date to the founding
of YourMechanic in 2012. Since then, YourMechanic has been joined by startups such as
Seattle-based Wrench and, since July, RepairSmith in California.

"If dealers don't wake up
and get out on the road,
[competitors] are going to
take your repair business."
DAVID BERGAMOTTO,
service manager, Park Avenue BMW,
Rochelle Park, N.J.

Cox Automotive's most recent Service Industry Study, completed last year, suggests
that more consumers are interested in mobile
service (39 percent) than valet service that
picks up a vehicle for maintenance or repair
and returns it to the owner's residence or office (36 percent). Yet Cox Automotive Vice
President Jim Roche told Fixed Ops Journal
that "28 percent of dealers are offering valet
services, and just 6 percent are toying with
mobile service."
As the number of mobile service companies
grows and their offerings expand, Roche adds,
these providers pose greater competition to
franchised dealerships for maintenance of vehicle fleets.
Several automakers are beginning to explore programs for dealership-based mobile
service. Ford Motor Co. launched a pilot program in May that dispatches dealership service vans to perform maintenance and repairs, says Frederiek Toney, president of
Ford's Global Customer Service Division.
Toyota Motor North America is exploring a pilot program of mobile service starting next year
with an undisclosed number of Toyota and Lex-

PAGE 16

OCTOBER 2019

RepairSmith is new to the mobile mechanic business, which dealers and OEMs also are joining.

Mobile players

Comparison of 3 mobile service providers
Year founded
Headquarters
Footprint
No. of service techs

YOURMECHANIC

WRENCH

REPAIRSMITH

2012
Mountain View, Calif.
3,000 U.S. communities
Almost 1,000

2015
Seattle
20 U.S. markets
80-100

2019
Los Angeles
Calif. markets
Undisclosed

Source: Companies

us dealers, says Nathan Kokes, Toyota's advanced technology communications manager.
Audi of America is examining a mobile program
for electric vehicles, says Joe Rood, the company's director of service operations and training,
adding that some Audi dealers already make
house calls for minor repairs.

BMW builds on recalls
BMW of North America is focusing on providing incentives to a pilot group of 50 to 60
dealerships to assign mobile technicians to
help complete recall work.
"It took a minute to get the techs to buy into
it, but now that they have, they love doing it,"
says Bevan Doyle, service manager at Athens
BMW in Georgia. The dealership began offer-

ing mobile service in March, generally for vehicles within 40 to 50 miles, as part of the pilot
program.
"We're doing just about everything that is
doable in the field - obviously we don't have
a lift, so we can't do driveshafts," Doyle says.
"We've finished first in our region for our size
for closing recall repairs."
Recall work may be just the first step for
BMW. "We are exploring broader mobile service in partnership with some of our dealers,
with the potential to establish a companywide
program in the coming year," says BMW
spokesman Phil Dilanni.
Park Avenue BMW in Rochelle Park, N.J.,
see MOBILE, next page

Fixed Ops Journal - October 2019

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