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Launch HN: Fiix (YC W17) – Same-Day Auto Repair at Your Home

87 points by khallil 10y ago

Hi HN, we’re the founders of Fiix (https://www.fiix.io https://www.fiix.io). We’re a startup from Toronto, Canada in the YC W17 batch. We send licensed auto mechanics to your home to fix your car within 3 hours. All you need to do is send us a message over chat. We figure out what your car needs and send over a vetted mechanic with all the parts and tools to perform the repair at your home. We started the company as “TireSwap” from Arif’s parent’s attic as a way to have your tires changed at home. Our customers asked for more and more repairs, until we offered over 300 services. We rebranded to “Fiix” and were accepted into the YC Fellowship (somewhat unorthodoxly!) via Snapchat (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11678286 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11678286). Since then, we've quit our jobs, repaired thousands of cars, and are now processing almost $100k/month in sales. Getting our unit economics right has been the most important takeaway from YC. We’re priced so we have enough money to acquire customers, offer a great price, and earn a profit to grow the business. We’d love to hear what you think about our company, and if you have any tips on local growth, those would be appreciated!

dwynings 10y ago
How do you guys compare yourselves to https://www.yourmechanic.com/ https://www.yourmechanic.com/, also a YC startup?
- overcast 10y ago
  Other than servicing Toronto, that yourmechanic doesn't seem to be available in, not much. Looks like these guys are pretty established with a much better quoting interface. fiix requires me to input my name/number, and other details that piss me off. Just for the price to show up.
  - redstallion 10y ago
    +1, this type of business suffers from the same problems that an Uber for $x would have. The moment YourMechanic were to expand to Toronto and undercut the competition, they would corner the market. Because there's very little human touch to the mobile mechanic business model in addition to how infrequent one would use Fiix, people are in no way swayed on picking between YourMechanic or this - it all comes down to price competition. I would definitely not invest in this product, especially because it's based in the Greater Toronto Area (for similar reasons why Instacart started in tech-savvy cities like New York and San Francisco instead of most of the GTA which is suburbia - for one to grow the seed for such modern apps, they should plant them in the most forward-thinking communities).
whistlerbrk 10y ago
This is a great idea, but I don't see why I would want to book a specific mechanic rather than let you choose the best one for me based off my model/make/needs.
- khallil 10y ago
  The main flow of the website is to let us pick the mechanic for you, but for customers that really want to choose their mechanic, they can book directly at fiix.io/mechanics
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
salimavisram 10y ago
Such a great idea! How did you get into YC via snapchat?!
- khallil 10y ago
  We pitched to Justin Kan on his snapchat story, and got an interview for the YC Fellowship. If you're interested, you can read the whole story here: https://hackernoon.com/how-to-make-20-000-on-snapchat-and-get-into-y-combinator-2513a7ee371d#.r32kj8hqy https://hackernoon.com/how-to-make-20-000-on-snapchat-and-ge...
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
Wagthesam 10y ago
Very smart team, excited to see the Canadian ecosystem grow
deleted 10y ago
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- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
james98 10y ago
Great idea, looks like you've got the right team to do it as well
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
warcher 10y ago
I love this idea, but it's also some super hood shit. This is absolutely a done thing in lower income areas-- "shade tree mechanics" is the term of art I know. I would imagine the biggest issue would be ensuring a feeling of reliability and professionalism to a sort of sketchy proposition. (A random stranger coming to your house to work on your car.) Plus, as a practicing shade tree mechanic when I was young and broke and keeping my friends' fleet of beaters more or less roadworthy, having a suitable facility for mechanic work is a challenge. I hate having my ass hanging out in the street while I'm working on a car. I hate working in the cold. Where's the power for my compressor and lights? Folks with a garage typically will tow their stuff to the shop.
- ArifBhanji 10y ago
  Thank you! We're trying to change the way consumers see this service. Our mechanics dress clean, bring you your favourite coffee, and teach you a bit about the repair as well to educate you about the trade. Our customers range from low to high income individuals who just want to save time and effort and spend that time with their family or on their hobbies. We've seen a ton of our customers build strong relationships with our mechanics and request them over and over again. I do agree that working remotely is tougher to do then at a shop and that is why we compensate mechanics 3x more than a shop and provide them the independence of a business owner. We've seen happiness on both sides of the equation so we will keep pushing!
  - doctorcroc 10y ago
    It sounds like you guys are on the right track, but small input -- the coffee bit is somewhat campy. I think it's kind of unnecessary burden on your mechanics that will be tough to uphold as you scale. Additionally, speaking from personal needs, I couldn't care less if I got coffee -- I just want a professional mechanic who won't fleece me. Stick to making that your value prop, and I think both sides of the marketplace (techs, and consumers) will be better off for it.
    - redstallion 10y ago
fiatjaf 10y ago
What is this "Launch HN" thing now?
- sctb 10y ago
  It's a new thing we've been experimenting with for this YC batch. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13670456 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13670456 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13492779 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13492779 for some background. Now's a good time to share any thoughts about it if you'd like to send us an email at hn@ycombinator.com.
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    Suggestion: disable flags for these submissions.
cialowicz 10y ago
This is really neat, and I think it could work well for most basic maintenance work. I'm really curious about the logistics. How do you handle catastrophic failures during a repair? For example, what happens when a rusty bolt head snaps off and now a component needs to be drilled and tapped? I've worked on my fair share of older cars that have lived their lives on salty New England roads, and this happens more often than you'd think. Does the car get towed to a repair garage in these cases? I see wheel/tire mounting and balancing listed as a service. How does that work? Are you able to get the balancing machine into the service vehicle, or do you pick them up, leave the car on jack stands, and then bring them back balanced (probably disconcerting for the customer)?
- khallil 10y ago
  I'm glad you like the idea :) We have a few partner shops across the city that we'll get the car towed to in the case that we can't complete the work at their home. That being said, we've completed thousands of repairs and less than 1% have needed the tow service. Off rim tire changes and wheel balancing are the only services we offer that are non-mobile. These are 'experiments' for now, but we have them on the site because we have other mobile partners that will bring a large truck with the balancing machine and complete the repair.
sergiotapia 10y ago
This service is only available in Toronto, Canada. Seems like a good idea if the price is right. I'd love this for regular car maintenance.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  I'd hate to be a mechanic working outdoors in winter Toronto. Just thinking of handling steel tools with un-gloved hands (otherwise you can't grasp much) makes me feel sorry for those folks.
  - khallil 10y ago
    The winter is definitely hard in Toronto, and we work closely with our mechanics to make sure they're warm and safe. We try to maximize the number of bookings inside a garage, and they're all equipped with both heated jackets and portable heaters. When it gets way too cold, we prioritize mechanic happiness and reschedule all the jobs for the day.
    - jacquesm 10y ago
      Another reason why you really do not want to work outside in Canada in the winter: Metal gets brittle when it is cold. This will lead to tool breakage (health risk) and bolts snapping rather than turning. You really should not work on a car at temperatures < 5C and preferably you should work in a heated garage. Below -10C it qualifies as torture, not work. Being a car mechanic is hard enough on the body when working in the best possible setting.
  - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
    >Just thinking of handling steel tools with un-gloved hands // Nearly all the mechanics I see working now in the UK have gloves, tight fitting "latex" ones. I suspect it's in part to do with evidence suggesting used engine oil is strong carcinogen, and also because most garages have open fronts here. There are plenty of other fluids knocking around you don't really want to be in contact with a lot; also even light latex gloves will stop some scuffs and nicks. I've used them myself occasionally, when it's very cold (just above 0degC/freezing) they help a lot. Gloves seem more common the more expensive the service is too, so it might be a company mandated 'health and safety' protection.
overcast 10y ago
Let's get serious for a moment here. Beyond relatively simple home garage fixes, how do you plan on addressing larger issues that a mobile service could never handle. Something that requires a lift for example? Exhausts, transmission, basically anything under the body. Are teams available? How did you handle mounting / balancing with TireSwap?
- Danihan 10y ago
  The mechanic shows up in a tow truck.
  - khallil 10y ago
    None of our technicians drive tow trucks. You can see some of them, and their reviews here: https://www.fiix.io/mechanics https://www.fiix.io/mechanics
  - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
    Does anyone make a mobile car lift, like a truck with an embedded hydraulic lift. Seems doable, just not sure if it would be worth selling because you can tow to a lift and that lift would be [much] cheaper?
    - cellularmitosis 10y ago
      Perhaps something like a PODs truck? http://www.merchantcircle.com/pods-peoria-moving-and-storage-peoria-il/picture/view/2845479 http://www.merchantcircle.com/pods-peoria-moving-and-storage...
- khallil 10y ago
  If the car needs a tow, we'll get it taken to one of our partner shops. So far, we've repaired a few thousand cars and less than 1% have needed a tow. We only contract licensed mechanics with many years of experience, so they can do pretty complex work by jacking up your car on your driveway. When we were running TireSwap we did on rim tire changes and rotations only (summer to winters and vice versa), so no mounting / balancing was needed.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
marginalcodex 10y ago
Hi Khallil, I just sent an email to your About.me account. If that's no longer active, is there another address I can reach you at? Thanks, Daniel
- khallil 10y ago
  khallil@fiix.io or m.me/km
pmcollins 10y ago
Here's what I want: To take my car to a gleaming, state of the art repair facility with every tool I could ever need, staffed by auto mechanic "coaches" who will help me repair my car myself.
- chpmrc 10y ago
  This is incredible! I have just thought about doing the same thing with chefs. As in: you order a (not the Michelin-star kind) chef who'll come to your house and teach you how to cook some tasty meal, without worrying about buying ingredients, tools etc. We learn from plumbers and technicians, why not learn from chefs?
  - spinlock 10y ago
    Friend of a friend launched kitchit that did almost this. You should check them out and figure out why they shut down.
  - overcast 10y ago
    There was a few offerings around this idea in the past few years. Kithensurfing being another one of them. They've all burned out due to lack of demand. http://www.eater.com/2015/12/7/9852106/kitchensurfing-private-chef-app-uber#344516917 http://www.eater.com/2015/12/7/9852106/kitchensurfing-privat... Pretty much explains it.
    - chpmrc 10y ago
      Ouch. Duly noted. :)
- packeted 10y ago
  These places do exist, I worked on friend's car at an awesome place called Lifted in Fremont. They had all the tools you could want and a knowledge crew to get you out of sticky situations. It looks like there are a few other places throughout the Bay Area too. I think the challenge was inexperienced people coming in and underestimating the task they were taking on or screwing things up and having to leave their cars at the shop for what was originally a day job.
mtreis86 10y ago
What have the legalities been like for you to do this in Canada? As a mechanic in the USA (ASE a decade ago) I was told multiple times that repairs cannot be at a customer's residence due to both EPA regulations on fluid contamination and various local or state zoning ordinances.
- emodendroket 10y ago
  Well I guess the Silicon Valley way is to start a company that flagrantly violates the law and then lobby until it's made legal.
  - sporkmonger 10y ago
    Give Pruitt a few weeks. :-P
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
mattsolm 10y ago
This looks exactly like YourMechanic (also YC company), with a far less refined product. Actually there is no product. It is just a chat interface. Also, your pages seem to be broken; for example: https://www.fiix.io/estimates/Audi/A4/Coolant-Flush-cost https://www.fiix.io/estimates/Audi/A4/Coolant-Flush-cost shows estimate of $0. In fact almost all the Audi A4 estimate pages have $0 (at least all the ones i opened). What exactly would you say is the differentiating factor, other than the fact that they don't service Canada?
- redstallion 10y ago
  +1, this type of business suffers from the same problems that an Uber for $x would have. The moment YourMechanic were to expand to Toronto and undercut the competition, they would corner the market. Because there's very little human touch to the mobile mechanic business model in addition to how infrequent one would use Fiix, people are in no way swayed on picking between YourMechanic or this - it all comes down to price competition. I would definitely not invest in this product, especially because it's based in the Greater Toronto Area (for similar reasons why Instacart started in tech-savvy cities like New York and San Francisco instead of most of the GTA which is suburbia - for one to grow the seed for such modern apps, they should plant them in the most forward-thinking communities).
  - ttaubkin 10y ago
    Is it not suspicious that both mattsolm and redstallion were created minutes before these comments were made. And both focus on promoting YourMechanic. It's okay to have competition, no need to be shady about it.
brazzledazzle 10y ago
I was legitimately disappointed that I couldn't use this today (US/California). Is there any way I can signup for a notification when you expand to my area? Congrats on the launch!
elmar 10y ago
forget the mechanics thing, just do a snapchat channel you guys rock it on social media.
saidmasoud 10y ago
Any plans to go international, particularly state side?
dbot 10y ago
How do you avoid the issue that home cleaning companies encountered? Namely, once they use your service to create a relationship, the customer can contact the mechanic directly and cut you out?
dbg31415 10y ago
It just seems really ghetto to have someone come to my house to do the work. Trying to get a sense for who would use this... I already have a mechanic I trust, he's less than 5 minutes away from my house... and I can just drop my car off and pick it up when I'm done. Do a lot of other people not have preferred mechanics already? Also doing car repair in the driveway or on the street -- in many neighborhoods this would be a violation of the HOA agreement. We aren't allowed to do vehicle repair anywhere visible from the street (so like my garage door would have to be closed in order to avoid an HOA fine). Just seems sketch... My AC goes out and I'm going to call some guy in a van to come put a new one in? Can he change my oil? Recharge my AC? What about spills and leaks, who cleans that up if it gets on my driveway or lawn? For a variety of reasons, mechanic shops better suited for this sort of work. Is this even kosher with the EPA? Edit: Looked at the site... wiper replacement and battery replacement were some services offered. Yup... got it, I'm not the target audience for this.
- emodendroket 10y ago
  > Edit: Looked at the site... wiper replacement and battery replacement were some services offered. Yup... got it, I'm not the target audience for this. I feel like even the least car-savvy person on Earth can figure out how to change their own windshield wipers.
  - wapz 10y ago
    I'm hoping that mos people who pay for windshield wiper replacements get it bundled. Let's say they don't want to leave their house to get an oil change (and are too lazy to do it themselves). They go to the site and request an oil change. Then they remember their wipers are going bad and don't want to pick them up or order them online. So they just pay the extra $5-$20 or whatever the company charges to have the mechanic replace it for them.
    - emodendroket 10y ago
      I guess that makes sense. I think I bought them from a mechanic once, when I was getting the state test and they said the ones I had wouldn't pass.
emodendroket 10y ago
Why would someone choose this service for basic stuff over something like AAA? For more complex stuff, do you really want "just some guy" showing up and doing the work on your driveway?
cellularmitosis 10y ago
I just tried "Brakes to go" today for the first time (basically your model, but only for brakes), and I am now totally sold on this idea. Granted, Brakes to go has a much simpler problem to solve (much easier for them to just show up with every possible part they could need to replace, then figure out what they need on-site), but I see no reason you couldn't expand their idea in similar ways (perhaps dedicated mechanics with rigs dedicated for specific jobs). Judging by the Yelp reviews for Brakes to go in Austin, I'm definitely not the only one enamores with this idea. Best of luck!
getchamba 10y ago
Are you providing a warranty on the work completed?
nautical 10y ago
A related article trending on HN couple of months back https://medium.com/@afarrington/ycombinator-backed-fiix-io-is-a-scam-f90584231a0e#.r3jq8vru4 https://medium.com/@afarrington/ycombinator-backed-fiix-io-i...
mrbill 10y ago
Sounds similar to yourmechanic.com, which I've used a couple of years ago - although you have to schedule an appointment, versus 3-hour service. Had them replace my alternator (I'd had AAA tow the car back to my driveway) and the guy showed up early, did good work, and had it ready to go within an hour. Cost me $200, but it was a lot more convenient than having the car towed elsewhere and then getting the work done.
alangibson 10y ago
How do you deal with local ordinances? This shadetree mechanic thing is illegal in a lot of municipalities and is forbidden in every apartment lease contract I ever signed in Texas.
cCWS 10y ago
Thank you!!

87 points by khallil 10y ago

dwynings 10y ago

How do you guys compare yourselves to https://www.yourmechanic.com/ https://www.yourmechanic.com/, also a YC startup?

overcast 10y ago
Other than servicing Toronto, that yourmechanic doesn't seem to be available in, not much. Looks like these guys are pretty established with a much better quoting interface. fiix requires me to input my name/number, and other details that piss me off. Just for the price to show up.
- redstallion 10y ago
  +1, this type of business suffers from the same problems that an Uber for $x would have. The moment YourMechanic were to expand to Toronto and undercut the competition, they would corner the market. Because there's very little human touch to the mobile mechanic business model in addition to how infrequent one would use Fiix, people are in no way swayed on picking between YourMechanic or this - it all comes down to price competition. I would definitely not invest in this product, especially because it's based in the Greater Toronto Area (for similar reasons why Instacart started in tech-savvy cities like New York and San Francisco instead of most of the GTA which is suburbia - for one to grow the seed for such modern apps, they should plant them in the most forward-thinking communities).

whistlerbrk 10y ago

This is a great idea, but I don't see why I would want to book a specific mechanic rather than let you choose the best one for me based off my model/make/needs.

khallil 10y ago
The main flow of the website is to let us pick the mechanic for you, but for customers that really want to choose their mechanic, they can book directly at fiix.io/mechanics

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

salimavisram 10y ago

Such a great idea! How did you get into YC via snapchat?!

khallil 10y ago
We pitched to Justin Kan on his snapchat story, and got an interview for the YC Fellowship. If you're interested, you can read the whole story here: https://hackernoon.com/how-to-make-20-000-on-snapchat-and-get-into-y-combinator-2513a7ee371d#.r32kj8hqy https://hackernoon.com/how-to-make-20-000-on-snapchat-and-ge...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

Wagthesam 10y ago

Very smart team, excited to see the Canadian ecosystem grow

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

james98 10y ago

Great idea, looks like you've got the right team to do it as well

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

warcher 10y ago

I love this idea, but it's also some super hood shit. This is absolutely a done thing in lower income areas-- "shade tree mechanics" is the term of art I know. I would imagine the biggest issue would be ensuring a feeling of reliability and professionalism to a sort of sketchy proposition. (A random stranger coming to your house to work on your car.) Plus, as a practicing shade tree mechanic when I was young and broke and keeping my friends' fleet of beaters more or less roadworthy, having a suitable facility for mechanic work is a challenge. I hate having my ass hanging out in the street while I'm working on a car. I hate working in the cold. Where's the power for my compressor and lights? Folks with a garage typically will tow their stuff to the shop.

ArifBhanji 10y ago
Thank you! We're trying to change the way consumers see this service. Our mechanics dress clean, bring you your favourite coffee, and teach you a bit about the repair as well to educate you about the trade. Our customers range from low to high income individuals who just want to save time and effort and spend that time with their family or on their hobbies. We've seen a ton of our customers build strong relationships with our mechanics and request them over and over again. I do agree that working remotely is tougher to do then at a shop and that is why we compensate mechanics 3x more than a shop and provide them the independence of a business owner. We've seen happiness on both sides of the equation so we will keep pushing!
- doctorcroc 10y ago
  It sounds like you guys are on the right track, but small input -- the coffee bit is somewhat campy. I think it's kind of unnecessary burden on your mechanics that will be tough to uphold as you scale. Additionally, speaking from personal needs, I couldn't care less if I got coffee -- I just want a professional mechanic who won't fleece me. Stick to making that your value prop, and I think both sides of the marketplace (techs, and consumers) will be better off for it.
  - redstallion 10y ago

fiatjaf 10y ago

What is this "Launch HN" thing now?

sctb 10y ago
It's a new thing we've been experimenting with for this YC batch. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13670456 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13670456 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13492779 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13492779 for some background. Now's a good time to share any thoughts about it if you'd like to send us an email at hn@ycombinator.com.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  Suggestion: disable flags for these submissions.

cialowicz 10y ago

This is really neat, and I think it could work well for most basic maintenance work. I'm really curious about the logistics. How do you handle catastrophic failures during a repair? For example, what happens when a rusty bolt head snaps off and now a component needs to be drilled and tapped? I've worked on my fair share of older cars that have lived their lives on salty New England roads, and this happens more often than you'd think. Does the car get towed to a repair garage in these cases? I see wheel/tire mounting and balancing listed as a service. How does that work? Are you able to get the balancing machine into the service vehicle, or do you pick them up, leave the car on jack stands, and then bring them back balanced (probably disconcerting for the customer)?

khallil 10y ago
I'm glad you like the idea :) We have a few partner shops across the city that we'll get the car towed to in the case that we can't complete the work at their home. That being said, we've completed thousands of repairs and less than 1% have needed the tow service. Off rim tire changes and wheel balancing are the only services we offer that are non-mobile. These are 'experiments' for now, but we have them on the site because we have other mobile partners that will bring a large truck with the balancing machine and complete the repair.

sergiotapia 10y ago

This service is only available in Toronto, Canada. Seems like a good idea if the price is right. I'd love this for regular car maintenance.

jacquesm 10y ago
I'd hate to be a mechanic working outdoors in winter Toronto. Just thinking of handling steel tools with un-gloved hands (otherwise you can't grasp much) makes me feel sorry for those folks.
- khallil 10y ago
  The winter is definitely hard in Toronto, and we work closely with our mechanics to make sure they're warm and safe. We try to maximize the number of bookings inside a garage, and they're all equipped with both heated jackets and portable heaters. When it gets way too cold, we prioritize mechanic happiness and reschedule all the jobs for the day.
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    Another reason why you really do not want to work outside in Canada in the winter: Metal gets brittle when it is cold. This will lead to tool breakage (health risk) and bolts snapping rather than turning. You really should not work on a car at temperatures < 5C and preferably you should work in a heated garage. Below -10C it qualifies as torture, not work. Being a car mechanic is hard enough on the body when working in the best possible setting.
- pbhjpbhj 10y ago
  >Just thinking of handling steel tools with un-gloved hands // Nearly all the mechanics I see working now in the UK have gloves, tight fitting "latex" ones. I suspect it's in part to do with evidence suggesting used engine oil is strong carcinogen, and also because most garages have open fronts here. There are plenty of other fluids knocking around you don't really want to be in contact with a lot; also even light latex gloves will stop some scuffs and nicks. I've used them myself occasionally, when it's very cold (just above 0degC/freezing) they help a lot. Gloves seem more common the more expensive the service is too, so it might be a company mandated 'health and safety' protection.

overcast 10y ago

Let's get serious for a moment here. Beyond relatively simple home garage fixes, how do you plan on addressing larger issues that a mobile service could never handle. Something that requires a lift for example? Exhausts, transmission, basically anything under the body. Are teams available? How did you handle mounting / balancing with TireSwap?

Danihan 10y ago
The mechanic shows up in a tow truck.
- khallil 10y ago
  None of our technicians drive tow trucks. You can see some of them, and their reviews here: https://www.fiix.io/mechanics https://www.fiix.io/mechanics
- pbhjpbhj 10y ago
  Does anyone make a mobile car lift, like a truck with an embedded hydraulic lift. Seems doable, just not sure if it would be worth selling because you can tow to a lift and that lift would be [much] cheaper?
  - cellularmitosis 10y ago
    Perhaps something like a PODs truck? http://www.merchantcircle.com/pods-peoria-moving-and-storage-peoria-il/picture/view/2845479 http://www.merchantcircle.com/pods-peoria-moving-and-storage...
khallil 10y ago
If the car needs a tow, we'll get it taken to one of our partner shops. So far, we've repaired a few thousand cars and less than 1% have needed a tow. We only contract licensed mechanics with many years of experience, so they can do pretty complex work by jacking up your car on your driveway. When we were running TireSwap we did on rim tire changes and rotations only (summer to winters and vice versa), so no mounting / balancing was needed.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

marginalcodex 10y ago

Hi Khallil, I just sent an email to your About.me account. If that's no longer active, is there another address I can reach you at? Thanks, Daniel

khallil 10y ago
khallil@fiix.io or m.me/km

pmcollins 10y ago

Here's what I want: To take my car to a gleaming, state of the art repair facility with every tool I could ever need, staffed by auto mechanic "coaches" who will help me repair my car myself.

chpmrc 10y ago
This is incredible! I have just thought about doing the same thing with chefs. As in: you order a (not the Michelin-star kind) chef who'll come to your house and teach you how to cook some tasty meal, without worrying about buying ingredients, tools etc. We learn from plumbers and technicians, why not learn from chefs?
- spinlock 10y ago
  Friend of a friend launched kitchit that did almost this. You should check them out and figure out why they shut down.
- overcast 10y ago
  There was a few offerings around this idea in the past few years. Kithensurfing being another one of them. They've all burned out due to lack of demand. http://www.eater.com/2015/12/7/9852106/kitchensurfing-private-chef-app-uber#344516917 http://www.eater.com/2015/12/7/9852106/kitchensurfing-privat... Pretty much explains it.
  - chpmrc 10y ago
    Ouch. Duly noted. :)
packeted 10y ago
These places do exist, I worked on friend's car at an awesome place called Lifted in Fremont. They had all the tools you could want and a knowledge crew to get you out of sticky situations. It looks like there are a few other places throughout the Bay Area too. I think the challenge was inexperienced people coming in and underestimating the task they were taking on or screwing things up and having to leave their cars at the shop for what was originally a day job.

mtreis86 10y ago

What have the legalities been like for you to do this in Canada? As a mechanic in the USA (ASE a decade ago) I was told multiple times that repairs cannot be at a customer's residence due to both EPA regulations on fluid contamination and various local or state zoning ordinances.

emodendroket 10y ago
Well I guess the Silicon Valley way is to start a company that flagrantly violates the law and then lobby until it's made legal.
- sporkmonger 10y ago
  Give Pruitt a few weeks. :-P
deleted 10y ago
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mattsolm 10y ago

This looks exactly like YourMechanic (also YC company), with a far less refined product. Actually there is no product. It is just a chat interface. Also, your pages seem to be broken; for example: https://www.fiix.io/estimates/Audi/A4/Coolant-Flush-cost https://www.fiix.io/estimates/Audi/A4/Coolant-Flush-cost shows estimate of $0. In fact almost all the Audi A4 estimate pages have $0 (at least all the ones i opened). What exactly would you say is the differentiating factor, other than the fact that they don't service Canada?

redstallion 10y ago
+1, this type of business suffers from the same problems that an Uber for $x would have. The moment YourMechanic were to expand to Toronto and undercut the competition, they would corner the market. Because there's very little human touch to the mobile mechanic business model in addition to how infrequent one would use Fiix, people are in no way swayed on picking between YourMechanic or this - it all comes down to price competition. I would definitely not invest in this product, especially because it's based in the Greater Toronto Area (for similar reasons why Instacart started in tech-savvy cities like New York and San Francisco instead of most of the GTA which is suburbia - for one to grow the seed for such modern apps, they should plant them in the most forward-thinking communities).
- ttaubkin 10y ago
  Is it not suspicious that both mattsolm and redstallion were created minutes before these comments were made. And both focus on promoting YourMechanic. It's okay to have competition, no need to be shady about it.

brazzledazzle 10y ago

I was legitimately disappointed that I couldn't use this today (US/California). Is there any way I can signup for a notification when you expand to my area? Congrats on the launch!

elmar 10y ago

forget the mechanics thing, just do a snapchat channel you guys rock it on social media.

saidmasoud 10y ago

Any plans to go international, particularly state side?

dbot 10y ago

How do you avoid the issue that home cleaning companies encountered? Namely, once they use your service to create a relationship, the customer can contact the mechanic directly and cut you out?

dbg31415 10y ago

It just seems really ghetto to have someone come to my house to do the work. Trying to get a sense for who would use this... I already have a mechanic I trust, he's less than 5 minutes away from my house... and I can just drop my car off and pick it up when I'm done. Do a lot of other people not have preferred mechanics already? Also doing car repair in the driveway or on the street -- in many neighborhoods this would be a violation of the HOA agreement. We aren't allowed to do vehicle repair anywhere visible from the street (so like my garage door would have to be closed in order to avoid an HOA fine). Just seems sketch... My AC goes out and I'm going to call some guy in a van to come put a new one in? Can he change my oil? Recharge my AC? What about spills and leaks, who cleans that up if it gets on my driveway or lawn? For a variety of reasons, mechanic shops better suited for this sort of work. Is this even kosher with the EPA? Edit: Looked at the site... wiper replacement and battery replacement were some services offered. Yup... got it, I'm not the target audience for this.

emodendroket 10y ago
> Edit: Looked at the site... wiper replacement and battery replacement were some services offered. Yup... got it, I'm not the target audience for this. I feel like even the least car-savvy person on Earth can figure out how to change their own windshield wipers.
- wapz 10y ago
  I'm hoping that mos people who pay for windshield wiper replacements get it bundled. Let's say they don't want to leave their house to get an oil change (and are too lazy to do it themselves). They go to the site and request an oil change. Then they remember their wipers are going bad and don't want to pick them up or order them online. So they just pay the extra $5-$20 or whatever the company charges to have the mechanic replace it for them.
  - emodendroket 10y ago
    I guess that makes sense. I think I bought them from a mechanic once, when I was getting the state test and they said the ones I had wouldn't pass.

emodendroket 10y ago

Why would someone choose this service for basic stuff over something like AAA? For more complex stuff, do you really want "just some guy" showing up and doing the work on your driveway?

cellularmitosis 10y ago

I just tried "Brakes to go" today for the first time (basically your model, but only for brakes), and I am now totally sold on this idea. Granted, Brakes to go has a much simpler problem to solve (much easier for them to just show up with every possible part they could need to replace, then figure out what they need on-site), but I see no reason you couldn't expand their idea in similar ways (perhaps dedicated mechanics with rigs dedicated for specific jobs). Judging by the Yelp reviews for Brakes to go in Austin, I'm definitely not the only one enamores with this idea. Best of luck!

getchamba 10y ago

Are you providing a warranty on the work completed?

nautical 10y ago

A related article trending on HN couple of months back https://medium.com/@afarrington/ycombinator-backed-fiix-io-is-a-scam-f90584231a0e#.r3jq8vru4 https://medium.com/@afarrington/ycombinator-backed-fiix-io-i...

mrbill 10y ago

Sounds similar to yourmechanic.com, which I've used a couple of years ago - although you have to schedule an appointment, versus 3-hour service. Had them replace my alternator (I'd had AAA tow the car back to my driveway) and the guy showed up early, did good work, and had it ready to go within an hour. Cost me $200, but it was a lot more convenient than having the car towed elsewhere and then getting the work done.

alangibson 10y ago

How do you deal with local ordinances? This shadetree mechanic thing is illegal in a lot of municipalities and is forbidden in every apartment lease contract I ever signed in Texas.

cCWS 10y ago

Thank you!!