11 ms·

YourMechanic (YC W12) launches in South Bay (at TC Disrupt)

58 points by artag 14y ago

ujeezy 14y ago
Another very happy customer here! My car wouldn't start one day, and after determining that it wasn't a dead battery, I was dreading the nightmare/cost of having it towed to a shop. Fortunately, I remembered YourMechanic from when they were working out of the Hacker Dojo. I gave them a call, and a mechanic arrived within 30 minutes. He did an amazing job patiently troubleshooting different components in the engine and electrical system before determining the problem (busted ignition), implementing a temporary fix (new fuse), and helping me understand what we'd have to do for permanent fix. One particularly awesome thing about my experience was that my mechanic (his name's Whitney, if you ever need to make an appointment) explained everything he was doing each step of the way. I learned more in about 45 minutes than in all my years referencing manuals/forums/friends. I'd never expected to be delighted by an auto repair/maintenance experience, but these guys proved me wrong. I expect them to do very well.
- orangethirty 14y ago
  You think finding good engineers with people skills is hard? Try finding mechanics who can talk to people. Good luck. Whitney is one in a million. Plus, a lot of mechanics out there will go ahead and ask the ladies out with no regard to marital status (either of them).
jayliew 14y ago
I'm a happy customer - congrats on the launch! :)
- artag 14y ago
  Thanks for being an awesome customer! :)
  - samstave 14y ago
    Hi, I really need your services as of the other day! But I live in Alameda - will you service my? My car broke down, and its the only car we have - my wife is a stay at home mom and I bike to work and we have been trying to figure out the best way to deal with the car issue and as a long time HNer - I would far prefer to try and support your startup than randomly call unknowns and have the thing towed some place.
    - artag 14y ago
      Sam - please email me at art@yourmechanic.com and please let me know what type of car it is. I will check with our mechanics to see which one can drive up there.
femto 14y ago
Is the idea of a mobile mechanic new in the US? Lube Mobile [1] has been in Australia for at least 25 years and has spawned a bunch of local copies. I'm not knocking YourMechanic, but I find it interesting that the idea hasn't made it to the US earlier than this. Is there some difference to Lube Mobile that I am missing? [1] http://www.lubemobile.com.au/ http://www.lubemobile.com.au/
- artag 14y ago
  yea. it is similar. one immediately visible difference is that we don't provide vans to mechanics. also, we have a full pricing engine online (unlike lube mobile) which allows us to ensure that people are getting fair prices. Its totally transparent. You can see mechanics reviews, fair labor time, parts info etc - all without calling us!
tptacek 14y ago
I am very surprised that there's so much work mechanics can do without a lift. One very obvious thing I'm sure YM considered was used car inspections; having a place I could sign up on a website to have a potential used car inspected would be killer.
- iyulaev 14y ago
  With a jack, some stands, and some ingenuity, you'd be surprised what can get done :) Honestly for many cars there's not many jobs that require a lift. Even an engine swap can be done with a crane and some clever-ness/swearing. Granted working on an MR car (or poorly-designed front engine) may require dropping the engine out the bottom, but most cars you can get to most everything without lifting the car up more than a foot or so.
  - ChuckMcM 14y ago
    You forgot "... and a front yard." I was surprised when I moved from Los Angeles where working on a car in front of the house was not unusual, to Sunnyvale where there was as specific rule that said you could not work on your car on your front yard. Your driveway was ok, but not on the street (except for temporary repairs) but not on your lawn. The claim was that it prevented toxic chemicals from entering the water table. Most folks seemed to thing it was to avoid the 'blight' of people leaving cars up on blocks in front of their house. Oh, and in case you're wondering there is also a rule that your lawn can't be more than 50% concrete :-)
    - iyulaev 14y ago
      "I'm curious as to how they handle fuel spillage and if they have to reschedule in inclement weather." My assumptions - Fuel spillage - For oil, lay down a tarp or a tray. Gasoline, otoh, evaporates very quickly, even faster than water. No evidence, no problem. Inclement weather - use a tarp, put on a coat, or just HTFU.
      - Anechoic 14y ago
iyulaev 14y ago
Question - how do you deal with private lots that prohibit people working on their cars? I know my community has restrictions against this - I've never run into it myself doing simple things like checking oil level and such but I wouldn't attempt a major service like timing belt replacement in my community (hence why I find a friend's driveway to do such work in :-P). How does YM work around this?
- artag 14y ago
  we have run into a couple of those situations. There is not a whole lot we can do at this point. :(
jonchris 14y ago
NOn sense idea. Only lazy people would use this service. Yelp is superset of all these bogus projects. Think differently.
jonchris 14y ago
NOn sense idea. Only lazy people would use this service. Yelp is superset of all these bogus projects. Think differently.
joshu 14y ago
Woohoo! I am an investor in this one - I love the idea.
abbasmehdi 14y ago
Another happy customer here. What really surprised me about YM was they told me upfront how much a service would cost and while getting the service came the most pleasent surprise of all, the mechanic said I did not need front brakes, just the rear, and the quote YM gave originally was chopped in half! And finally, the guy was so nice and friendly, it felt like you were dealing with the owner. And before I got the YM service I did call the dealer and a few other shops. The dealer would not quote me a price until I brought the car in, had the wheels taken off and "inspected", this despite the fact that I told him I need a quote for replacing all four brakes and rotors on car type x - it was such a turn-off. Especially when I asked what the inspection would cost - $150 if I don't get it serviced there. Really glad to see a company improving my experience, saving me time, and saving me money on a chore I don't enjoy.
- artag 14y ago
  dude! thank you for sharing your story and being an awesome customer! we used the photo you took in our TC disrupt presentation :)
  - abbasmehdi 14y ago
    Royalty check, please! ;-)
lacker 14y ago
I would love this service, just wish it was available in my area. Good luck and hope you expand soon!
chrsstrm 14y ago
I used to work with a mechanic that did this and even now I own a site that collects requests in an east coast city and forwards them to some local mechanics I have an arrangement with. It's a great idea and people absolutely love it. Every tool needed is in the mechanics mobile shop, usually an outfitted van, and even fluid collection and disposal is not an issue. The problem is permits and insurance. These expense take a nice chunk out of any margin you have set up that keeps your prices competitive. The other issue is scaling. Mechanics will not work for per-job pay, they all want hourly. Putting a crew with a mobile unit on standby and waiting for a job is very inefficient if you have to pay them while they wait. While YM may have figured out how to make it scale as one large organization, it would be much better to build a marketplace where qualified independent mechanics compete for jobs as they come in, with work certified and backed by YM - like the Uber model.
- artag 14y ago
  it is like that model. the only difference is that we dont ask our mechanics to compete. we set the fair price for them so that there is no bidding.
  - chrsstrm 14y ago
    So then how do you schedule them if they don't compete? Is this more of a "fill your spare capacity" setup or do they work certain shifts? Also, what is your average response time? Same day or scheduled in advance? I don't really mean to reveal all your secret sauce, but since I dealt with this stuff for a couple months I'm curious. The mechanic I worked with wanted to go big time but my partner and I decided he wasn't a good fit to run an operation at that scale.
    - artag 14y ago
      mechanic set their own time. response time really depends on how busy they are. we don't promise a response time yet. our mechanics use our mobile app to do all their scheduling. it is really fill your spare capacity model (work on weekends, evenings, free days during week) etc.
orangethirty 14y ago
I wish these guys the best of luck. But, as someone who operated the same kind of business successfully for a long time, I have to say that their work is cut out for them. You think people are hard to deal with when it comes to computers? Its 100X worse with cars. Computers are cheap, and relatively easy to replace/repair. Now cars, well, good luck with that. The biggest issue in this market are the clients trying to get money out of you for stuff you didnt break. Day in/da out. Its tiring. Reapir shops also go through the same deal, that is why most shops turn into assholes. People make mechanics lose faith in humanity. If any of the yourmechanic.com guys is reading, shoot me an email. I ll gladly talk about what difficulties I had. maybe Ill save you some time/money.
- marquis 14y ago
  This is a good opportunity for YM to educate their customers. I have a great mechanic who I trust and bears with me when I ask exactly what is going on. We built a relationship based on him educating me. YM could do the same for it's customers. Your cam belt needs repairing? Why exactly? Your wheels needs alignment? Why exactly? Keep a dossier on the car and what's going on and your customers are happier and have less to complain about when they get hit with a $2k upgrade because your car is 15 years old and you can't get a used radiator for your model.
  - bigiain 14y ago
    "Your cam belt needs repairing? Why exactly?" I know this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigiain/6110973521/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigiain/6110973521/
  - orangethirty 14y ago
    Your and your mechanic are rare. Most people dont even stop to listen to what their mechanic says. They just complain how expensive things are, never bothering to find out why it happened.
swampthing 14y ago
Satisfied customer here - the difference between YM and the old way of doing things is night and day. If you live in the area and value your time, you really owe it to yourself to try them out.
- artag 14y ago
  super appreciate your support :)
  - heretohelp 14y ago
    Will you guys do motorcycles? If so, between you guys and Instacart, I'll be living like a Persian prince.
oakenshield 14y ago
Yet another satisfied customer here, and to me, one of the huge advantages of YM is that the mechanic comes to you... no more worrying about how to get your vehicle to a shop, whether you will make it there by closing to pick it back up, which of your friends to bug to give you a ride, etc.
dools 14y ago
Wow as soon as I saw this the Lube Mobile ad and phone number (13 13 32) popped into my head immediately (I'm in Australia). Who said TV advertising is dead?!
vectran 14y ago
The use of 'contractors' is interesting (following on from Exec, iCracked, TaskRabbit etc.) Perhaps this is the future of employment - providing more flexibility to both the firm and the individual? As well as this the mobility of the contractors is really fascinating. The internet has really started to disrupt the need for retail-service premises; think of print shops (Printing.com), computer repairers (iCracked), florists (1-800 Flowers), real estate agencies (Redfin), education (ie TutorSpree). Interesting to see what verticals remain untapped. I wonder the implications of completely opening up these sort of platforms entirely - ie allowing 'anyone' to complete a car repair job. [Obviously in the case of YourMechanic there are warranty implications :P]

58 points by artag 14y ago

Another very happy customer here! My car wouldn't start one day, and after determining that it wasn't a dead battery, I was dreading the nightmare/cost of having it towed to a shop. Fortunately, I remembered YourMechanic from when they were working out of the Hacker Dojo. I gave them a call, and a mechanic arrived within 30 minutes. He did an amazing job patiently troubleshooting different components in the engine and electrical system before determining the problem (busted ignition), implementing a temporary fix (new fuse), and helping me understand what we'd have to do for permanent fix. One particularly awesome thing about my experience was that my mechanic (his name's Whitney, if you ever need to make an appointment) explained everything he was doing each step of the way. I learned more in about 45 minutes than in all my years referencing manuals/forums/friends. I'd never expected to be delighted by an auto repair/maintenance experience, but these guys proved me wrong. I expect them to do very well.

orangethirty 14y ago
You think finding good engineers with people skills is hard? Try finding mechanics who can talk to people. Good luck. Whitney is one in a million. Plus, a lot of mechanics out there will go ahead and ask the ladies out with no regard to marital status (either of them).

jayliew 14y ago

I'm a happy customer - congrats on the launch! :)

artag 14y ago
Thanks for being an awesome customer! :)
- samstave 14y ago
  Hi, I really need your services as of the other day! But I live in Alameda - will you service my? My car broke down, and its the only car we have - my wife is a stay at home mom and I bike to work and we have been trying to figure out the best way to deal with the car issue and as a long time HNer - I would far prefer to try and support your startup than randomly call unknowns and have the thing towed some place.
  - artag 14y ago
    Sam - please email me at art@yourmechanic.com and please let me know what type of car it is. I will check with our mechanics to see which one can drive up there.

femto 14y ago

Is the idea of a mobile mechanic new in the US? Lube Mobile [1] has been in Australia for at least 25 years and has spawned a bunch of local copies. I'm not knocking YourMechanic, but I find it interesting that the idea hasn't made it to the US earlier than this. Is there some difference to Lube Mobile that I am missing? [1] http://www.lubemobile.com.au/ http://www.lubemobile.com.au/

artag 14y ago
yea. it is similar. one immediately visible difference is that we don't provide vans to mechanics. also, we have a full pricing engine online (unlike lube mobile) which allows us to ensure that people are getting fair prices. Its totally transparent. You can see mechanics reviews, fair labor time, parts info etc - all without calling us!

tptacek 14y ago

I am very surprised that there's so much work mechanics can do without a lift. One very obvious thing I'm sure YM considered was used car inspections; having a place I could sign up on a website to have a potential used car inspected would be killer.

iyulaev 14y ago
With a jack, some stands, and some ingenuity, you'd be surprised what can get done :) Honestly for many cars there's not many jobs that require a lift. Even an engine swap can be done with a crane and some clever-ness/swearing. Granted working on an MR car (or poorly-designed front engine) may require dropping the engine out the bottom, but most cars you can get to most everything without lifting the car up more than a foot or so.
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  You forgot "... and a front yard." I was surprised when I moved from Los Angeles where working on a car in front of the house was not unusual, to Sunnyvale where there was as specific rule that said you could not work on your car on your front yard. Your driveway was ok, but not on the street (except for temporary repairs) but not on your lawn. The claim was that it prevented toxic chemicals from entering the water table. Most folks seemed to thing it was to avoid the 'blight' of people leaving cars up on blocks in front of their house. Oh, and in case you're wondering there is also a rule that your lawn can't be more than 50% concrete :-)
  - iyulaev 14y ago
    "I'm curious as to how they handle fuel spillage and if they have to reschedule in inclement weather." My assumptions - Fuel spillage - For oil, lay down a tarp or a tray. Gasoline, otoh, evaporates very quickly, even faster than water. No evidence, no problem. Inclement weather - use a tarp, put on a coat, or just HTFU.
    - Anechoic 14y ago

iyulaev 14y ago

Question - how do you deal with private lots that prohibit people working on their cars? I know my community has restrictions against this - I've never run into it myself doing simple things like checking oil level and such but I wouldn't attempt a major service like timing belt replacement in my community (hence why I find a friend's driveway to do such work in :-P). How does YM work around this?

artag 14y ago
we have run into a couple of those situations. There is not a whole lot we can do at this point. :(

jonchris 14y ago

NOn sense idea. Only lazy people would use this service. Yelp is superset of all these bogus projects. Think differently.

jonchris 14y ago

NOn sense idea. Only lazy people would use this service. Yelp is superset of all these bogus projects. Think differently.

joshu 14y ago

Woohoo! I am an investor in this one - I love the idea.

abbasmehdi 14y ago

Another happy customer here. What really surprised me about YM was they told me upfront how much a service would cost and while getting the service came the most pleasent surprise of all, the mechanic said I did not need front brakes, just the rear, and the quote YM gave originally was chopped in half! And finally, the guy was so nice and friendly, it felt like you were dealing with the owner. And before I got the YM service I did call the dealer and a few other shops. The dealer would not quote me a price until I brought the car in, had the wheels taken off and "inspected", this despite the fact that I told him I need a quote for replacing all four brakes and rotors on car type x - it was such a turn-off. Especially when I asked what the inspection would cost - $150 if I don't get it serviced there. Really glad to see a company improving my experience, saving me time, and saving me money on a chore I don't enjoy.

artag 14y ago
dude! thank you for sharing your story and being an awesome customer! we used the photo you took in our TC disrupt presentation :)
- abbasmehdi 14y ago
  Royalty check, please! ;-)

lacker 14y ago

I would love this service, just wish it was available in my area. Good luck and hope you expand soon!

chrsstrm 14y ago

I used to work with a mechanic that did this and even now I own a site that collects requests in an east coast city and forwards them to some local mechanics I have an arrangement with. It's a great idea and people absolutely love it. Every tool needed is in the mechanics mobile shop, usually an outfitted van, and even fluid collection and disposal is not an issue. The problem is permits and insurance. These expense take a nice chunk out of any margin you have set up that keeps your prices competitive. The other issue is scaling. Mechanics will not work for per-job pay, they all want hourly. Putting a crew with a mobile unit on standby and waiting for a job is very inefficient if you have to pay them while they wait. While YM may have figured out how to make it scale as one large organization, it would be much better to build a marketplace where qualified independent mechanics compete for jobs as they come in, with work certified and backed by YM - like the Uber model.

artag 14y ago
it is like that model. the only difference is that we dont ask our mechanics to compete. we set the fair price for them so that there is no bidding.
- chrsstrm 14y ago
  So then how do you schedule them if they don't compete? Is this more of a "fill your spare capacity" setup or do they work certain shifts? Also, what is your average response time? Same day or scheduled in advance? I don't really mean to reveal all your secret sauce, but since I dealt with this stuff for a couple months I'm curious. The mechanic I worked with wanted to go big time but my partner and I decided he wasn't a good fit to run an operation at that scale.
  - artag 14y ago
    mechanic set their own time. response time really depends on how busy they are. we don't promise a response time yet. our mechanics use our mobile app to do all their scheduling. it is really fill your spare capacity model (work on weekends, evenings, free days during week) etc.

orangethirty 14y ago

I wish these guys the best of luck. But, as someone who operated the same kind of business successfully for a long time, I have to say that their work is cut out for them. You think people are hard to deal with when it comes to computers? Its 100X worse with cars. Computers are cheap, and relatively easy to replace/repair. Now cars, well, good luck with that. The biggest issue in this market are the clients trying to get money out of you for stuff you didnt break. Day in/da out. Its tiring. Reapir shops also go through the same deal, that is why most shops turn into assholes. People make mechanics lose faith in humanity. If any of the yourmechanic.com guys is reading, shoot me an email. I ll gladly talk about what difficulties I had. maybe Ill save you some time/money.

marquis 14y ago
This is a good opportunity for YM to educate their customers. I have a great mechanic who I trust and bears with me when I ask exactly what is going on. We built a relationship based on him educating me. YM could do the same for it's customers. Your cam belt needs repairing? Why exactly? Your wheels needs alignment? Why exactly? Keep a dossier on the car and what's going on and your customers are happier and have less to complain about when they get hit with a $2k upgrade because your car is 15 years old and you can't get a used radiator for your model.
- bigiain 14y ago
  "Your cam belt needs repairing? Why exactly?" I know this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigiain/6110973521/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigiain/6110973521/
- orangethirty 14y ago
  Your and your mechanic are rare. Most people dont even stop to listen to what their mechanic says. They just complain how expensive things are, never bothering to find out why it happened.

swampthing 14y ago

Satisfied customer here - the difference between YM and the old way of doing things is night and day. If you live in the area and value your time, you really owe it to yourself to try them out.

artag 14y ago
super appreciate your support :)
- heretohelp 14y ago
  Will you guys do motorcycles? If so, between you guys and Instacart, I'll be living like a Persian prince.

oakenshield 14y ago

Yet another satisfied customer here, and to me, one of the huge advantages of YM is that the mechanic comes to you... no more worrying about how to get your vehicle to a shop, whether you will make it there by closing to pick it back up, which of your friends to bug to give you a ride, etc.

dools 14y ago

Wow as soon as I saw this the Lube Mobile ad and phone number (13 13 32) popped into my head immediately (I'm in Australia). Who said TV advertising is dead?!

vectran 14y ago

The use of 'contractors' is interesting (following on from Exec, iCracked, TaskRabbit etc.) Perhaps this is the future of employment - providing more flexibility to both the firm and the individual? As well as this the mobility of the contractors is really fascinating. The internet has really started to disrupt the need for retail-service premises; think of print shops (Printing.com), computer repairers (iCracked), florists (1-800 Flowers), real estate agencies (Redfin), education (ie TutorSpree). Interesting to see what verticals remain untapped. I wonder the implications of completely opening up these sort of platforms entirely - ie allowing 'anyone' to complete a car repair job. [Obviously in the case of YourMechanic there are warranty implications :P]