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

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

#51

Post by peckrob »

pmcollins wrote: post #25

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.

These actually do exist! Do a Google search for "self service garage" or "DIY garage" to see if there's one near your location. You may have to hunt around a bit as some of these places may not have websites. The one in my town [0], for instance, only has a Facebook page.

[0] https://www.facebook.com/pg/The-Pit-Stop-DIY-Garage-45343608...

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

#55

Post by redstallion »

doctorcroc wrote: post #20
ArifBhanji wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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 marketpla…

There's a reason why people have pointed out the flaws of this model for a while now: https://www.quora.com/How-is-YourMechanic-doing-lately/answe...

'But the flaw is this: "All you need to provide is a driveway or parking space where the mechanic can work"

I feel any decent mechanic will not work under these conditions. It is unreasonable to think good quality work can be done without a properly outfitted shop.'

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

#56

Post by redstallion »

mattsolm wrote: post #50

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 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…

+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).

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

#57

Post by redstallion »

overcast wrote: post #38
dwynings wrote: post #33

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

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.

+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).

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

#58

Post by warcher »

redstallion wrote: post #55
doctorcroc wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 marketpla…

There's a reason why people have pointed out the flaws of this model for a while now: https://www.quora.com/How-is-YourMechanic-doing-lately/answe... 'But the flaw is this: "All you need to provide is a driveway or parking space where the mechanic can work" I feel any decent mechanic will not work under these conditions. It is unreasonable to think good quality work can be done without a properly outfitted shop.'

They do limit the jobs they're willing to take on, and you'd be amazed at the work you can do with a good set of socket wrenches, a nice hydraulic jack, and maybe one of those ODB2 readers to talk to the computer.

I think if they got into professionally evaluating used cars alone it'd be a pretty useful service. Buying a used car, boom, send out a mechanic before you hand over the cash.

Does seem like it'd wind up being expensive relative to say, a Jiffy Lube, which seems like it's on a roughly equivalent level of service. Another one of those startups marking up service industry conveniences for the affluent. (That's not a value judgment, it's just a familiar business model.)

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

#60

Post by dbg31415 »

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.

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