Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt • Hacker News Board

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#51

Post by Gustomaximus » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 8:16 AM UTC

goggles99 wrote: post #47

noonespecial wrote: post #35

I'm just wondering here: Might it be hard to find a mechanic like this in February in Minneapolis?

This is the same thought that came to my head. Weather conditions would certainly cause a problem. Heat, rain, snow. How could a mechanic come to your office and do work on your car 2/3 of the year? the conditions won't permit it. I suppose if everyone lived in San Diego, CA things would work out great though. I suppose that the mechanic could come pick up your car at work and drive it to their garage/shelter - then…

It could be problematic on the keys swap-over as you would still meet up. Though this just got me thinking, wouldn't having your mobiles RFID/NFC also do car entry & startup be cool! That must be in the works somewhere.

Alternatly some mechanics offer courtesy cars, so you can stay on the road while your car is being fixed.

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#52

Post by ebiester » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 9:31 AM UTC

goggles99 wrote: post #48

Just checked Your Mechanic. $40 for an oil change? no thanks. Not worth the convenience. It will fail at these prices.

I'll pay it. I don't have to take my car to a mechanic? That saves me an hour. The extra 10 dollars is an acceptable convenience charge.

(Now, I know you think, everyone can just change their own oil! But for those of us who are apartment dwellers without space for all of the tools? We're a bit stuck. That's not counting the places where we aren't allowed to change our own oil -- I'm not sure how Your Mechanic will work around this.

I'm more worried they won't be able to get the density required to make this worthwhile in the first place.

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#53

Post by rish_cloudmagic » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 10:05 AM UTC

Congratulations to them. Does seem like an age old industry to 'disrupt'

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#54

Post by prawn » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 10:39 AM UTC

Are mobile mechanics a new thing in the US or is this different? Lubemobile here in Australia has been around for 30 years and I'm sure there are competitors.

Is it just the collation and quoting that's novel?

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#55

Post by pawelwentpawel » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 10:48 AM UTC

sinak wrote: post #22

For reference, the other finalists were: Lit Motors (runner up): http://litmotors.com/ Expect Labs: http://www.expectlabs.com/ Gyft: http://www.gyft.com/ Prior Knowledge: https://www.priorknowledge.com/ Saya: http://www.saya.im/ Zumper: http://zumper.com

Watching Lit Motors presentation definitely gave me the "I want one" face expression. I hope to see some of their vehicles on the street one day. The video in which their creation is being hit by a jeep was very impressive too.

Zumper gave a very good pitch too. They went straight to the point, showed a product that works well and solves the problem that I'm currently having. "Neighbourhood preview" is a great idea and I'm eager to see them starting it in London. Finding a good flat (browsing through all the scams and incomplete craiglisty ads) over there is a challenge!

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#56

Post by ry0ohki » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 11:40 AM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #36

hartror wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: deleted comment I replied to was saying two of the judges were investors in the company. Wow really? If that is the case how can they not have received favorable treatment? Even with the best of intentions those judges must be intimate with every aspect of the business and would be unable to separate that knowledge from what the other judges are basing their decisions on. I know the TC bias bashing is a bit of…

Funding announcement[1] includes SV Angel (David Lee) and CrunchFund (Mike Arrington). Not sure the best way to handle this when you're trying to get the best judges and most promising startups. But it does smell. 1: http://www.pehub.com/165503/do-publish/

No surprise, CrunchFund was also a funder in Shaker before it won last year.

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#57

Post by brianbreslin » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 11:53 AM UTC

I was talking about this idea with my friend who is a master mechanic for GM, and he didn't like the idea. His reasons were:

- Working on someone's pavement outside is awful

- Car falls off the lift hurts mechanic, its homeowner's fault

- Oil and chemical disposal isn't accounted for

- People usually don't properly diagnose their problem, so you wouldn't have most parts ready.

- Most luxury dealerships will pickup and drop off your car for service in major metro areas. (his dealership picks up as far as 3 hours drive away)

His other suggestion was to build a barbershop model whereby the independent shop owner rents the repair bays to independent mechanics.

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#58

Post by swah » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 12:03 PM UTC

sinak wrote: post #22

For reference, the other finalists were: Lit Motors (runner up): http://litmotors.com/ Expect Labs: http://www.expectlabs.com/ Gyft: http://www.gyft.com/ Prior Knowledge: https://www.priorknowledge.com/ Saya: http://www.saya.im/ Zumper: http://zumper.com

Kinda OT, but how are companies usign Google Maps? Isn't it very easy to outgrow its limits?

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#59

Post by soup10 » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 12:09 PM UTC

exue wrote: post #20

The pitch may be a bit awkward and I can't attest to the quality of other contestants, but I have a good impression overall from Your Mechanic. Car repair is heavily stuck in the 20th-century model of businesses. Individual shops open from 8am to 5pm, you want to find someone good? Without Yelp you're basically relying on word of mouth to not get ripped off, or Yellow Pages. The main form of contact is calling mechan…

Wow, is there anything google doesn't offer as a benefit? Something strikes me as odd about a Corp that has it's tentacles involved in so many aspects of daily life. Why not just offer higher salaries? Seems like all the perks are designed to make you feel dependent on google, make it inconvenient to leave, and live a lifestyle that benefits google. That's probably just my tinfoil hat speaking though. Just seems a bit creepy to be dependent on your employer for so many everyday things.

Re: Your Mechanic (YC W12) Wins TC Disrupt

#60

Post by leoedin » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 12:58 PM UTC

brianbreslin wrote: post #57

I was talking about this idea with my friend who is a master mechanic for GM, and he didn't like the idea. His reasons were: - Working on someone's pavement outside is awful - Car falls off the lift hurts mechanic, its homeowner's fault - Oil and chemical disposal isn't accounted for - People usually don't properly diagnose their problem, so you wouldn't have most parts ready. - Most luxury dealerships will pickup an…

The "working on the pavement" point is spot on. If you've ever tried to do anything more than a simple job on a car without a good set of tools and a car lift, then you'll be completely aware of how horrible it can be.

For small jobs (change the brake pads, change the oil), this might make sense (but they're not the kind of job you tend to get ripped off on). For large jobs (change the clutch without good access?) it would simply be horrible for the mechanic.

There's a reason everyone who works on their own cars desires a pit or car lift.