Hi all.
I am currently looking into setting up as a mobile mechanic in west yorkshire and i am wondering what people are paying now?
If people could give me an idea of their location, type of mechanic they use (mobile, dealer, private) and the hourly rate they charge. Plus any fixed fee jobs like 6 weekly checks and MOT checks it would be much appreciated.
I’m based in Kent, I have my truck serviced by a Renault main dealer, they charge me £65 an hour (the standard rate is £90 an hour but I get a discount), and I pay about £120+ VAT for the six-weekly inspection. I’m not sure about MOT prep but I’m getting this done at the end of the month so I’ll let you know then.
I’m somewhere in Yorkshire and paying £35per hour for my maintenance work. 6 week inspection is 1 1/2 hours per item so £57.50 for unit and £57.50 been the fixed cost plus any work that needs carrying out. MOT prep there is no fixed cost just £35 per hour for as long as it takes.
Matt.
Thanks. Thats a huge difference between £35 and £120ph. What is it you guys look for in a mechanic? Whats the most important thing to an owner driver/fleet owner? Cost? Reliabilty? Speed? Flexibility?
rsooty:
Thanks. Thats a huge difference between £35 and £120ph. What is it you guys look for in a mechanic? Whats the most important thing to an owner driver/fleet owner? Cost? Reliabilty? Speed? Flexibility?
A little bit of all you mentioned rolled into one! The garage I use is 50 meters from where I park, with the nearest main dealer 30 miles away. I can leave my outfit in the yard over the weekend and they will pick it up, inspect it then put it back in the yard. They work most Saturday’s and also have their own wrecker should I breakdown and have to be towed in. Good lads who you can actually watch working on your wagon rather than being directed to a drivers room to stare at 4 walls or listen to the drivel of an overworked, underpaid tramp. Overall I’m happy with the service arrangements!
Matt.
xfmatt:
rsooty:
Thanks. Thats a huge difference between £35 and £120ph. What is it you guys look for in a mechanic? Whats the most important thing to an owner driver/fleet owner? Cost? Reliabilty? Speed? Flexibility?A little bit of all you mentioned rolled into one! The garage I use is 50 meters from where I park, with the nearest main dealer 30 miles away. I can leave my outfit in the yard over the weekend and they will pick it up, inspect it then put it back in the yard. They work most Saturday’s and also have their own wrecker should I breakdown and have to be towed in. Good lads who you can actually watch working on your wagon rather than being directed to a drivers room to stare at 4 walls or listen to the drivel of an overworked, underpaid tramp. Overall I’m happy with the service arrangements!
Matt.
Sounds like its working out well for you. If i decide to go ahead with it i will be working mobile so no drivers rooms. I’d be hoping to offer as much as possible to clients, although engine rebuilds and work needing reprogramming may not be feesable. I’d consider my work to be of a high standard, which I personally feel is more important than rushing a job which may lead to downtime later on. I learnt my trade through the forces so I have plenty of experience of working in all weathers and conditions. Then i have developed my skills at a local haulage firm, working on mainly volvos. I am also a qualified electrician and qualified for thorough examinations on forklifts.
Hopefully what I can offer will be of benefit to some local firms. I will just have to wait and see.
rsooty:
xfmatt:
rsooty:
Thanks. Thats a huge difference between £35 and £120ph. What is it you guys look for in a mechanic? Whats the most important thing to an owner driver/fleet owner? Cost? Reliabilty? Speed? Flexibility?A little bit of all you mentioned rolled into one! The garage I use is 50 meters from where I park, with the nearest main dealer 30 miles away. I can leave my outfit in the yard over the weekend and they will pick it up, inspect it then put it back in the yard. They work most Saturday’s and also have their own wrecker should I breakdown and have to be towed in. Good lads who you can actually watch working on your wagon rather than being directed to a drivers room to stare at 4 walls or listen to the drivel of an overworked, underpaid tramp. Overall I’m happy with the service arrangements!
Matt.
Sounds like its working out well for you. If i decide to go ahead with it i will be working mobile so no drivers rooms. I’d be hoping to offer as much as possible to clients, although engine rebuilds and work needing reprogramming may not be feesable. I’d consider my work to be of a high standard, which I personally feel is more important than rushing a job which may lead to downtime later on. I learnt my trade through the forces so I have plenty of experience of working in all weathers and conditions. Then i have developed my skills at a local haulage firm, working on mainly volvos. I am also a qualified electrician and qualified for thorough examinations on forklifts.
Hopefully what I can offer will be of benefit to some local firms. I will just have to wait and see.
If you get it off the ground mate I’ll take your phone number as do a lot of work in West Yorkshire so may require your services at some point for minor issues/breakdowns.
Matt.
rsooty:
xfmatt:
rsooty:
Thanks. Thats a huge difference between £35 and £120ph. What is it you guys look for in a mechanic? Whats the most important thing to an owner driver/fleet owner? Cost? Reliabilty? Speed? Flexibility?A little bit of all you mentioned rolled into one! The garage I use is 50 meters from where I park, with the nearest main dealer 30 miles away. I can leave my outfit in the yard over the weekend and they will pick it up, inspect it then put it back in the yard. They work most Saturday’s and also have their own wrecker should I breakdown and have to be towed in. Good lads who you can actually watch working on your wagon rather than being directed to a drivers room to stare at 4 walls or listen to the drivel of an overworked, underpaid tramp. Overall I’m happy with the service arrangements!
Matt.
Sounds like its working out well for you. If i decide to go ahead with it i will be working mobile so no drivers rooms. I’d be hoping to offer as much as possible to clients, although engine rebuilds and work needing reprogramming may not be feesable. I’d consider my work to be of a high standard, which I personally feel is more important than rushing a job which may lead to downtime later on. I learnt my trade through the forces so I have plenty of experience of working in all weathers and conditions. Then i have developed my skills at a local haulage firm, working on mainly volvos. I am also a qualified electrician and qualified for thorough examinations on forklifts.
Hopefully what I can offer will be of benefit to some local firms. I will just have to wait and see.
If you get it off the ground mate I’ll take your phone number as do a lot of work in West Yorkshire so may require your services at some point for minor issues/breakdowns.
Matt.
xfmatt:
rsooty:
xfmatt:
rsooty:
Thanks. Thats a huge difference between £35 and £120ph. What is it you guys look for in a mechanic? Whats the most important thing to an owner driver/fleet owner? Cost? Reliabilty? Speed? Flexibility?A little bit of all you mentioned rolled into one! The garage I use is 50 meters from where I park, with the nearest main dealer 30 miles away. I can leave my outfit in the yard over the weekend and they will pick it up, inspect it then put it back in the yard. They work most Saturday’s and also have their own wrecker should I breakdown and have to be towed in. Good lads who you can actually watch working on your wagon rather than being directed to a drivers room to stare at 4 walls or listen to the drivel of an overworked, underpaid tramp. Overall I’m happy with the service arrangements!
Matt.
Sounds like its working out well for you. If i decide to go ahead with it i will be working mobile so no drivers rooms. I’d be hoping to offer as much as possible to clients, although engine rebuilds and work needing reprogramming may not be feesable. I’d consider my work to be of a high standard, which I personally feel is more important than rushing a job which may lead to downtime later on. I learnt my trade through the forces so I have plenty of experience of working in all weathers and conditions. Then i have developed my skills at a local haulage firm, working on mainly volvos. I am also a qualified electrician and qualified for thorough examinations on forklifts.
Hopefully what I can offer will be of benefit to some local firms. I will just have to wait and see.If you get it off the ground mate I’ll take your phone number as do a lot of work in West Yorkshire so may require your services at some point for minor issues/breakdowns.
Matt.
Thanks. Not sure of a time frame yet, considering getting a van and compressor and starting on my days off whilst i build a customer base. I work a 4 on 4 off shift so plenty of time to start part time. I am hoping a might get some freelance work through other workshops as well, but i need to work out some rates before i approach anybody.
I’ve been doing this for nearly 20 years.I’ve found that the ones who make the most fuss about: ‘seeing you all right and paying no problem’, will be the ones who do the dirty on you. If you are going to be doing very little ‘personal’ work then register for VAT from the word go. You will have to weigh up the pros and cons of who pays for the parts. If you pay then you are owed more money which you will have to wait for and just may never get. Working mobile you never have ‘possession’ of the vehicle so you cannot take a lien on anything. If you let the customer pay for the parts there will be two things to watch out for: the customer who was too busy to get around to ordering the bits, so when you turn up to do the job you have lost a day’s work; and the customer who wants you to order them on his account, but who thinks that your time on the phone is free. You will never stop buying equipment to do the job and once you have been going a few years you are going to find it needs renewing. You will really struggle to compete with the offer from dealers to undertake overnight servicing etc with a courtesy van thrown in to get the driver back to the yard. You will also find that some customers won’t bat an eyelid at a bill for £3000 from a dealer, but will raise every objection query etc if you dare to charge £1500 for the same job. I will slightly up my original opinion that you can do anything you like to the vehicle as long as it doesn’t come to more than £200. You are going to be doing this to earn a living and make sufficient profit to reinvest and to reflect the level of financial investment you have in the business. You are going to need at least £10 k in the bank to start off. You wil also want to be working during the day and during the normal working week, so make it very clear that post say 7pm, Saturday and Sunday are at a premium rate. Think very, very carefully about how many chargeable hours you expect to achieve per day and per week - whatever your service manager told you about 100% efficiency or even more was absolute rubbish - you will never manage it. If you can get 6hrs a day for 3 1/2 - 4 days a week to begin with you will be doing well - work your hourly rate out on that assumption.
Above all remember one thing: It is more important to ensure that you get paid quickly for the last job than to do the next one.
Lots more, but that will do for now except to say that they are not paying for what you do, but for what you know.
"I’ll take your phone number as do a lot of work in …so may require your services at some point for minor issues/breakdowns.
Sorry Matt I’m not picking on you. So I would say to the OP: I’ve heard that one so many times, Breakdown cover is for regular customers only.
cav551:
I’ve been doing this for nearly 20 years.I’ve found that the ones who make the most fuss about: ‘seeing you all right and paying no problem’, will be the ones who do the dirty on you. If you are going to be doing very little ‘personal’ work then register for VAT from the word go. You will have to weigh up the pros and cons of who pays for the parts. If you pay then you are owed more money which you will have to wait for and just may never get. Working mobile you never have ‘possession’ of the vehicle so you cannot take a lien on anything. If you let the customer pay for the parts there will be two things to watch out for: the customer who was too busy to get around to ordering the bits, so when you turn up to do the job you have lost a day’s work; and the customer who wants you to order them on his account, but who thinks that your time on the phone is free. You will never stop buying equipment to do the job and once you have been going a few years you are going to find it needs renewing. You will really struggle to compete with the offer from dealers to undertake overnight servicing etc with a courtesy van thrown in to get the driver back to the yard. You will also find that some customers won’t bat an eyelid at a bill for £3000 from a dealer, but will raise every objection query etc if you dare to charge £1500 for the same job. I will slightly up my original opinion that you can do anything you like to the vehicle as long as it doesn’t come to more than £200. You are going to be doing this to earn a living and make sufficient profit to reinvest and to reflect the level of financial investment you have in the business. You are going to need at least £10 k in the bank to start off. You wil also want to be working during the day and during the normal working week, so make it very clear that post say 7pm, Saturday and Sunday are at a premium rate. Think very, very carefully about how many chargeable hours you expect to achieve per day and per week - whatever your service manager told you about 100% efficiency or even more was absolute rubbish - you will never manage it. If you can get 6hrs a day for 3 1/2 - 4 days a week to begin with you will be doing well - work your hourly rate out on that assumption.Above all remember one thing: It is more important to ensure that you get paid quickly for the last job than to do the next one.
Lots more, but that will do for now except to say that they are not paying for what you do, but for what you know.
Thanks for that, some really helpful points. I was struggling to work out an hourly rate so i will use the hours you stated. I have considered charging more for work not paid for on the day, to cover extra costs incurred in chasing payments etc, not sure how it would go down but surely worth a try.
What would you class as priority kit needed to start off?
What hourly rate do you charge? Do you still think its worth it over being employed?
I would certainly say that it is getting harder and harder to do this. One of the biggest problems is getting left behind by the technology, there is so much that you cannot do on a modern vehicle . You haven’t said how old you are or what your family/housing situation is. You will need a lot of support from your partner, not just to go for it, but help with the office side of the job. I was lucky, it took me 10 years to accumulate enough work to make the move realistic. Even luckier, unlike friends who did the same thing I wasn’t dropped like a hot coal as soon as I started charging a professional rate for the job, rather than the weekend wages I had been doing previously. It will be a lot easier for you if you were one of those kids who used to tinker with motorbikes and other people’s cars - natural ability for the job will see you through. If you had to be taught everything from how to hold a hammer onwards then things will be a lot harder.
I started 30 years ago with weekend and evening fairground work while holding down a job in a main dealer. I could do this working from barn door toolboxes out of the back of an estate car, lying in the grass under some 15 year old ruin, trying to avoid rolling over into the inevitable pile of dog’s doo doos which was accompanying me under it. If you go for it now this is a good way to start off while still employed. Again I was lucky the first showman I met introduced me to others, but also assured me that I would never meet anyone through him who was untrustworthy. Thanks Basil.
At about the same time I met a small haulier (Ben) who did night market work with three elderly 16 ton rigids, through him I met two or three farmers with lorries. I no longer do more than the odd job for those farmers, but I still work for Ben’s brother.
I also spent several years working for the largest (at the time) company of mobile HGV fitters in the South of England. I can honestly say I never poached any of their customers all I did was to pay for the fuel, but I did use their equipment.
A long spiel, but hopefully some ideas of one way of getting the experience of S/E work without risking your current full time job. You will however be working for a less than what is needed to support a business.
Not answering your questions I’m sorry. In the South East, as a business £30/hr is considered cheap, you will need more than 40 hrs chargeable a week to make it pay. It is putting the rate up from this once established which will prove to be difficult. You can pick up a new three tonne trolley jack quite cheaply. Melco axle stands won’t cost a fortune. For peace of mind a torque wrench for the wheel nuts would be the first expensive purchase, I went for a 3/4 drive snap off click type - it has always passed calibration without attention being needed and is SO much easier to use than break arm ones. Once full time you will need a van. 3.5tonne high-roof side access door, preferably RWD to start with; but watch the weight you put in it. You will ruin a roll cab in the back of a van, they just can’t put up with the shaking about they get and eventually fall to bits.
cav551:
I would certainly say that it is getting harder and harder to do this. One of the biggest problems is getting left behind by the technology, there is so much that you cannot do on a modern vehicle . You haven’t said how old you are or what your family/housing situation is. You will need a lot of support from your partner, not just to go for it, but help with the office side of the job. I was lucky, it took me 10 years to accumulate enough work to make the move realistic. Even luckier, unlike friends who did the same thing I wasn’t dropped like a hot coal as soon as I started charging a professional rate for the job, rather than the weekend wages I had been doing previously. It will be a lot easier for you if you were one of those kids who used to tinker with motorbikes and other people’s cars - natural ability for the job will see you through. If you had to be taught everything from how to hold a hammer onwards then things will be a lot harder.I started 30 years ago with weekend and evening fairground work while holding down a job in a main dealer. I could do this working from barn door toolboxes out of the back of an estate car, lying in the grass under some 15 year old ruin, trying to avoid rolling over into the inevitable pile of dog’s doo doos which was accompanying me under it. If you go for it now this is a good way to start off while still employed. Again I was lucky the first showman I met introduced me to others, but also assured me that I would never meet anyone through him who was untrustworthy. Thanks Basil.
At about the same time I met a small haulier (Ben) who did night market work with three elderly 16 ton rigids, through him I met two or three farmers with lorries. I no longer do more than the odd job for those farmers, but I still work for Ben’s brother.
I also spent several years working for the largest (at the time) company of mobile HGV fitters in the South of England. I can honestly say I never poached any of their customers all I did was to pay for the fuel, but I did use their equipment.
A long spiel, but hopefully some ideas of one way of getting the experience of S/E work without risking your current full time job. You will however be working for a less than what is needed to support a business.
Not answering your questions I’m sorry. In the South East, as a business £30/hr is considered cheap, you will need more than 40 hrs chargeable a week to make it pay. It is putting the rate up from this once established which will prove to be difficult. You can pick up a new three tonne trolley jack quite cheaply. Melco axle stands won’t cost a fortune. For peace of mind a torque wrench for the wheel nuts would be the first expensive purchase, I went for a 3/4 drive snap off click type - it has always passed calibration without attention being needed and is SO much easier to use than break arm ones. Once full time you will need a van. 3.5tonne high-roof side access door, preferably RWD to start with; but watch the weight you put in it. You will ruin a roll cab in the back of a van, they just can’t put up with the shaking about they get and eventually fall to bits.
Thanks. I’m 29 years old and always picked things up easily, from the mechanical side to the electrical and electronic side. My father is a time served engineer so although i didnt spend much time working on vehicles as a kid, i spent plenty of time with tools in my hand learning how things work. I think this has served me well.
With regards to starting out, i am hoping to start doing some freelance work around other workshops and yards on my days off as i work shifts. I was planning on a new car around this time next year, but now feel it would be around then i would probably get a van instead. There is only so many tools i can fit in my suzuki alto.
Also, can you let me know what overheads i need to consider? I would of thought 40hrs at £30ph would leave a nice wage at the end of the week? £1200 pw gross? I am trying to get quotes at the moment for trade, liability and indemnity insurances. Other than that im assuming fuel, tool and van maintenance, admin time and holiday cover are the only overheads? Or am i missing some major costs?
I am sure others will disagree with my way of working this out, but I have always taken a pessimistic view of how much I can budget to earn. This way I can keep spending in check and not run out of money. I treat things as if I was actually employing someone. There are 36 days a year allocated to holiday entitlement and bank holidays. I then assume a few day sickness - you can work with a cold, but the trots is likely to be a no- no. Thrown in with this is the possibility of a day off due to some injury sustained. Add on an allowance for those slack times when there is no work and your working year will be somewhere in the region of 40 to 44 weeks. So the revenue earned in those weeks has to stretch over 52 weeks. That 3 1/2 days at 6hrs chargeable £30 doesn’t look so good now … more like £500 week. It doesn’t work out as bad as that in practice, but there is no pot of gold.
Fuel and insurance will be your biggest overheads working mobile. The last quote I had for the road risks element of insurance for 44t vehicles was over £6000 pa - so I don’t drive customers’ vehicles which are any heavier than 7.5t.
Garages round here are around £30 ,35 and 38 ,a mate of mine is mobile and he charges £25 per hr .
cav551:
I am sure others will disagree with my way of working this out, but I have always taken a pessimistic view of how much I can budget to earn. This way I can keep spending in check and not run out of money. I treat things as if I was actually employing someone. There are 36 days a year allocated to holiday entitlement and bank holidays. I then assume a few day sickness - you can work with a cold, but the trots is likely to be a no- no. Thrown in with this is the possibility of a day off due to some injury sustained. Add on an allowance for those slack times when there is no work and your working year will be somewhere in the region of 40 to 44 weeks. So the revenue earned in those weeks has to stretch over 52 weeks. That 3 1/2 days at 6hrs chargeable £30 doesn’t look so good now … more like £500 week. It doesn’t work out as bad as that in practice, but there is no pot of gold.Fuel and insurance will be your biggest overheads working mobile. The last quote I had for the road risks element of insurance for 44t vehicles was over £6000 pa - so I don’t drive customers’ vehicles which are any heavier than 7.5t.
Thats my next question answered. I have been struggling to even find anyone thay would cover me to 44t let alone get a price. What sort of liability and indemnity cover is it worth going for? Quotes vary massively dependant on that.
To be honest 3 1/2 6 hour days at £30ph still sounds pretty good compared to the 48 hour weeks i do now for the same money.
Dan Punchard:
Garages round here are around £30 ,35 and 38 ,a mate of mine is mobile and he charges £25 per hr .
Where abouts is that? Seems cheap does that.
Derbys/ staffs area