Episode 6: Mobile Mechanics

Audra Fordin, a 4^th-generation mechanic, isn’t convinced.

There’s more talk about mobile mechanics these days, and she’s even tinkered with the idea. But she wonders if it’s more an “interest” than a “need.” Some people are buying their own cheaper car parts online and then hiring a mobile mechanic to do the install. Or some people simply can’t bring their car in the shop that day and need a little help.

The trouble with it? Some equipment, like a lift, just can’t be taken on the road. And like all trends, are mobile mechanics just a passing thing, or here to stay?

Charles Sanville, “The Humble Mechanic,” sees the mobile mechanic business in three ways:

Mobile diagnostics. For Charles, this is the most interesting definition: Mobile diagnosis and mobile programming. Think of it as a tech who drives to your shop with the tools you don’t own, such as that scan tool for a 2020 Mercedes Benz—and does that piece of the work for a fee.

Mobile auto repair. For a shop owner or the individual tech, it’s the ability to change out a timing belt, battery, or air filter on the side of the road or in someone’s driveway. The tech comes to the problem, wherever it may be.

Here to stay. However you define it, the trend isn’t going away. And it’s a great idea for that star technician who doesn’t have the resources to open a shop of his or her own but wants to start a business.

Up next: Watch Shop Goals Episode 7 The Repair is Only as Good as Its Parts.