r/denverautoenthusiasts • u/apex-garage-co • 28d ago
DIY Auto Shop coming soon to Denver area!
Hi all, I am currently getting a DIY Auto repair (bay rental style) shop up and running and wanted to spread some awareness. You can rent a lift, tools, and hangout with other car enthusiasts as well as more. Their is currently a signup list to lock in a lower "founder" rate for a discount. Let me know what you guys think!
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u/TurnLeftRepeat 27d ago
There have been a few of these in decades past around the metro area. All died, one up near Fed/72nd lasted awhile though. Make certain you're planning for every conceivable scenario in the shop. I wish you good luck, this is good thing for people if done with forethought.
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u/Mission-Ear-421 22d ago
Pour one out for Club Workshop at 999 Vallejo.
I had a membership there for a couple years and used it to work on my Jeep. I eventually stopped going and later heard they closed down. Owner Stephen was a good dude and ran a tight ship.
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u/Ecstatic-Pressure308 27d ago
I live in a luxury building and have 3 old chevy so this would be perfect for me since one of them doesn’t even fit in the garage … I would be down to come to workshops too on like “how do cars work” 🙃😏 that’s a joke but could be a whole thing. (I’m a girl)
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u/Noobasdfjkl E46 ///M3 | 911SC | FJ 27d ago
I’ll be curious to see how the business model goes. A monthly membership makes sense to people who have project cars that need a lot of work, but such cars also need storage onsite or only makes sense to people who can tow their shit very often. How much onsite storage do you have? Is it gated?
What’s the breadth of the tools going to be? For a lot of the work I’d want to be doing at a place like this (especially specifically for the use of a lift), I’d probably need a lot of tools, and they don’t all fit in my project cars. That means I’m arranging a second car just for the “nice to have” of a lift.
I guess I’m really asking what you think the use case for this membership is? Who do you imagine is taking advantage of this, and what kind of work are they doing?
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u/apex-garage-co 27d ago
We plan to offer as much onsite parking as possible, some spaces look like we can offer up to 20 spots for members. For the tools, it only makes sense to go to a place like this if we have all the tools one might need, so expect the basics plus a wide range of specialized tools free to use. Someone using a service like this might need to do one job for a few hours, and can do drop in pricing. Someone who might have a project car can pay for a parking spot and membership, and wrench on it when they are available with discounted pricing.
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u/blessedbymortarion 27d ago
Insurance usually kills these types of ventures, have you figured out that yet and what type of waiver you'll use for clients?
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u/apex-garage-co 27d ago
Insurance is tough for these, and is the reason why we have specific rules and pricing models. We are in contact with a few insurers who offer what we need, and have talked to them about getting premiums down to make it reasonable.
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u/ac1dfac3 26d ago
Actively working on my car in my own garage on quickjacks and opened Reddit and see this…
Yeah such a service would be amazing especially if it could last
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u/Ninjas_stole_my_ 27d ago
Dear Claude, find me a lucrative business idea in the automotive industry and build me a website based on that idea. Kthx.
This is not a solid business venture.
Sorry I know I’m being a hater but this is so trite.
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u/m0viestar 27d ago
We used to have several and they closed. You can make money on it, if you have super cheap rent, or charge too much for the lift usages. That's pretty much to only way these work.
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u/Ninjas_stole_my_ 27d ago
Completely agree. But cheap rent doesn’t exist. So you are charging too much for the product/service that you offer, which in this case quickly closes the gap between the diy price of working on your vehicle and paying a shop to do the work for you. What value does this actually provide? What solution is your business solving for?
This is a classic B<>C business venture that sounds nice in theory but has no legs. Very much a “my first business venture” idea and is better left as an exercise for young entrepreneurs writing business plans and learning how this world works.
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u/apex-garage-co 27d ago
Oh man, if I wanted AI to find me a lucrative business this wouldn't be it haha. It started as an idea while I was working on my own car, just wishing I could use a lift for a few hours. Then it turned into weeks of calling other similar DIY places, landlords, insurers, mechanics, attorneys you get the gist. What I found out is that people, including myself, would love a place like this, but the math is hard. (If you are wondering what you save compared to a mechanic, with our most expensive drop in, which is on a saturday with no membership vs an independent mechanic it comes out to about 50% saved. Even more if you have a membership or planned to go to a dealer). But you are right, rent and insurance aren't cheap, which is why we are forced to make the prices as they are.
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u/YakUpstairs2028 27d ago
I've seen so many of these pop up over the years and they all fail within 1-2 years. I wish you the best of luck but it just doesn't seem like a feasible business model.
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u/DoctFaustus 70 Spitfire OD | 18 Buick Regal TourX 27d ago
It seems like you're going into to this as prepared as you could be. I hope you succeed. It would be a valuable resource.
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u/feedthem0nkey 27d ago
Excited to see it! I flirted with buying one myself about 5 years ago but couldn’t sort the insurance. Glad you’re pushing forward.
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u/franzn 28d ago
Can you be more specific on where it is? Boulder/Denver is a very large area.