**Seeking Your Thoughts on Home-Based Vehicle Repair Shops**

Grease Monkey said:
I used a home garage shop in the past for my sandrail and it cost me money. GD member to boot. No integrity and no culpability. Guess I expected the same professionalism as I provide in my line of work but no. Instead I got a bull shit answer to what went wrong and a bull shit offer to make it right.

You get what you pay for and if you need a leg to stand on when shit goes bad, forget it from a home garage or mobile person. You won't be made whole. Won't happen and just chock that up to you got effed. You wanna fight it. Go for it. I would rather eat it and if asked about that garage, provide my experience.

Your mileage may vary. Just my real experience.
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Same thing happened to me, with a reputable shop in Vista.

It goes both ways in this world.

This is what my HOME Mechanic pulled off of my truck when replacing my Fuel tank in February. The "Professional" mechanic at Autotyme epoxied the fuel line that he jammed a metal rod down into the tank, through (my initial source of Evap leaks):

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When we finally had the truck fixed, I sent the OWNER of the shop this pic. After FIFTEEN YEARS of doing business with him, paying CASH every time and being told I was "The best customer he's ever had", he told me to go fuck myself and that pic was "Bullshit" and "Nothing like that was on YOUR truck, from MY shop!". Ahem... it actually WAS.

I had a plan to completely destroy his business but slept on it for a few nights and realized he's an Alcoholic that will destroy what he has left on his own... and I refer everyone that I used to send to him, to my new guy.

Your typical customer would have no issues taking business to him if doing a quick search for Toyota Mechanics in Vista...

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If shops paid their mechanics better they wouldn’t feel the need to do this. Coming from a well paid automotive technician that also does side work in my shop at home (I try to stick with off road toys for the home shop though)

Also thinking that a job won’t be done right because it is done at someone’s house is about as backwards as thinking it will be done right because it’s at a shop. Lots of hacks come and go through most shops! I’ve seen some crazy shit that people think is right, or maybe they just don’t care or are dumb 🤣
 
This is so funny @Marlboroman trying to complain about shops, but his shop is in Yuma,
Compare your prices and work to say a place like Redline that is in Yoba Linda, or Like Las Vegas, where most employees need $50 a hour and a 2500 square foot home is $800,000
You want to talk about fair practices, you have on Facebook that you are working on boats, and you are RZRWerks, basically you are taking someone else's market share,

Dont mean to sound like a Dick but if you are loosing work to a home shop, Then what are you doing wrong, is it quality related, quality will always beat price every day, For example building a sand car, Extreme performance has 3 phase cnc Lasers, two cnc lathes, two cnc mills, cnc bending machines,
Alan would never complain about a home shop due to his quality is so much higher,

Jaired Hair has 28 Fadals, and 30 employes, can not do that at a home base business, So before complaining about home shops i would look in the mirror a little.

By the way Rob Mccracken has a home shop i have delivered parts to, and it is huge with CNC machines Lasers,
You complained about Rent, but you can write off rent and the building on your taxes, a home shop has half the write off's

Alan that owns Extreme is moving his shop to his house, in the next couple of years, so is he a horrible person for doing this.

Reading this, I dont think you look at the full picture, have a business in Yuma is like working at a home shop,
Try moving to LA, Las Vegas or Phoenix, I bet you would be the first to open up a shop on the side of your house,

I am not trying to be mean, but if someone is taking your market share and it is primary home shops, then you need to focus on yourself and stop pointing fingers toward other people,

I use to be focused on everyone else, and i was the only one suffering, Starting this year i dont really care about what other competitors think, i am just focusing on quality, and do not get caught up in other Builders BS. you will be happier in the end.
 
I hate anyone working on my stuff. About the only thing ive had worked on by someone else if the buggy transmission cause i just cant do it.

In my new home/area im thinking about doing easy jobs (very selective) shock rebuilds brakes water pumps alternators m/c tires and depending in the problem.

I AM YOUTUBE CERTIFIED.
 
I only use Home based business if I personally know them or they come with great recommendations for people I trust. I would never send a car/buggy to a home-based business if it didn't come with impeccable references, sorry for me it is all about recourse and trust, no issue paying a little more.

I am also getting to the point that I won't hire any friends to do anything around my house, ends up taking three times longer and usually don't save a dime.
 
Jammer75 said:
I hate anyone working on my stuff. About the only thing ive had worked on by someone else if the buggy transmission cause i just cant do it.

In my new home/area im thinking about doing easy jobs (very selective) shock rebuilds brakes water pumps alternators m/c tires and depending in the problem.

I AM YOUTUBE CERTIFIED.
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Up until April 27th, 2023... I worked on all of my own stuff religiously... unless it required Toyotas Tech Stream or equivalent. Once my Daughter was born, it became time to let someone else use that time up and not me. I'll pay hundreds of dollars for an hour with my kid if that's what it takes. I'm 46... I don't get that time back. Things that she can NOW be around for, I take on but I still use my bank account to get time with my kid if the option is there.
 
Toy Collector said:
Up until April 27th, 2023... I worked on all of my own stuff religiously... unless it required Toyotas Tech Stream or equivalent. Once my Daughter was born, it became time to let someone else use that time up and not me. I'll pay hundreds of dollars for an hour with my kid if that's what it takes. I'm 46... I don't get that time back. Things that she can NOW be around for, I take on but I still use my bank account to get time with my kid if the option is there.
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Agreed. Sometimes I have to decide if it’s worth me doing it as I get paid more per hour than I’m usually paying someone else.
 
When I lived in so cal I had a guy who had a machine shop in his garage. Also builds vw engines does the wedgemates for the bigger shops too pretty much none of the only ones who does it.

Also builds trans and older bus boxes he sleeves the main bearings when they have been pounded out. Does this for a few big trans shops as well.

He’s been great with pricing and I liked that I can drop my trans off later at night if needed. I prefer to go to quality no matter if a garage or home garage shop.
 
J Alper said:
This is so funny @Marlboroman trying to complain about shops, but his shop is in Yuma,
Compare your prices and work to say a place like Redline that is in Yoba Linda, or Like Las Vegas, where most employees need $50 a hour and a 2500 square foot home is $800,000
You want to talk about fair practices, you have on Facebook that you are working on boats, and you are RZRWerks, basically you are taking someone else's market share,

Dont mean to sound like a Dick but if you are loosing work to a home shop, Then what are you doing wrong, is it quality related, quality will always beat price every day, For example building a sand car, Extreme performance has 3 phase cnc Lasers, two cnc lathes, two cnc mills, cnc bending machines,
Alan would never complain about a home shop due to his quality is so much higher,

Jaired Hair has 28 Fadals, and 30 employes, can not do that at a home base business, So before complaining about home shops i would look in the mirror a little.

By the way Rob Mccracken has a home shop i have delivered parts to, and it is huge with CNC machines Lasers,
You complained about Rent, but you can write off rent and the building on your taxes, a home shop has half the write off's

Alan that owns Extreme is moving his shop to his house, in the next couple of years, so is he a horrible person for doing this.

Reading this, I dont think you look at the full picture, have a business in Yuma is like working at a home shop,
Try moving to LA, Las Vegas or Phoenix, I bet you would be the first to open up a shop on the side of your house,

I am not trying to be mean, but if someone is taking your market share and it is primary home shops, then you need to focus on yourself and stop pointing fingers toward other people,

I use to be focused on everyone else, and i was the only one suffering, Starting this year i dont really care about what other competitors think, i am just focusing on quality, and do not get caught up in other Builders BS. you will be happier in the end.
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You definitely came off a little harsh. I'm not sure what you mean by "Yuma being like a home shop". We opened "RZR Werks" in 2013. When there were very few SXS focused shops (unlike today). Our current shop is 6500 SQFT, plus a 1100 SQFT fully stocked showroom. We have 8 employees. 3 gold certified Polaris Mechanics. 1 that is a "gold" certified Can-Am mechanic plus has numerous Mercury certifications. 1 multi-process certified welder (graduated Fab School in 2006), worked for Red Bull Racing NASCAR division doing metal fab for 4 years, then went to work for BK Racing (NASCAR) for a few more years. And 2 highly trained install techs. Myself, I am a born and raised dune rat. Been going to the dunes since 1979. I raced Regional NASCAR series and NASCAR West Series for numerous years. So, I am kind of a jack of all trades. Then my wife and daughter for sales and bookkeeping. We keep $300,000+ in inventory at all times. I understand the dynamics of other areas. I have been in business for myself since 1998. I owned numerous Chevrons, Shells, Circle K's and Subways in the San Diego and Imperial County areas. We work on numerous types of vehicles. SXS's, buggies, quads, motorcycles, boats, PWC's and trailers. It was a learning curve but learned quickly that we have to be very diverse in Yuma. 4-5 months out of the year, the locals park their off-road toys because of the heat (118 days a year over 100 degrees on average). During the winter months we have 100,000+ winter visitors that come into town to stay for 3-6 months. And THEY LOVE their SXS's. I have always sponsored gd.com, ASA, CORVA and SDORC. Plus, I do numerous local fundraisers. I stay very active in the off-road/dune scene.

I have always conducted business legitimately/legally. Always insured, always permitted/licensed and always paid my taxes. The types of "home shops" I am speaking of are the places that operate outside of the "legal" scope. I appreciate your input/comment. I understand we are a very small fish in a big ocean in the now oversaturated SXS/off-road world. We have seen numerous shops open and close since we opened. I enjoy it. A lot less after my hand got blown off by a tire in Glamis a few years ago. But I enjoy doing what I am still able to do (sales, phones, scheduling, website maintenance and managing employees). I sure miss "wrenching". See you out in the dunes!
 
Marlboroman said:
You definitely came off a little harsh. I'm not sure what you mean by "Yuma being like a home shop". We opened "RZR Werks" in 2013. When there were very few SXS focused shops (unlike today). Our current shop is 6500 SQFT, plus a 1100 SQFT fully stocked showroom. We have 8 employees. 3 gold certified Polaris Mechanics. 1 that is a "gold" certified Can-Am mechanic plus has numerous Mercury certifications. 1 multi-process certified welder (graduated Fab School in 2006), worked for Red Bull Racing NASCAR division doing metal fab for 4 years, then went to work for BK Racing (NASCAR) for a few more years. And 2 highly trained install techs. Myself, I am a born and raised dune rat. Been going to the dunes since 1979. I raced Regional NASCAR series and NASCAR West Series for numerous years. So, I am kind of a jack of all trades. Then my wife and daughter for sales and bookkeeping. We keep $300,000+ in inventory at all times. I understand the dynamics of other areas. I have been in business for myself since 1998. I owned numerous Chevrons, Shells, Circle K's and Subways in the San Diego and Imperial County areas. We work on numerous types of vehicles. SXS's, buggies, quads, motorcycles, boats, PWC's and trailers. It was a learning curve but learned quickly that we have to be very diverse in Yuma. 4-5 months out of the year, the locals park their off-road toys because of the heat (118 days a year over 100 degrees on average). During the winter months we have 100,000+ winter visitors that come into town to stay for 3-6 months. And THEY LOVE their SXS's. I have always sponsored gd.com, ASA, CORVA and SDORC. Plus, I do numerous local fundraisers. I stay very active in the off-road/dune scene.

I have always conducted business legitimately/legally. Always insured, always permitted/licensed and always paid my taxes. The types of "home shops" I am speaking of are the places that operate outside of the "legal" scope. I appreciate your input/comment. I understand we are a very small fish in a big ocean in the now oversaturated SXS/off-road world. We have seen numerous shops open and close since we opened. I enjoy it. A lot less after my hand got blown off by a tire in Glamis a few years ago. But I enjoy doing what I am still able to do (sales, phones, scheduling, website maintenance and managing employees). I sure miss "wrenching". See you out in the dunes!
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(y) impressive work force!

so if its not inappropriate what mistake did you make that go your hand blown off?
 
Marlboroman said:
You definitely came off a little harsh. I'm not sure what you mean by "Yuma being like a home shop". We opened "RZR Werks" in 2013. When there were very few SXS focused shops (unlike today). Our current shop is 6500 SQFT, plus a 1100 SQFT fully stocked showroom. We have 8 employees. 3 gold certified Polaris Mechanics. 1 that is a "gold" certified Can-Am mechanic plus has numerous Mercury certifications. 1 multi-process certified welder (graduated Fab School in 2006), worked for Red Bull Racing NASCAR division doing metal fab for 4 years, then went to work for BK Racing (NASCAR) for a few more years. And 2 highly trained install techs. Myself, I am a born and raised dune rat. Been going to the dunes since 1979. I raced Regional NASCAR series and NASCAR West Series for numerous years. So, I am kind of a jack of all trades. Then my wife and daughter for sales and bookkeeping. We keep $300,000+ in inventory at all times. I understand the dynamics of other areas. I have been in business for myself since 1998. I owned numerous Chevrons, Shells, Circle K's and Subways in the San Diego and Imperial County areas. We work on numerous types of vehicles. SXS's, buggies, quads, motorcycles, boats, PWC's and trailers. It was a learning curve but learned quickly that we have to be very diverse in Yuma. 4-5 months out of the year, the locals park their off-road toys because of the heat (118 days a year over 100 degrees on average). During the winter months we have 100,000+ winter visitors that come into town to stay for 3-6 months. And THEY LOVE their SXS's. I have always sponsored gd.com, ASA, CORVA and SDORC. Plus, I do numerous local fundraisers. I stay very active in the off-road/dune scene.

I have always conducted business legitimately/legally. Always insured, always permitted/licensed and always paid my taxes. The types of "home shops" I am speaking of are the places that operate outside of the "legal" scope. I appreciate your input/comment. I understand we are a very small fish in a big ocean in the now oversaturated SXS/off-road world. We have seen numerous shops open and close since we opened. I enjoy it. A lot less after my hand got blown off by a tire in Glamis a few years ago. But I enjoy doing what I am still able to do (sales, phones, scheduling, website maintenance and managing employees). I sure miss "wrenching". See you out in the dunes!
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If the shop is that size and the quality is good why are you worried about home shops, what do home shops have to offer that you can not stomp them into the ground,

Sorry for the Harshness, I would think you would stomp all over a home shop unless there is a issue in the past that people are not using you,
Is there other competitors taking business away and if it is a home shop, what do they have to off that you are not offering.
 
John@Outfront said:
(y) impressive work force!

so if its not inappropriate what mistake did you make that go your hand blown off?
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After going over it in my head hundreds of times since the accident, I still can't find something I would do different. I started doing tires at 12 years old. I worked for my fathers at his tire shop locations in San Diego East County areas. So, after 10,000+ tire mounts I'm well skilled in the process to complete the mounting safely. I spend a lot of time pondering what happened. Cheers.
 
J Alper said:
If the shop is that size and the quality is good why are you worried about home shops, what do home shops have to offer that you can not stomp them into the ground,

Sorry for the Harshness, I would think you would stomp all over a home shop unless there is a issue in the past that people are not using you,
Is there other competitors taking business away and if it is a home shop, what do they have to off that you are not offering.
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They offer better pricing due to no overhead. A lot of people in this area put price well before quality. It didn't used to be that way in this town, but it has slowly transitioned to that type of mentality over the last 3-4 years. I hate "discounting" anything. But almost everyone in the SXS industry has lowered their pricing on both parts and service/installation in this area. A lot of the manufacturers are to blame for oversaturating the market also. Devaluing their name. Back in the day, the dealers didn't have to fight for the sale with the manufacturers. The new trend for the manufacturers is to offer a 20% off sale on their website direct to the customer and only offer the dealer a 5-10% discount on top of their dealer price. So, we automatically loose 10-15% right off the top. I'm going to stop bitching about it. It just grinds my gears sometimes when people cheat the system. I'm the type of guy that plays by the rules, maybe that will have to change.
 
A few clarifications with regards to @Marlboroman original post. We are talking about UTV’s and home garage shops, and not necessarily home garage shops working on your Toyota Camry or Ford F150. IMO this is a big difference. One’s a recreational toy, and the other is daily transportation driving down the highway.

It also sounds like Marlboromans issues stems from the region he’s in. He confirmed in Yuma price has become more important than quality & service. Not sure how you fix that if it’s a demographic issue? Yuma is considered a lower wage city, and is way under the national average for incomes. This is probably in direct correlation as to why price is more important vs quality or service to the people living there.

Also Marlboroman mentioned your employees are Gold certified Polaris & Can Am. Where did they learn & get those certifications? Just curious because I don’t know? How do they keep that Gold status and continue learn the new machines working for an independent shop, and not an authorized Polaris & Can Am dealer? Do the manufacturers offer training and certification for non dealer mechanics? If so could anyone get that certification?

And does Liberty Motorsports in Yuma or Coyne in El Centro which are both authorized sales & service dealers who work directly with the manufacturers, and sells new vehicles stock only OEM parts, and have certified techs. Do they think of you & your independent UTV shop, like you are thinking of the guy with a 1000sqft shop behind his house doing the same general maintenance and repairs that your doing and that the factory authorized dealers is also doing? Isn’t your independent, non factory authorized shop taking money & business away from the factory authorized dealers? Just like you feel the guy working out of a backyard garage space is taking from your business?

Also could using the word RZR in your company name possibly misleading customers thinking your an authorized Polaris service center? I would think a name like UTV Werks or SXS Werks might open you up to more customers. Or better yet Powersport Werks as that could also help bring in the water craft customers, which I would think would be huge in the summer time when like you said, no ones riding a UTV in 118 heat.
 
In regards to automotive dealers that sell street driven vehicles, like GM, Ford, Toyota etc.. Dealers used to be the place you went when you wanted your GM, Ford, Toyota worked on because those mechanics were factory trained on your specific vehicle. And you knew you were getting genuine OEM parts. You were to trust your local dealer.

But nowadays dealers are probably more known for over charging, and have been shown to not be as trustworthy. And today an independent shop has access to the same tools and parts that dealers have. In some cases more or better parts, like a Moog Problem Solver can be better than the OEM part. Also dealerships don’t always do the same work as an independent shop will. Dealerships are not rebuilding or opening up a transmission to fix the one part, or doing cylinder head work. They are just removing and bolting in a new or OEM rebuilt part. Using an independent shop can save you allot of money in those cases, and give you a better product in the end.

Me personally I liked working with smaller family owned repair shops. But unfortunately in California, regulations, insurance and just the cost of opening up the doors has caused more shops to close vs open. The father & son shop I liked to use for things I did not want to do, they closed up as they said at the end of the day it was just no longer worth it. And they too had a great reputation, had a waiting list to get your cars in. But trying to find good help they trusted and the regulations just made them close up.

And lastly I have a friend from my church who was a professional mechanic, and retired from being a general manager for a reputable independent repair shop. Many years ago he had built a very nice 1200sqft metal building shop behind his house that has a lift, and he has every tool & scanners for most brands. He’s got the oil recycling and shop rag service that comes by like a legit shop. He would do his own stuff and helped others when they needed out of his own shop after hours. Over time he built up a small but loyal group of customers just doing general maintenance or small repair stuff. Plus he’s great at trouble shooting issues. If something like a sensor he would offer to fix it, if something he did not want to take on, like a transmission or internal engine work, he would refer you to a handful of shops that did that work.

Now that he’s retired, he has continued to do some of that general maintenance stuff for people he’s done for years, or he knows from church. He is word of mouth and probably turns or refers more work away than he takes. But he’s got a nice little trustworthy side business going that brings in some extra money and allows them to do a bit more during retirement, and he enjoys it. Again I see nothing wrong with it, and if you find a guy like this via word of mouth by a happy customer, I would not hesitate to use a “Home Garage” mechanic.
 
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Certifications for the most part are bullshit.

You'd be hard pressed to find a guy in an import dealer with ASE certs. Waste of time and money.
 
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