When I first started mobile mechanic work, I was afraid to charge higher prices because I didn’t think that I would win customers or earn customers is probably a better word. This one is for the newer guys that are just getting started. I’m only in my sophomore year so give it time and you’ll change too. For example, this young man has a 2014 Mercedes-Benz S550. He wants an oil service, more specifically he corrected me and said he only wants an oil and filter. I didn’t argue with that and I said OK. I gave him a quote for 8 1/2 quarts of MB226.5 approved oil. I got an objection. He can get it cheaper. He can get it for 50 bucks. The old me would have given him a discount for the work and the cost of the oil. But as I’ve grown in this business, I’ve learned that he’s just price shopping and he’s not a loyal customer for me nor does he really care about his car. You’ll be able to feel customers out and you’ll start to understand that they do things just because somebody said to and they’ll do it for a dollar if they could…not because they actually care about the performance or of the reliability of their vehicle or that they value your expertise. I RAISED my price as a barrier to these people. Sometimes cost doesn’t necessarily reflect value. Sometimes it’s there to filter people out because the people that really want you and your service, provided it’s reasonable and competitive, will pay your costs with a smile. I should join tier 2. 🤔

Today was a slow day so I visited a few body shops and handed them some cards. I was promoting airbag light resets and VIN matching service as well as electrical diag. It’s interesting because businesses are just like regular customers, just with more money and more sensitive to WIIFM (whats in it for me). I’m offering one diag and reset at my cost to prove value and then we can set something up! It took about an hour of time, doing it old school, walking in and introducing myself. And I may have 2-3 B2B clients just like that. I’ll post next week about those results.

Unfortunately, it's illegal to work on someone's car in their home in my local area. When doing my due diligence, I finally got through to the township clerk who made it clear that working on vehicles in residential zones was explicitly prohibited. I wanted to ask for the specific ordinance in the code book that dictates that, but from her attitude alone (she was kind of a bitch lol) I figured it wasn't worth the fight. Making an enemy out of the local government BEFORE I've even gotten a customer feels like more than a risk; it's setting myself up for failure. The guys I work with told me to do it anyway, typical mechanics lmao. But to me it only takes one pissed off neighbor making a call to incur a fine or end my business right then and there. There are other townships where the rules are different, but at this point the hoops to jump through have become too many for my appetite. In the very least, I hadn't invested any cash into the venture so I'm getting out only losing 15ish hours of my time. I was banking on making this work as a side hustle since I could start with very little investment. However, I'm not giving up. I have plenty of other ideas, and while this seemed like the best one, all I can do is go down the list and determine what the second best is. My advice for everyone is to be prepared and ensure you know what you are getting yourselves into. I'm in NJ and we have a boatload of regulations for damn near everything; in a more business-focused state things are likely different. If you're in my state and have any questions I'd be happy to help answer what I can based on what I've learned in the short time I was researching and planning. Thanks to Ben and everyone on here that contributes. Best of luck to you all

Hello everyone, hope you're all having a great start of 2026. I am working on a 2017 Kia Sorento, it's blowing warm "not hot" air on driver's side and cold on passenger side. I just replaced blend door actuators and still didn't fix anything, the heater core is very hot which means it's working. The blower motor is working fine, all blend door actuators are working and the ahvac control unit is functioning. Looks like someone has tried fixing the same issue on the car but wasn't successful. What shall I check?

2026 is here! I Hope everyone had a great 2025. I know i did, we crushed out goals in revenue by more than I predicted. I have so much more i want for my mobile repair in 2026. So it'a time to really buckel down and grow even more this year. So this leads to me you all. What is you biggest issue with your company right now? What do you need help with? give me some topics that would be beneficial for you in 2026.