TUNE-UPS
These guys make house calls,
There are all kinds of reasons we hate leaving our vehicles for service and separation anxiety is just one.
There’s the stress of waiting around drinking bad coffee made worse if you’re wrangling a posse of preschoolers.
Relax. These folks will make all that nastiness go away by simply coming to you and your wheels at your home or business and taking care of the basics. It may cost you a couple of dollars more, but their businesses are built on the premise that convenience and time are luxuries worthy of investment.
From mechanical repairs to tires, detailing, windshields, scratch and dent repairs and battery replacement, it’s all available on demand. You can get a tune-up, rotate tires, change your oil, fix that annoying rattle, clean and shine her up and do just about anything in the comfort of your own driveway or work parking spot.
Kerry Halstead, a licensed mechanic who launched the Fixer (fixer.ca) in 2007 says most of his calls are for “no-start” issues, but he also does a lot of regular maintenance for customers, especially after he gets them out of a jam.
Beatrice Brangman, a Whitby administrative assistant, says knowing she could call the Fixer gave her peace of mind when her car broke down.
“The last place you want to be is at the side of the road as a female not knowing who to call,” she says. She’d found his business card and called when her water pump failed a couple of years ago and was relieved to learn he’d also come to her office when her timing belt broke last year.
“It really is about trust and reliability and peace of mind,” she says.
The Fixer is an outgrowth of his mobile service for commercial customers who need emergency repairs and maintenance but have too many vehicles to keep shuffling them back and forth from the shop. For others it’s a matter of not being able to get out of their parking spot or, in some cases, being in a condo where tow truck access is limited.
“We do trucks, boats, heavy equipment, even snow blowers and lawn mowers,” says Halstead. “It’s more expensive with a call-out fee of $75 to $90 depending on where and when but sometimes for major work we will waive that. I love being on the road and meeting people.”
Aside from getting a vehicle started, Halstead says his crew can do anything from an engine job to a transmission replacement on the spot. Similarly Diego Deniz, who launched Athometire.ca in 2011, found a market beyond the commercial and limo fleets.
Deniz charges about $95 for a tire rotation with rims and his truck has all the tools and machines to install and balance new tires in an area covering the GTA and beyond.
“During the busy season for snow tires in November, I put 10,000 kilometres on my truck in just a month,” he says.
Andy Reardon is a Gotires.com franchisee who also covers the GTA and says his customers range from fleets to busy moms with kids who can’t deal with sitting around a tire shop.
“Then there are the professionals like doctors and lawyers whose time isn’t worth waiting around for service,” says Reardon, who also does glass chip repairs, roadside assistance and interior reconditioning.
“It’s the convenience for me, they come to my school and do it right in the parking lot.” MICHELLE WAGMAN TIRE BUTLER CUSTOMER
Jack Benzacar’s Tire Butler has six trucks on the road, selling tires, installing them and even repairing wheel rims which have been broken on the myriad of potholes around the GTA. Like many other mobile services, Benzacar also has a stable of private and government fleet vehicles to service.
“It’s the convenience for me, they come to my school and do it right in the parking lot,” says Michelle Wagman, who has been using the Tire Butler for the last three years. “They also store my tires and they even helped me sell my snows when my Infiniti got stolen.”
She gets a call on her cell and meets the truck in the parking lot of the midtown nursery school where she works and goes back when the job is done. “They even came out and helped me just after I bought new tires and got a flat near my home,” she says. “It’s really efficient.”
While some folks enjoy taking a sunny afternoon to clean, wax and detail their wheels inside and out, others would rather be out enjoying the weather.
That’s where Ryan Knight, founder of DetailingKnights.com, has carved out a niche over the last six years offering a series of detailing packages.
“We have six full-time trucks on the road around the GTA,” he says. “Our main sell is that we’re waterless and fully environmentally complaint. We can even work in underground condo or office garages.”
His client Wanda Ho and her hus- band have Knight on a retainer, cleaning their cars at their Yorkville condo underground spots every week. “I have a purple Porsche Panamera and my husband has a Mini Cooper in red and white and he loves it,” she says.
“We don’t actually drive that much, but it gets dusty in the underground. And in the winter, well, let’s say we like our cars clean and we love not just the convenience but that Ryan is a true renaissance man.”
Getting the ride detailed in the driveway is a godsend for busy moms, says Kyle Matthews who launched Xpertautodetailing.ca six years ago and has two trucks on the road.
“We shampoo the interior for coffee stains, ice cream and food,” he says while the executives and professional clients just want their luxury ride in showroom condition. “We do a lot of high-end cars, like Ferraris and Aston Martins. We have one customer who gets the full treatment — which runs $150 — weekly.”
The service sector is a competitive marketplace and even big brands realize they have to make it easy for their customers, says Serge Laporte, vice president sales and marketing at Belron Canada, owner of Speedy Auto Glass. “We’ve seen significant growth in the mobile business,” says Laporte. “It’s really all about the convenience for the consumer.”
Weather is a factor with rain and high winds not conducive to replacing windshields but generally it’s not a huge issue for the 200 or so trucks on the road across Canada serving every major city.
Mobile services like Scratchwizard (scratchwizard.ca) can also bring some of the zing back your paintwork.
Autobody business veterans Joanne and Sam Feil have been mobile for last decade, covering the GTA and while they’ve had five trucks on the road, they’re back to just one.
“It’s hard getting the right people with the right skills,” she says, with customers ranging from individuals to car dealers and fleets. “We don’t do dents which we prefer to do in our shop in the Warden Ave and Hwy. 401area, but we can do scratches and tree sap, headlines and things like that and especially end of lease repairs.” Ian Harvey is a freelance writer who is an occasional contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. For more Toronto Star Wheels stories, go to thestar.com/autos. To reach Wheels Editor Norris McDonald: nmcdonald@thestar.ca