Starting a vehicle transmission repair shop

Tommy B · May 4, 2019

Looking for a little advice and perhaps some suggestions from people in the trade.

I run a small machine shop in London and have slowly started to repair differentials that have been brought in with failed bearings, mainly through word of mouth. Customers have been happy. Due to limited tooling and resources I've only been working on a couple of models.

Any suggestions as to how to grow this aspect of the business? I have begun offering exchange units on Ebay, some weeks selling a few, others weeks nothing at all. Ebay is expensive in the fees being charged and I'm looking for alternative selling and advertising portals.

I've had dealers come to me with problem units they need repaired in order to sell a car, garages without required tooling and owners seeking more affordable units than offered by manufacturer or garage. Where else should I be thinking?

Thanks in advance!

mattk · May 4, 2019

When I used to own interesting cars I found owner's club forums invaluable. There was always someone who could fix common problems and a list of recommended suppliers for specific parts.

If you can built yourself a reputation you'll quickly become "the gearbox guy" which every uses.

Mr D · May 5, 2019

Tommy B said:
Looking for a little advice and perhaps some suggestions from people in the trade.

I run a small machine shop in London and have slowly started to repair differentials that have been brought in with failed bearings, mainly through word of mouth. Customers have been happy. Due to limited tooling and resources I've only been working on a couple of models.

Any suggestions as to how to grow this aspect of the business? I have begun offering exchange units on Ebay, some weeks selling a few, others weeks nothing at all. Ebay is expensive in the fees being charged and I'm looking for alternative selling and advertising portals.

I've had dealers come to me with problem units they need repaired in order to sell a car, garages without required tooling and owners seeking more affordable units than offered by manufacturer or garage. Where else should I be thinking?

Thanks in advance!

figure out where the people you have identified as customers go.
by the sound of it ebay is not an ideal place. so where do they go - that's where you should focus.

bodgitt&scarperLTD · May 5, 2019

MattK has gold advice- owners forums.

14Steve14 · May 5, 2019

Whilst it is not such a big market at it was, have a look into those building kit cars.

WaveJumper · May 6, 2019

Get yourself on to some club forums, buy yourself a gazebo and at the weekends get out to some of the club events going on up and down the country. I have just come back from a huge event at Silverstone.

This way you could even pick the manufacturers you wish to specialise in ie Ford, Vauxhall’s etc etc. A quick google search should give you all the info you need. If you are good at what you do I would think a season doing shows will set you up nicely. Best of luck.

james_77 · May 7, 2019

If I wanted a transmission fixed, I would google google google. Therefore I think you need to get someone to help you appear in google.

Is the service applicable to recent models? or is it easier to buy a second hand diff if its readily available? If so could you branch out in to offering second hand ones as well, as you would be able to check them and offer some kind of warranty? You could buy up some from recent write offs, make a deal with a dismantler.

WaveJumper · May 7, 2019

Google is not always the answer to everything, I personalty would and never have ever taken any of my vehicles to have work undertaken without either a recommendation from someone I know, or having some prior knowledge / personal contact with the persons or persons in question. And that goes for even using the services of a main dealer.

Getting out there and mixing with the enthusiasts (apart from a good weekend away) will show people you know what your talking about, and having some examples of work on show too would help. As mentioned before the beauty of this is you can target one particular manufacturer, Ford Fair, Jap Festival take your pick. (now go use Google)

Going back to Op's original post if business is coming in from people in the trade target them let them know the services you can offer, get a list of possible leads and once a week drive round the local business's and speak to them personally, the car trade always seems to be quite a close knit community.

Or of course you could spend a huge amount of money on advertising to hopefully your right target audience and wait for the phone to start ringing.

Financial-Modeller · May 7, 2019

The people who will pay the most for this are those who depend on their vehicles. For most owners of classic cars, repairs are an inconvenience, but not critical.

HGVs being out of action is costly. Perhaps visit local HGV repairers, and ask which manufacturers they experience most transmission problems with, and also which manufacturers take longest to deliver the bearing/gear part(s) that you can machine. Take samples/examples with you. If you can make the part (to OE-spec) more quickly than the manufacturer can deliver it, you have a potentially valuable service.

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Starting a vehicle transmission repair shop

Tommy B

mattk

Mr D

bodgitt&scarperLTD

14Steve14

WaveJumper

james_77

WaveJumper

Financial-Modeller

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