DIY shop space...................................
 

We've had the discussion before and I think it's agreed that as a business model if fails due to the liability and insurance issues. But what would you think of a Car Club where the membership fees would pay for the facilities? What would you expect from the club ? What would the drawbacks be? What would you be willing to pay ?
Share your thoughts Please.

I belong to one.

Membership is $50 a month which gets you 24 hour access to two lifts and common tools like a press, air compressor, and other stuff for any car I want to bring in. I also pay $125 a month for car storage.

- Car Storage Club In Alpharetta GA - Race Cars, Street Cars and Show Cars

Having alldata access or a person on site with similar access would be useful. Paying a fair rate for pro help would be key to getting things done and keeping the thing going.

Security would be key, especially if working a project with parts all over the place. Maybe rent 'lockers' and carts? I've been interested in this for a while as a consumer, havent found the right location.

Anything like this near irvine, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa area?? I will be down there full time in another month and will no longer have convinient access to my shop and garage I have in the Bay Area. I need a shared garage space like this that I can use to work on the cars in and possibly store a car being actively worked on.

How does a business model like this look in a litigious state such as CA.?

Reminds me of the garage in 'Christine' :)

I'd be all over that also.

When I was in the military in the '80's and '90's, Navy bases had 'auto hobby shops', with lifts, tools, expert help (ie crusty Navy Chiefs), and even paint booths. (I did my first paint job in the North Island Paint Booth - it turned out 1000% better than I thought it was going to, and also did my first 911 oil change there) Do bases still offer these to active duty military?

We have one here called U-Fix-It and it's $20 per hour. But it's outdoors, under a roof and with swamp coolers. They don't take reservations and are apparently successful enough to not have to stay open on weekends. It's a good 25 miles from my house. When they started, it was great and they took reservations. Owner sold his 964 to help buy the business and was thrilled to see me drive the 993 in. I tried again a few months ago and couldn't get a lift. Since they no longer take reservations, I can't waste the time driving that far during business hours to see if I get a lift.

I had something like this with some friends a few years ago, we had a personal shop out at our local track, it started out great had a lift, compressor, welder, that we all shared. and then each of us had our own tool box. the down side was the amount of trash and junk that just accumulated inside the shop (blown motors, busted rims and tires, body parts) the track did not have anyway of disposing of this stuff, so we had to haul this stuff to the junk yards our selves. and eventually none of us were cleaning out the junk, and it turned into a real big pain in the ass.

They do...I used the shop in North Island all the time in the 80's.

Here at Pax River there are four bays and a bunch of retired guys who really know their stuff willing to help.

They let retirees in if it is slow. I rotate my tires there all the time during oil changes. Active duty get first dibs, just has it should be.

Paul - sent you a PM....

$50.00 a month sounds like a great deal for what you get. How is it working for you? Are you satisfied with what you get for the monthly expense?

What if one guy hogs the lift?

It works out great for me. I don't have a garage at home and my driveway is too steep to jack up a car in it. I do all the maintenance on my daily driver there, some occasional stuff on my Bronco, and I store my 930 there. They have larger 2 car spots that are set up like home garages and separated by metal studded Sheetrock walls that are $175 a month. They also allow race trailer parking outside.

Each pull in space has enough room for a car, a toolbox, and a set of wheels and tires. We have rules that cars can not be worked on in the parking area to prevent damage to others. We are also not allowed to do full transmission or engine builds because of the codes or something with the county. No one really checks on us and the owner said it would be fine as long as we did some sub-assembly off site so we could skirt that rule.

There is also a location somewhere in Texas.

We have a 2 post lift and a scissor lift and each have a published Google calendar we use for reservations. We haven't had any issues yet. Most of the guys just seem to use the space for storage with about 30% using the work areas.

willtel, what about insurance or liabilitiy issues. Do you have to sign a waiver or something regarding personal injury or property loss?

I once rented some "storage only" space. Big place. Maybe too big.

The person/people running it were 1000+% good-intentioned but just not capable of dealing with setting boundaries, access, rules, and managing the f'king idiots which brought down the whole group.

Needless to say there were problems, and I helped as much as I could, but should have given more support in retrospect.

Personal injury is not covered by the insurance of the space. Property loss of my car would be covered if something happens that isn't because of negligence of one of the users. All cars must be relatively leak free and have a battery disconnect.

I am extremely careful when I am there and using a lift as I am usually alone and I don't want to die because of a dumb mistake during an oil change. That said having a lift makes things so much easier and faster. I don't think I will work without one again.

One other thing going on at our space is that it is used as a storefront for a small used car dealer. In GA (as with most states) a used dealer must maintain a storefront with a sign, an office area to securely store files, and space to keep 5 cars. This works well for us as someone us usually there during business hours to keep an eye on things.

If you guys want detailed info you should contact the owners via the link I posted, they are forthcoming and can explain the details of the permitting and business side much better than I can.