Hi all, so where do you all get your imprezas, legacys etc serviced, repaired, restored?
Being an ex prodrive employee many years ago and owning a few imprezas, I am looking at a new venture as a subaru specialist, mainly impreza but will do all, my main background is car build and gearboxes, drive train. Any feedback would be great and if the business would be viable.
Cheers Neil

 

There are far fewer Imprezas on the road than during their peak 10-15 years ago. So less customers and there are already some well established garages. So what would be your USP? What can you specialise in or offer that others can't? Do you have competition in your area? Could you offer a mobile service?

 

Good luck. I've used two very well known specialists who've been frankly incompetent, and another who sells incompatible parts. I'd say that there are big opportunities for someone honest and competent to take their business from them.

 

Whats left on the market is busy -month or more to book a car.
They do not care with small jobs and ask arm and leg for their service. 90 quid an hour or more this days.
Just spent 2h on my car adjusting handbrake,wheels and bbk off ,will i pay 180 quid for it -NO way.

 

why do you need to take wheels and BBK off to adjust your handbrake?? its a relatively simple procedure (especially on a ramp) unless everything is seized???

 

no it was easy ,2 bolts per caliper ,2 trought discs to remove them
would like to see handbrake shoes how much left

 

where would you be based as already said where is your competition coming from ?

 

I get that there are less now on the road but that is the case for most modern classics, guy I know has a well known gtr business and is stacked out with work, had to employ more people, when do you see those? apart from track days and social events. Core will be transmissions and chassis, suspension, set up and alignment. Know good guys that can do engines, one was ex prodrive also. Based near Worcester. Also subaru brand servicing and repair. 👍

 

always good to know good luck with your new venture as there are to many cowboys out there 👍

 

I guess that TDR are your most local competitor? There is a garage very local to me (I can walk to them) that specialise in Subarus (they used to be a franchised dealer back in the 90s/00s) but they work on anything. Most of their business is mundane stuff but whenever I go, they always have something interesting in the workshop; usually classics and big-money engines, they had a yellow Spec C hatch last time I was there. I use for MoT (as they can generally fix anything there and then) or stuff I simply don't want to do. I think they are about £60 an hour. They never advertise that they are performance specialists and I've certainly never seen them mentioned on here. But they clearly have a decent amount of repeat business of happy customers. So there maybe more competition than you realise.

The biggest issue with garages is that I've got to drop the car off at 9am and then wait for a call. Or come back in a couple of days. What do I do for hours while I am waiting? How do I get home and then back for the car? So I'd suggest there is definitely a gap in the market for mobile technicians that come to you. Limits the work you can do but then has much smaller start-up costs (meaning low rates also) and gives you time to build up a reputation before investing in premises etc.

 

TDR are almost the only Suburu outfit that I've never heard anything negative about. Alot of competition in that area. Come to Cornwall!

 

Yes a lot of good garages around,chevron,rcm,tsb,mattybdevelopments.

 

The cost of running a workshop has most certainly almost doubled in the last 5 to 10 years, its no surprise garages have to charge almost average £80 per hour on average good techs are really hard to come by and fetching over £20 per hour now, i know techs who work in garages and charge £50 per hour on homers, pay has also gone up too and quite well for a tech, an MOT is £55 and suck at that for so long , thats a quick 40 minute inspection so a skilled tech deserves to fetch the garage circa £80 for a hours skilled work until running a workshop i think people forget the running costs, every garage i know is busy, starting a run of the mill workshop fixing all makes is probably a good choice as people cant repair as much themselves at home without diagnostic equipment and the level of complexity on the other hand a lot of for example subaru nissan audi enthusiasts do a lot of the work themselves as they tend to be quite handy since there into cars but this is also area and competition based

 

Thwaites are quite close to you and they have an excellent reputation

 

It would be good to have a specialist based in the Worcester area as most of the specialists seem to be based in the Midlands which is quite a way to travel from West Wales!

 

I hope you have had first hand dealings with these reccomendation's as I have with 2 and they was a shower of ****!

 

Dan at Surrey Subaru Specialists, Camberley. He will only do good work so don't ask him to fudge anything.

 

The OP isn't asking for recommendations, he's inquiring about setting up on his own....