Welcome to Palm Springs And My New Shop <<<<<<<< NOW OPEN!!!>>>>>>>>

[Lady Di]

Just remember...power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

[ds4x4t]

Cool I live in INDIO me and my cuz will go check it out    Good luck 

[RTA]

Stopped by to check it out yesterday. Nobody home.   Almost directly across the street from the Toyota dealer.   
Are you guy's doing all the work on the building to get it ready?  What else are you going to do besides paint? 

[Rocksurfer]

I was there for most of the day, maybe you were too early. Paint it inside and out is the plan Valvoline gave us $5,000.00 to paint it and we are going to re-pave the lot it's looking pretty sad. We've already redone the entire carwash it is ready to go and are waiting for Valvoline to come and redo that end.

[unclejpl4x4]

wish i was in cali i would so come and help

[RTA]

Yea, I was there around 9:00 or so.  Should be back out that way Thur./Fri. I will try to stop by.

[Rocksurfer]

I got there about 10:00, I won't be there the rest of the week still gotta work and make some $.

[dt]

I live way up north,but when I go to mojave preserve,Ill stop by,...good luck

[Plekto]

Sweet.  Put up a sign that's big enough to see at the Toyota dealer's parking lot:

"Labor rates - 2/3 what Toyota charges.  4x4 and off-road specialist."

Or if you really want to get customers, charge for time spent and not by "book" labor.  You'll be backlogged for weeks in short order.   Since you can't win versus Toyota in terms of services and size, you can certainly undercut them on labor charges and parts markup.   

[79coyotefrg]

you should hire unc

[Rocksurfer]

It would be an awfully long commute.

[NT-OUTBACK]

I remember when Cat city had

A Honda ATV shop at Palm Canyon Dr and Ramon.

There used to be a drive-in where all the dealers are with a killer swap meet on Sundays.

Where the VW dealer now stands it used to be a Honda dealer.

Kemp went under for fraud and the new cars on the lot had dirt all over them from being closed.

Perez road was a dead end.

Cat city bulldozed a ton of buildings near the cove.

Eatom hill was free for the taking and was a zoo on the weekends.

[Rocksurfer]

I take it you used to live there?

[NT-OUTBACK]

I grew up in Cat City and Rancho Mirage.  I've been away for nearly 7 years now; the last time I was there was only for a day in 06, and I got "something in my eye" when I saw how much more has been paved over. The Coachella Valley was so much different when I was growing up.

[Rocksurfer]

Yeah when my dad first moved there most of Date Palm was vacant land almost all the way to the 111 now it is populated all the way to the 10.

[unclejpl4x4]

It would be an awfully long commute.

word   im 2 poor 2 leave NJ  

[DTB]

word   im 2 poor 2 leave NJ  

maybe rocksurfer will give u a raise! 

[Rocksurfer]

I just got an offer to open another shop back in Arizona, the deals come in packs I guess. A little too late for that at this point I'm still gonna speak with the guy and see what he's got in mind. He's also wanted to open quick lube shops and maybe I'll wing a few deals out of this.

[Duffil]

damn i guess the hits just keep on comin for ya.

[unclejpl4x4]

RS is gona be the daddy

[Rocksurfer]

I think once I get this one going I'm going to pitch opening several Valvoline Quick Lubes to this guy, he's a Daddy Warbucks for sure. Several years ago I discussed opening a All Lube & Tune with him, I even went to their seminar on their products and franchising information. I didn't like the way they wanted to push their sales very similar to Jiffy Lube which we also checked into and now both are in big trouble and look to fold. Sure glad we didn't go with them. Valvoline is not going anywhere that's for sure and we are not bound to any deals since we are not a franchise plus they allow you to promote yourself and your services and you only have to follow their guidelines so as not to impugn their products.

The last I talked with him he was thinking about wanting to open a towing co., carwash or something in that line so now once I get this rolling I will look into what he wants to do now and have this in my back pocket to show him how well we can operate a non franchised deal. He is really into doing franchies but I've always wanted to do something without the corporate strings attached.

This is the same guy I worked for last year (Jack In The Box) and he wasn't real happy that I left. Not with me but with the reasons I packed it in there. I had been wondering if he'd come back around but he's been real busy opening some other restaurants including more Jack's and some Golden Corrals. I guess he's finished with those and has turned his attention back to me. He has always wanted to open something other than restaurants to expand his horizons and not have to rely solely on food service. One of the reasons I even went to work in his restaurant was to show him I could run and manage a business by myself, and not to toot my own horn but within two months of starting with him I was running one alone and within six months he told me I was better than half of his current managers and with a little more time I'd be one of the best he's ever seen if I kept going the way I was. Unfortunately some of the area managers saw this too and were continually trying to beat me down. That the stress of learning a new business and just the day to day crap there was killing me (literally) so that's when I left before it put me in my grave.

Anyways I'm going to get one going and then draft a proposal for him once I actually see the potential of this whole deal with Valvoline/Goodyear. The really cool thing is I will have an inside track due to the race team association with them. I fully expect my brother to get back into racing fulltime once we get going and I'm sure they will push him for that anyways. I've already touched on this issue and he is very interested in the latest craze ROCKCRAWLING competitions!!

[unclejpl4x4]

I wana see the inside of the shop
:snapshots:

hay vavleolne sponcerd F-toy

[Rocksurfer]

I wana see the inside of the shop
:snapshots:

hay vavleolne sponcerd F-toy

Maybe in the beginning, but once he sees those moonbuggies he will instantly want one.

[Rocksurfer]

I wana see the inside of the shop
:snapshots:

Took a few when I was there today.

[Rocksurfer]

 

[unclejpl4x4]

      ya man  just needs a good p-washings and some white paint 

[Not A Toy]

start a towing service they make bank raping people! not that you would have to make too large a profit but they do make good money for nothing!

[solar86yota]

Look like it's gonna be a cool litle shop! If I'm ever in Cali, i'll stop by!

[Rocksurfer]

start a towing service they make bank raping people! not that you would have to make too large a profit but they do make good money for nothing!

You don't understand the towing business do you? Sure you pay what seems to be a lot of money for a tow but when you consider how much a towtruck costs and that when you are looking at insurance they are raping the tower you wouldn't say that they are raping people. Think of it this way on insurance for a towtruck, for every tow there is the potential for damage or even worse an accident. Sure it could be a POS Pinto you are towing but it could also be a Bentley. Due to that even that Pinto is a Bentley and you are going to pay a Bentley sized premium.

The only way a towing business stays busy all the time is through club services that pay very little to their contractors in fact it is usually about 1/3 of what a tow would cost you if you were to not have a card. So when you figure that out you get about $15.00 a call if you are lucky and that will barely pay for the driver. C.O.D. calls are pretty rare you may get a few a day at the most, so the majority of the time your $75,000. towtruck is parked not making a dime. If you have a police/CHP contract except in certain areas you are not the exclusive tow for them, it is done on a rotation system and like the CHP contract just about anyone that qualifies gets a contract. You could have 10 companies running the same beat. Then you have all the scab towers running around stealing the calls you should have got and usually they are a one man operation that if he even has insurance he did not register it as a towtruck so your car is not covered under his insurance since he is only supposed to have a pickup truck.

So the true tower is constantly fighting to stay open, and yes has no choice but to charge a premium when he can. I don't know what your reference is on them but if they are a reputable tower you got what you paid for.

[solar86yota]

That's deep RockSurfer!!!!