Mobilized consumer sharing is all the rage these days. Whether its a car-share, a bike-share or an on-the-go car washing company, people are realizing the convenience and efficiency afforded by such services. Driveway Doctors looks to build on this notion, bringing users estimates, repairs and oil changes from ASE Certified mobile mechanics right to their door.
Driveway Doctors is as simple as it is effective. Completely insured, state registered and BBB Accredited, Driveway Doctors acknowledges that some 80 percent of automobile repair can be done on-site and keeps you from having to put yourself, and others, in danger by driving your ailing beater down the highway to the nearest mechanic. Been there. Their own mobile mechanics specialize in brakes, oil changes, tune ups, regular service intervals, alternators starters & batteries to take care of all your tune-up needs.
“I think mobile car repair is part of two bigger trends: increasing consumer transparency, and more convenient services,”
BostInno engaged with founder Alexander Tallett about how he conceived the idea for Driveway Doctors, what the company is doing for innovation and immediate plans for the future. Tallett just pulled down a new round of funding for Driveway Doctors and is looking to make a bigger splash in the Greater Boston Area.
“Markets including home cleaning, babysitting, and a lot of others which are being disrupted by innovative providers or marketplaces,” explained Tallett in an email to BostInno. “Car repair has been somewhat limited in this respect – it’s a tough channel to crack. Most startups want to provide pricing transparency – and that’s a help – but they don’t want to get dirty actually fixing cars. That’s where we are different.”
Tallett’s idea for Driveway Doctors came about in the same way most pragmatic solutions do: he was fed up with the current way of doing things and wanted to disrupt an irritating system.
As a first-year student at Babson’s F.W. Olin School of Business, Tallett lent his 1996 Saab convertible to his girlfriend for the weekend, leaky radiator and all. It was only a matter of time before he received the call.
Hearing “the car just stopped going” on the other end of the phone, Tallet proceeded to rescue his abandoned belle and try to finagle an affordable fix for his ride.
Three mechanics and $2,000 later, he was right back where he started.
“I ended up trading the car in to a dealer for $1,000,” continued Tallett. “I realized that even with knowing about cars and being someone who doesn’t shy away from negotiations, I was completely taken for a ride.”
Part of his curriculum at Babson included a business class where students were essentially asked to create a company idea. With the loss of his Saab still fresh in his mind, the expert in the car repair industry came up with a mobile mechanic paid by salary instead of flat rate. Most mechanics are paid on a per job basis, explains Tallett, which is why they’re always trying to push more tweaks and repairs on the customer.
It was at Babson, too, that he connected with Steve Laverty, and the duo undertook preliminary brainstorming sessions and operational model testing. Steve is now the company’s chief operating officer.
The goal of Driveway Doctors is to serve its consumer-base but also to continue this idea of contained havoc; constructively reconstructing and rearranging a convoluted industry. The umbrella theme is good and affordable service.
“I think mobile car repair is part of two bigger trends: increasing consumer transparency, and more convenient services,” added Tallett. “For most products or services today, you have effective ways of comparing pricing. I’m constantly doing this, checking Amazon when I walk around brick and mortar stores. Car repair was this block of over $150 billion in consumer spending that was completely opaque.”
By offering fixed-rate prices, a one-year/15,000 mile warranty, an updated database of repairs to accurately construct fair pricing models and the luxury of allowing the customer to actively watch the mechanic tinker away in their own driveway, Tallett and his constituents are helping the auto mechanic industry evolve along with contemporary technology.
As for what’s next, Tallett tells me it’s all about growth. Armed with a wallet chock full of fresh funding, Tallett hopes to continue rounding out his team in order to launch a mobile platform this summer. They’ve also got their eyes set on covering the entire Greater Boston Area. After that, they’re willing to launch wherever their able-bodied cars will take them.
