Hi guys,
I am looking to buy a tyre and car servicing franchise so thought I ask the people who probably research the hell out of where to buy the cheapest tyres. So the questions are simple:
Anything else you would like to share?
Thanks
EDIT: Sorry if I confused anyone, I am looking to BUY a Tyre/servicing franchise.
Thanks for your reply mate. I am hoping to build my business on customer service and honestly. Hopefully, word of mouth and referrals will bring more customers in than national advertising. I do feel in service industry referrals from family mean more than big brands.
In that business the top priority is knowledge of current vehicles. Most repair shops only have a basic idea, have a fiddle and usually cause more problems than they fix.
Young unskilled labour will give you plenty of headaches too..
There is a lot of overheads in such a business so make sure you cover all those with your calculations.
for me, service is the number priority. If i feel as if I can trust you and that you you'll do a good job, I wont even look for a cheaper price, I'd be happy to pay for the 'trust' premium.
1.Where do you buy your tyres?
2.Do you go for quality/best price or cheapest option available?
3.Where do you get your car serviced?
Thanks mate. Second hand tyres are an interesting concept. I will look more into it however I am quite sure, I wont be allowed to sell second hand tyres through the franchise.
KMart Tyre and Auto will price match tyres; I've used dodgy-looking online sellers and they've happily done the same price which was a huge discount off their price - no questions.
People hate KTAS, but I used to use them a lot for small jobs I couldn't do myself and got on a first-name basis with the guys - they were super helpful, friendly and knowledgeable.
KMart tyre and Auto don't franchise and are company owned. I don't know why people don't like them?
I swear by my local KTAS, though I've used others before in different states with varying results. But my local one is reliable and friendly and I'd recommend them to anyone. Not to mention the fact they're usually the cheapest around
Pro tip- use tempe tyres as a price comparison. do not buy from these things, as A. the tyres are parallel import, B. the funds are transferred overseas to buy more toyota hiluxs for certain organizations.
call up kmart tyre and tell them the price and they happily price beat by $5. 60% of the time it works every time.
So use this when pricing your tyres for your business.
funds terrorism
Say what now?
Thanks mate. I will definitely keep this in mind. Tempe tyres looks like a large business though, that's a lot of machine gun mounted Hiluxs.
toyota hilux
Good choice. Better than the junk that the forces uses.
Sounds sympathetic to me.
heh. I would compliment anyone that chooses these vehicles over the alternative regardless of which side their on.
Car serviced at the dealer. It's a 20 minute drive from my house and there is a bus that takes me to almost outside my office. Unless I find a specialist for my brand of car that is a similar distance I'm happy to pay a slight premium.
Tyres, Again dealer. Looked on tyre sales and I would have saved about $5. Not worth it.
The site I am looking at is only 15 min walk from nearest train station and less than a min drive. It's also on the main bus route. I was also thinking about offering customers ride to the train station or bus stop.
Giving loan cars is a huge expense and I am not sure if its expected when we will only have the car for few hours to maximum a day.
Didn't realise you were actually looking at buying a place. Mis-read.
Being near a train station is only a good thing. That's the main thing for me. As you build your business buying some cheap loan cars (i.e Suzuki swift, corolla) would be useful for some clients.
Most people will drop their car off , go to work , then come and get it.
I reckon that's a great idea, offering a lift to the train/bus. I know I don't expect a loan car from a tyre place
1.Where do you buy your tyres?
Anywhere that's cheap for the tyre I'm looking for.
2.Do you go for quality/best price or cheapest option available?
Quality. Wouldn't skimp on tyres - specially since they're the only things that's between you and the road.
3.Where do you get your car serviced?
At the dealership as I'm still within the new car warranty. My previous car was serviced at a local mechanic
Personally, I value service/quality of the work over anything. I'm willing to pay a bit extra if I know the person takes pride in their work
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am glad not everyone is trying to find the cheapest product/service possible. There is still a place for people who love what they do and go the extra mile for their customers.
I just bought tyres from a wrecker. The tyres came from a newer model of my car and with the more modern hubs. The donor car had only done 5000kms so the tyres are near new. Cost $500. Brand new tyres would have cost >$1000.
I will sell my old tyres w/ hubs on eBay to recoup some of the cost
Thanks for your reply mate. The franchise I am looking to buy is one of the mentioned above and they do buy 3 get 1 free few times a year.
In regards to service, are you talking about oil/filter change or more complex things as well? Cheers
Well I do everything that's stated in the manual (like tire rotation, spark plug, transmission fluid and transfer case fluid changes etc.) But I will consider getting it serviced when it reaches 100,000km just so everything gets checked because I'm no mechanic. In terms of where, because I have a Jeep, I would only consider going to a mechanic that specialises in Jeep (like modification shops which do service as a plus). If I had a normal car, maybe which ever place is reputable + good price. When I search on google, I always check their ratings and reviews. So if the business is full of good reviews I would most likely go to there. I'd rather pay more to get things done, than get robbed with just an oil/filter change. Good luck mate :)
Thanks mate. I am always surprised how many businesses don't look after their social media or online ratings etc. Google reviews are probably most important for most service businesses these days and I hardly ever see owners replying back or taking ownership of anything in the reviews. That could be an easy win.
What about wreckers? There should be an option for other, gumtree etc… I've bought great tyres from these sources…
I like Yokohama tyres. They are excellent in wet weather and your car doesn't skid around like cheaper tyres. So I just wait till there is 3 for 4 deal at Bob Jane.
I should add that Kmart Tyre and Auto are also really good for tyres, they don't sell yokohamas though, but both my daughters get their tyres from there (well I pay for them LOL) and they are great.
Car service - at a local place where the man is very honest and never gives you big bills. Before that used to go to the dealer and get hit with a $1500 bill and a huge list of other problems every time I got my car serviced. Go to this guy and I have to pay $300.
Thanks for your reply mate.
Finding good mechanic/tradie that you can trust is difficult but they do exist.
i just love reading people buying 2nd hand tyres, you have no idea what they have been thru (car crash internal damage), just because they have tread does not mean they are not damaged. admittedly they only help the car change direction and stop so its no big deal if they fail.
if you want to save money you would be better off buying cheap new Chinese tyres than 2nd hand name brand tyres. most of the name brand tyres now manufacture in some cheap part of asia where labour is a $1 a day.
have a good look at the books of the business you are considering, in Perth there are many tyre retailers on the edge of closing, there is a list of tyre distributors that are struggling, tyrepower has closed its distribution warehouse and they are letting their retail shops buy what ever is cheapest from whoever.
the tyre industry is shot here.
servicing vehicles i travel about 40kms to the other end of town for servicing as i am comfortable with the man that owns and runs the business.
good luck with the business hunt.
Thanks mate. You make some very valid points.
Sounds like online sales, parallel imports and increased competition are pain points for most industries and retailers. I however believe that there is still a huge potential for brick and mortar stores who focus on customer service and honesty. I am very surprised with Harvey Norman for this very reason. My brother in law works for them and his store has been grown every year over the past 4 year. It's partly due to increase in population in Melbourne and also people like to see/feel the product before they buy. He works in the TV/Audio area and says less than half of the customers try to negotiate against online prices, it's manily against goodguys/jbhifi etc. I think I will not hear from those people on this forum.
I am planning to be in this business for maximum 10 years and then invest the money into more passive income streams. I am meeting with the franchisor next week and will ask them all these questions. Cheers
No offence, but well, you sound like shark-bait.
Someone with no experience in the industry, minimal understanding of the market. You might believe in customer service and honesty, but that doesn't mean the franchisor does - they're sharks and they can and most likely will bite you hard. Retail is cut-throat these days and tyre retailing is no different.
Please get independent and experienced advice!
Thanks for your comment mate and no offence taken.
I am working with my lawyer and accountant, both of them have dealt with franchise purchases before and were recommended by a friend who owns couple of Subways.
Funny you talk about experience in the industry. I met with wife's aunt on the weekend who owns a Tyre franchise in NSW and she was working as a nurse before.
Gumtree!
Tyres i use jaxs
Service i use the dealer. They gove me road side service and can update my maps and bill my lease company directly.
I research online for what the price should be, then call the tyre place near work - if they have a reasonable price I go with them. Which worked last time. The time before that I used KTAS when they showed prices online.
I say have good prices and put them on your website. I understand that you may lose some customers from ktas though ( I have called them last time and they pretty much said find a price and we will then pricematch )
I ask my mechanic for a recommendation and got mine through that. in terms of finding my mechanic, it was a referral from a family member.
Good luck