Another Disaster In the Making
10 September 2011
09 September 2011
08 September 2011
Pitstop Tire Key West - Coolest New Business To Come Up Or Down US1 In A Long Time
NOTE: Instead of posting economic news or videos on my blog early this morning, I thought I would post about a new business idea which wowed me yesterday afternoon. This proves the American "Can Do" entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well in the hinterlands of this country.
Here's my story:
Yesterday afternoon I had two new tires mounted and balanced and put on my car at my ranch by a new business called Pitstop Tire Key West.
While I was out cutting grass on the back one acre of the ranch, Javier and Romero were taking two bad tires off my 96 Toyota (my farm "truck") and replacing them with brand new radial tires. So. In order: They jacked up my car, they took the lugnuts off with an air gun, they took the old tires and wheels off the axles, they dismounted the old tires, they put a brand new radial tire on each wheel, then they balanced the wheels, and then the new tires with balanced wheels were put back on my car. Time of the job? Not even an hour!
I learned about this incredible tire service from my manager, Jason (Juan) at work. This is how he learned about this incredible convenient service:
Jason owns a 4 wheel drive which he had to take to a local car dealership for what they said was going to be a major repair. The vehicle sat in their repair bay lot for six weeks. The shop kept telling Jason that since his vehicle (an H2) was no longer manufactured, he needed to find another H2 owner, bring that vehicle to the dealership, and have code from its onboard computer uploaded to the one in Jason's vehicle. (The dealership told Jason they would give the other H2 owner a free oil change worth $90.00) After six weeks of this maddening delay, Jason decided to take this vehicle away from the dealership lot and see if his friend, Javier, "a former backyard mechanic", could help him out.
Javier looked over the H2 and in a matter of minutes tells Jason, "Here's your problem, brother, a $40 fuse." Bam. What was going to be hundreds and hundreds of dollars in un-needed dealership repairs only cost Jason $40 and was solved in minutes by this friend of his, Javier, who has worked on cars for years in his backyard.
Okay, so Jason tells me about this guy and I quip, "Does he do repairs at your home?"
"As a matter of fact, Rocko, he not only does repairs at your home, or his, but he's just launched a new service (this week is the third week) of changing tires at your home and place of business!"
"Now how the hell can the guy do that, Jason? You need tires balanced, mounted, etc."
"Yeah, he bought all this equipment. Mounted it in his van and a trailer. And now he goes to where the problem is. No more having a tow truck picking up your car and towing it down to your mechanic 20 miles away. No more having to get up after an hour or two sleep, taking your car to a mechanic, taking a taxi or catching a ride back home."
So. I needed two tires. I call this guy, Javier. He orders the radials I wanted yesterday (a step up for this old Toyota which looks like shit but runs like a champ). The tires arrived today. Javier calls me up from Big Coppitt where he lives. "Your tires have arrived and I can be up there in 20 minutes."
"Excellent! I'm out in the yard cutting grass and pruning trees. Come on up!"
I give him directions to where I live up here in Cudjoe Key.
Pit Stop Key West comes down my 1/2 mile long dirt road, real easy like, because of all the potholes. As he gets closer, I'm thinking, "This guy is serious! Look at this van and trailer."
He gets here to the car which has one blow out and can't be moved. He needed no extension cords run from my house for electricity. He had a generator, an air compressor, a tire changing machine, a machine which balances the tire, etc., all mounted in either the van or in the trailer.
I said, "Guys, I'll be out there cutting grass. Just let me know when you are finished and how much the damage is."
About 45 minutes later I'm riding by Javier and he shouts the job is done. I was stunned. He also filled up the two older tires on the back with air. And he suggested I have the front end aligned later.
So we got to talking about this new service. Check this out. He will come to your home and change your oil and filter for a flat rate of $30! (Think back to the beginning of this post. The dealership in Key West was telling Jason their oil change with filters cost $90.) Now that $30 flat fee is for up to 5 quarts of oil. If you have a huge vehicle, he'll charge you a little extra. I want to say it was $60 flat fee for the more expensive synthetic oil.
Regardless, the cool thing about all this is if you are a night worker, you don't even have to get up in the morning any longer to take your vehicle to a garage. Now the garage comes to you. And they take credit cards. And if you want, you can arrange to leave your key hidden at your property while you sleep and Javier will do the oil change, tire change, etc., while you keep snoring.
For my friends at Rick's, I'll be placing one of his flyers and some of Pit Stop Key West cards on the bulletin board at work. All the women who work with me, this is the answer to a lot of your, "Who do you trust to work on your car, Rocko?" This guy, Javier, is an ex-bar worker (Fat Tuesday's) who knows what we go through. He's just starting out with the "come to your home or business" tire changing and oil changing. And he's offering other services too.
I thank the manager of the Red Garter, Jason Rodriquez, for alerting me to this new business and this honest mechanic who comes to where your car is located.
Here's the link to his new Facebook page for his business. Everybody at work, take one of his cards and keep it in your purse or wallet. He does Emergency Road service on cars just like those bigger trucks do for tractor trailer rigs with blowouts.
Later, gang.
Rocko over and out,
p.s. Key West readers will have to just go to facebook and punch up Pitstop Tire Key West to see their new facebook page. For some reason facebook links are "buggy" this morning and will not link to Google's blogging service. C'est la Vie.
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