Mobile tire repair services look to grab share of market

NORTH CANTON, Ohio — If conditions are right — like when someone buys tires online and wants to have them installed without leaving his or her home — the mobile tire repair industry makes a lot of sense.

Above all, it's really convenient for the customer.

Those involved in the mobile repair industry say it is growing in popularity, especially with a new focus by businesses around the globe on limiting customer interaction in the wake of the coronavirus.

Others wonder if the mobile repair van's limited tools and inventory, along with myriad liability and logistical concerns, are too much of a hurdle to compete with a well-run garage.

As social distancing becomes part of normal life, the mobile automotive repair industry is hoping it can turn a niche industry into something much larger.

"All the virus did was jump-start mobile to grow faster," Todd Ford, owner of mobile vehicle builder Custom Upfits, said. "Who's going to want to deal with going out and being exposed (to COVID-19) when they can just stay home?"

Mr. Ford also owns Premier Mobile Tire, a Sacramento, Calif.-based mobile tire-servicing business offering coverage in Northern California, Denver and Las Vegas.

Joel Milne, CEO of Los Angeles-based mobile repair fleet RepairSmith Inc., said the pandemic hasn't effected the business, one way or another. The company offers tire installation, oil changes and brake repair as well as a number of engine repairs, such as replacing fuel pumps, alternators, starters and batteries.

"We were growing as fast as we could before the pandemic, and that has not changed," Mr. Milne said. He added that the company did not have to lay off or furlough any of its 100 employees during the pandemic. Mr. Milne said the company is actively hiring in every market the company services.

He said the transition to "contact-free" service was easy because of the way the service was designed.

"RepairSmith was built as low contact and convenient — basically, how do we build this so (the customer) doesn't have to do anything?" Mr. Milne said. "Since that was our focus from the beginning, it was a very easy transition to contact-free."

RepairSmith, which started service in August 2019, operates mobile service vehicles in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, San Jose and Sacramento, Calif.; Las Vegas; and, as of April, Phoenix.

In June, the company acquired More Automotive Group, a provider of mobile repair and maintenance services for fleets, property managers and corporate office parks in the Sacramento, Calif., and San Francisco Bay area.

Mr. Milne said the company will continue to expand — both to strengthen its current footprint and reach new areas.

At St. Louis-based Hunter Engineering Co., John Zentz, senior vice president of global sales, said his company has seen a growth in mobile repair services.

"We're certainly seeing it in multiple facets — mostly, organized from larger companies, like Tesla and Tire Rack," Mr. Zentz said.

"We're seeing this as an extension from our customers' businesses to provide better service. Larger tire dealers are trying to find more ways to help people buy tires."

Mr. Zentz said Hunter, a wheel- and auto-service equipment developer with more than 300 invention patents, is not designing products specifically for the mobile repair industry, "but we have had a lot of equipment we sold to shops end up in vans."

He said Hunter has developed its wheel balancers and tire changers as compact as possible.

"Balancers and tire changers really have a small footprint. We're not specifically designing for (mobile), but what we have serves both purposes."

On one job, mobile repair vehicle builder Custom Upfits was sent new, top-of-the-line tire equipment by its customer to be used in the new vans it was building. Turns out, though, the equipment was too cumbersome for a mobile repair van.

"They were good machines for the shop, somewhere with space, but it wasn't going to fit in the vehicle," Custom Upfits owner Mr. Ford said. "It really is a game of inches."

Sacramento-based Custom Upfits turns cargo vans and trailers into mobile auto shops able to do services such as wheel repair, tire installation, oil changes (which use a vacuum system), automotive painting and even CNC machining.

The company, which started in 2011, has done conversions for a number of retail tire chains looking to expand their reach and offer a more convenient option for customers.

When it comes to building the vehicle, Mr. Ford said "saving on weight is everything, as it should not weigh so much that the driver would need a commercial license.

"And, don't forget, you are likely trying to do three to four jobs in a row, so you're also carrying 12 or so tires, too."

RepairSmith is backed by Daimler A.G., and Mr. Milne said they are able to leverage that relationship to outfit its Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans.

"Daimler has been building out these vans for many, many years," Mr. Milne said. "We got very fortunate that we have the engineers who build these vans for suppliers like Amazon."

Online tire retailer Tirescanner.com Inc. said its business grew 400% in the first quarter of 2020 over the same 2019 period, with sales continuing to be strong in April and May — though it did not disclose detailed earnings.

The company, founded in 2018, attributed its success to its initiative to recruit mobile tire installers to join the Tirescanner.com online-ordering system.

"Our growth demonstrates that although use of cars may have diminished, there is still a demand out there," Tirescanner CEO Mike Welch said. "Drivers are shopping differently and looking for convenience, service and a safer way to shop for their tires, as well as great value."

The service claims to have a network of more than 3,500 independent garages throughout the U.S., plus more than 150 mobile vans in 35 states recruited since early 2020.

The Tirescanner.com mobile model is designed to allow customers to receive next-day, at-home installation of any tire.

Mr. Ford said there are several challenges to manage in the mobile repair world.

He said when a customer pulls into a service shop, there is a built-in sense of trust and confidence upon seeing a busy shop at work. With mobile, you don't have that, so you need a vehicle that inspires customer confidence, he said.

"You only get one chance at a first impression," Mr. Ford said. "And if you make a bad impression, especially for mobile, it can kill it for you and the industry."

He added that a big key is being very specific with the customer about the appointment and services.

Mr. Milne at RepairSmith said they studied and "beta tested" RepairSmith for at least a year before starting service. What the company found was that the system worked better with an employed staff — as opposed to gig work, or independent contractors — and they had to find a way to avoid "a dead end" when it comes to service.

Because of this, all RepairSmith technicians are employees of the company, and it doesn't do same-day appointments. This allows the company to figure out the most efficient way to use their technicians.

"Customers love the convenience when it works," Mr Milne said. He also said RepairSmith has relationships with a number of brick-and-mortar automotive service shops, and they will refer the customer to one of those shops if the work required is beyond what the technician is capable of doing from his or her service van.

If a vehicle does need to go into a shop, Mr. Milne said, RepairSmith may do the diagnostic work and the delivery and pick-up of the vehicle.

"Our biggest challenge is hiring and training the right tech," Mr. Milne said. "... Finding the right people is really important."

Mr. Milne noted how a mobile technician not only has to be able to diagnose and work on a vehicle out of their repair van, but they also have to interact with a customer in a more personal way then if the customer visited a brick-and-mortar shop.

Independent retail tire dealers contacted by Tire Business about the emergence of mobile tire repair offered a variety of opinions. Many said they believed it could work in areas with a high population where access to additional inventory is close.

One tire dealer said the possible risk was too high for his business, and he preferred the controlled environment of the tire shop. He noted the possibility of "accidents, lack of proper tools or equipment, off-site contact with unruly or unpredictable customers, injury and even malpractice."

Another tire dealer said he believed mobile repair wasn't viable because "customers usually have multiple service needs that can't be answered remotely."

At Hunter, Mr. Zentz said despite growth, he believes mobile repair will remain an ancillary part of the repair industry. He noted how it was a good option for companies such as Tesla Inc., which is doing specific work on its own vehicles, and Tire-Rack.com, which doesn't offer repair service and was able to expand its business with the addition of mobile installation.

"Independent tire dealers really want the customers to come to them," Mr. Zentz said. "There are so many services performed when those tires are put on the car."

Mr. Ford said the mobile repair industry is changing quickly and for the better. He noted that the first generation of mobile repair vans look nothing like the mobile repair vehicles he's building today.

Mr. Ford said as technology improves and more services can be offered out of the vehicles, he believes more people in the automotive repair industry will find new ways to utilize mobile repair.

For instance, he said brick-and-mortar shops could use it to add another option for customers or to test out expanding into new territories.