Well Dan, looks like your gig is going further down the dumper with every post.

 

Yea, Steve, I do believe you pegged it! Good thing i was testing the waters! I have 25 years to work out the bugs. Just something i always thought was cool. I hear of and no too many retirees that while they do retire they end up doing something to keep it going. I thought if that was gonna have to be me, might as well make it something i would enjoy. Location is gonna be the biggest key, Ken mentioned we fuel when we need it. I do believe that to be mostly true, so i wanna be along a decent road. The flipside is there are a whole bunch of people that really havent got an idea how to "own" a car, and need a place such as this. It just doesnt seem so much so on a car website. thanks for the input, i look forward to more, after all i've got time, might as well start formulating. Dan

 

You retire like I do. I decided to get back into working with horses. I was a professional farrier in my younger days. I custom make knives, & started sharpening scissors for one of the hair salons in town. So today I trim horses hoofs, make knives & sharpen scissors & knives for not only the hair salon, but the womens sewing club, & half the town. So much for being retired. A full-time job would be less busy.
Craig

 

Man, I can't remember the last time I saw a full-service station. Maybe the early '90s? As a guy who works with his hands and watches almost all of my pennies, I would likely never let someone pump my gas for me. However, if I were making better coin, wearing a suit every day, I'd use full service quite a bit.

Dan, it's good to have dreams. I may agree with the others that what you describe might be tough to make happen, but like you said, you have 25 years to perfect your dream... If you're going to dream, dream big! But, remember, a goal without a plan is just a wish!

Jason

 

I know you were addressing the 'lesser' Steve....

But damn, young 'un....You give up too easily.......

The concept is intriguing (and workable with a lot of 'work'), but I'd change a few things.

One, get rid of the full-service auto bay repair thingee.....That's too much to take on. It also makes for a 'junkyard' look to the station (see below).

Two, (Ken mentioned this)....the hours. You have to be able to service customers who might be out and about later than 'normal' folks......You might need to consider making the hours like 0500 to 2300, or something like this. If you can find a couple of good employees with names like 'Goober' and 'Gomer'......They can be your closing guys so you're not working 18-hrs/day...........

Three, KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid).....No, Dan, I'm NOT calling you stupid.......It should be enough that the air is checked and filled, the oil is checked and topped off as needed, the windshield-wiper fluid is checked and filled, and the windshield is cleaned....Most people just don't want to bother. Leave the oil changes and such to places like Jiffy Lube, etc.......

Four, Instead of auto parts and a service bay (or two)...Keep a good area for beer/beverages/snacks, etc........A passenger can run in and get, or hell.....Have a 'menu' of stuff in the store you can hand to the driver, and they could check off what they want---you get it, and just add it to the bill. Simple and convenient. This is where service stations (and convenience stores) make their money too.....

Five, I'd be closed on Sundays. This would guarantee you at least a day off...and depending on your employee status.....maybe even a couple of days (a luxury for business owners.....).....I mean, this IS kinda/sorta your retirement, right?

Six, Keep it bright and clean. I've passed by full-service stations before because they looked crowded....had broken cars all over the place, looked greasy and looked about to fall in. If you don't do 'service' (repairs, etc.), this shouldn't be a problem. With some of them places, you'd be lucky to score a zagnut and bag of peanuts for a snack..........Anyway, most women like bright and clean........

Bathrooms, bathrooms, bathrooms.....You've GOT to offer this to your customers.........Women like clean bathrooms too...........Some of us can get by with a nearby fire hydrant or something......

***Keep working on the dream, Dan.....Don't let these other bast--ds get you down......

 

> believe people will pay a little more for that service.

Do not believe it. Most people want to pay and go. Cars require very little care now. What they do want is to stuff their fat faces with treats and coffee in the morning on the way to work.

Plus, you forgot to factor in two things which older stations did not have to contend with on a regular basis:

1) EPA

2) Criminals that will travel dozens of miles to rob and kill you because you are carrying cash on your person.

We just had a poor beer delivery guy that immigrated from Haiti to GA killed while making a delivery. It appears the felon couldn't roust money inside, so he tried the delivery man, and shot him when he wouldn't fork anything over. Going by the scanty news account, I read the story as he asked the Haiti guy for money and he said to go soak his head and get a job.

I would say the starting point on getting two tanks into the ground would be $100,000+ if you can get the permit. Then you have to have collection tanks for ground water, etc.

The only reasonable way to open any gas station today is to have a million dollars and a lawyer on retainer. You will not find anyone to give you a loan on an old station with buried tanks unless it is already a declared brown site.

If you offer gas on only two or so pumps with no self-serve, imo, you will be working to pay the pumps and there will be no profit, ever. You need volume today to break even.

It is a nice dream, but, even Opie disses God, those Mayberry gas station days are gone. Just from causal observation, the small ones that stay in business do only diesel, kerosene, and propane.

 

oh no Steve "the greater" they have not broken my spirit. I wanted input, the only other people i have spoken of this thought it was great! I needed to temper that with some cons, i asked and i have recieved. The bottom line is i wanna have a place to build my toys, i just thought the little full serv joint could offset costs. There is more than one way to skin a cat! I truly believe there is a place in our world for what i have pitched, it may need refinement and focusing, but there is a place! Those who have mentioned it are right, there is very little that needs to be done to modern day cars, just step into my driveway and i will prove it to you. My wife drove my grand marquis for 3 weeks, when i got into for the 1st time since buying my Harley, it was down 3 yea, 3 quarts of oil!!!!!! dont ask me why or how, but the dipstick doesnt lie! why was she driving my car, because in the 4.5 years she owned her Nissan Xterra, nobody ever informed her that it was using coolant, and i myself ignored a smell i was certain i was smelling. results 700 dollars and a month in the shop and it goes back in tommorrow to hopefully finally be repaired properly. Everything a layman can check under the hoods of all of my vehicles is marked in yellow, you think my wife could figure it out? how about yours? oh yea there is a place, will there be a place 25 years from now, who can say? When was the last time jiffylube brought your attention to something, or that you believed them? I would not have a dog in that race, your car is using oil or coolant, i dont wanna fix it, will not have the ability! on the otherhand your belts are looking close, or your hoses are nearing failure, your battery is weak, yea i can do that. Oil changes, well i misspoke, i will do them, but it isnt gonna be like the jiffylube, you drive in and out 20 minutes later. No, it is gonna be the local, the regular, the one willing to make an appointment, and leave it. the ones that will come based on a relationship of trust. they will only be done to keep a young man busy ar a bay occupied, a justification for a bay if you will. Dont worry about cleanliness, it will be clean and inviting, the way some of you talk i will be so slow it would be unthinkable to not be clean. Either way nobody will see something that would leave them feeling uncertain about using the facilities. I do believe as some have mentioned my real problem will be the time for myself i will not have! Dan

 

There is one gas station in town that does something like you describe. Full service fuel and a quick lube all in the same facility. In 25 years a lot could happen.

Crap in 25 years I will be 55. After that realization, to fun this enterprise I would not take any money earmarked for retirement to finance this. I would however start setting aside some money in addition to retirement to have something to play with.

It seems like a cool idea, and in initial appearance looks to be good idea. It could fill a unique niche.

One more thought: In the last 8 years there were two more service stations like you describe in the town I live in (13,000 people) they remodeled their service bays (oil changes and tire repairs minor repairs) and turned into regular C-stores.

 

Isn't 'post-retirement' by definition 'death'?

 

ah if this idea dont work open up a truck stop. this way you can drink coffee all day and talk crap!!! we ALL no your good at that!

 

no way Wiz, I hate truckdrivers!!!!!!! I avoid truckstops like the plague! after driving one for 12 years and another 25 to go, trucks will play no part in my future! You are right about the crap talkin though. You made that call yet, if your gonna drive you might as well work for a company hauling there own crap, and be home every night! Dan

 

I spoke to a little man that runs the steel room at one of my customers today. If a person could pick there grandparents let me tell you i would pick this guy! anyways he owned a shop as i have described some years ago. He thinks it is certainly a workable plan today, but as mentioned before, who knows what we will drive then! Actually right now he thinks it would be a good idea, and has contemplated it himself. One addition he suggested is to have a bay for rent for the kids of tommorrow to work on there own junk. He did suggest that insurance and state agencies would be the make or break. Dan