How to Open an Auto Repair Shop: The Ultimate Guide

Since you are an auto repair shop, you need to have auto repair equipment. But just like any other business, you need capital to get equipment. If you do not have enough money to purchase all equipment for your business, you should, at least, get the essential ones like car lifters, engine hoists, and battery chargers, so that you can use these every day to conduct your business smoothly.

Listed below are the essential equipment you should buy for your auto repair shop.

Important Equipment for Your Auto Repair Shop

Car lifter

All auto repair shops need a car lifter. This is the most essential equipment that you should buy. A car lifter helps you view what is underneath the vehicle. Since most problems of cars are caused by the malfunction of the mechanisms under the car, auto repair shop owners should have a car lifter to troubleshoot and inspect the vehicle.

Car lifters have various types. You can get two-post surface-mounted car lifters, drive-on parallelogram types, multi-post runways types, scissor car lifters, in-ground car lifters, and wheel engaging units.

Air compressor 

Most equipment in the auto repair shop runs on compressed air. From car lifts to pneumatic hand tools, compressed air powers all these devices. Thus, it is essential to have air compressors on hand. Some shops equip themselves with two or more just to have spare units to use in case one accidentally breaks.

Oil drain caddy

One of the most common maintenance requests from auto repair shops is changing the oil of the vehicle. To make the work easier and cleaner, you should get an oil drain caddy. These are the containers that receive the oil that is being drained from a car. Get a high-capacity oil drain caddy in order to accommodate more volumes of fluids.

Engine Hoist

When a vehicle needs major repairs, usually, you need to remove its engine. To do this, you will need an engine hoist. You can also use this to overhaul the engine itself.

Engine hoists are determined based on their lifting capacity. The higher the weight that it can carry, the more expensive the engine hoist will be. To know which one to buy, make sure to have a better understanding of the type of customers that you will have. Big trucks have huge engines while compact cars have smaller engine weights.

Strut compressor

 Another useful item to have in your auto repair shop is the strut compressor. This equipment is used to adjust the suspension of your vehicle. It can help you reduce the capacity of the vehicles’springs so that they can easily move.

Buying substandard strut compressors can be very dangerous for your shop. Make sure that you will only buy durable units from reputable suppliers.

Battery Charger

Another familiar problem that most vehicle owners have is a discharged battery. With this in mind, you should get a battery charger and jumper. What’s great with these types of equipment is that they are quite cheap. And these can serve a lot of vehicle owners which can translate to income for your shop.

Conclusion

The startup of any business is always the most crucial one. You need to manage your capital and not over budget especially in the purchase of the right equipment for your business. This means that you will need to spend some time to understand the whole auto repair shop process and get the essential equipment like the appropriate car lifter, durable engine hoist, powerful strut compressor, and other items. It is all about prioritization. Understand your business, purchase the most essential ones, and budget for the rest of the equipment as your auto repair shop earns.