Home improvement: The mechanics turning your drive into a garage

In most jobs, gratification is rooted in hard metrics: leads, customer conversions, sales and such. But for the RAC's army of mobile mechanics it comes from something altogether more tangible. Sean Kimberlin, the RAC's mobile mechanic of the year and guest speaker at the Autocar Drivers of Change awards, says the true marker of a job well done is, in fact, whether the customer offers tea and biscuits. "You get the 'thank you so much, you don't know how much you've helped me out'. And for me, that's enough. It's a bit corny, but I always think about the customer as a member of my family, and it's important to me that I deliver the sort of service I would want my wife to get or my elderly parents to get," he says. Kimberlin represents the spearhead in a new era for the RAC. Its bright orange breakdown patrols are a familiar sight on the nation's roads, but in 2023 the RAC launched a new mobile servicing arm to help increasingly time-strapped motorists maintain their cars. The concept is simple: you book a service as you would with a garage, then a mechanic comes out to you - be it on your driveway at home, or in your office car park as you work. Paul Coward, head of the RAC's maintenance and repair arm, says the mobile servicing tackles "everything from simple stuff to brakes and starter motors". He adds: "We're probably the biggest buyer in the UK of rotating electrics - starters and alternators." That's a good indication of the scale of the work a mechanic can do on the move. Convenience is by far the service's biggest draw. "The coffee in my local dealer is lovely," jokes Coward, "but you have to get there at 8am and then you don't know how long it's going to take when you drop it off. Then you have to leave work early and ask your boss whether you can get away before 5pm to pick the car back up." The ability to have your car worked on from your front porch saves such hassles, because you can see what work is being done and therefore how much longer it might take. The ability to see what is being done also means you can be confident that you're getting what you've asked for, says Coward. Most dealers or big garages encourage you to go elsewhere while work is carried out - "and then you get the phone call saying it's going to be expensive". But that isn't the case when having your car worked on at home. Coward adds: "We price up front. If that's what it is, that's what we charge. Obviously, if it [becomes more complex] and your ECU or head gasket is broken, we're not going to fix that for the price of a service. We'll have a conversation with the customer to say it's probably not worth doing a service: you need to go to a garage and get it done. So you know exactly what we've done with your car." But what of the 40% of the nation that doesn't have a drive? "We are working on that," says Kimberlin. "We've got a couple of partners with facilities that we can, in some areas, use. We have business partners all over the UK with areas we can work in." He adds that there is more to come on this front and highlights London as a particular problem area, but the RAC hasn't quite finished working on a solution just yet. We can expect such services to become a mainstay in the years to come. As our lives get busier and rents get ever higher, which forces independent garages out of business, mobile mechanics might just become the lifeline that the nation's car parc needs. Indeed, some newcomers to the UK car market are using mobile mechanics as a lifeline for getting customers' cars serviced while they expand their nascent dealer networks. Chinese brand Aion has partnered the AA's rival service, which it views as vital to building customer confidence. What's in a mobile mechanic's van? The RAC's recovery vans are a familiar sight on our roads, liveried in bright orange and fitted with all manner of important gear. But while they may look superficially identical, the mobile mechanics rigs actually carry a completely different payload. Sean Kimberlin drives a Ford E-Transit Custom. He admits he was "sceptical" about driving a short-range electric van every day when it was first assigned to him, but he has come to admire its easy-going drive. With frequent charging forcing him to pause for 40 minutes every so often, "it's actually a much healthier lifestyle" than quickly refilling a diesel van and getting back on the road, he says. Chief among the mechanics' kit is a gateway tablet. This allows Kimberlin to tap into a car's software and carry out diagnostic tests or software updates, as if it were a main dealer doing the work. This is not something for which every independent garage is certified, and it gives the RAC a crucial leg up against the competition. Otherwise, there is a comprehensive set of hand tools used for dismantling cars - screwdrivers, wrenches and such - and parts that might be required, including filters and oils. Completing the package is a large ground sheet, which is placed below the car being serviced before any work begins, to prevent any spillages onto a driveway.

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Home improvement: The mechanics turning your drive into a garage

The RAC is one of many firms offering services at home or a place of work, and the idea is catching on

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Home improvement: The mechanics turning your drive into a garage

The RAC is one of many firms offering services at home or a place of work, and the idea is catching on

More from Autocar

Top 10s

Latest car reviews

Top manufacturers

Quick search

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Legal bits

About Autocar