Hobby shops

I need more room to work on my car. And with the prices of space now. Renting a closed down auto repair shop is cheap. I have found you can get a lot for $1000 a month. I have also seen people on craigslist partner up on renting a car shop to store their cars or restore their old projects. Just a hobby shop type place.

A shop with a bathroom, 1 car lift, air and lights. 1 or 2 14ft roll up doors.

I'm wondering if anyone would be down to have a shared rental. I just need a place to store my car and work on it once a month. But if we get 4 people in @ $1000 a month, That's cheaper then a storage locker. And at that point you get a car lift and use of tools for free... I know some of you are military and have base hobby shops. This would be the same but you could store your car there. Have a bbq there and so on.


Just an idea. I'd love to make this happen.

 

Where would the location for this place be? Sounds like an awesome idea.

 

That would be an awesome idea! If I wasnt deployed 6 mos out of the year I would do this.

 

I'm down if it's between walnut creek or fremont

 

We tossed this idea around before, it would be a great idea but...

Remember you have other bills too, so the idea would be to get 10-15 guys, work out a scedule (like person X gets days 1-3 this week and so on) and charge a small monthly fee.

Things to remember you need:

1)Utility bills = $100-$400 a month including electrical, water, trash, and such
2)Insurance (you MUST have this even if its a hobby/private shop) = $40-$100 a month
3)Rent = $1000-1500 a month
4)consumables like toilet paper and towels = $50 - 100 a month

so figure at the high end, 2100 a month, now divide that into 15 guys and your only each paying 140 or so a month for a full shop. Just elect a "president" once a year among the group who helps set up the scedules and pays the bills out of the "club" bank account.

*edit* you could bump that to a flat 150 a month, and use the spair money to buy club owned tools. Then if someone wants to leave the club, they get a deposit of say $200 back, and new incoming members must pay the $200 deposit + one month payments. Run the whole thing like a private club and then its nice and legal, safe, and no one gets "screwed over" that way. Its how many car clubs, bike clubs, truck clubs, and even model train groups run their shops/groups/clubs

 

I share a space exactly like this in Belmont. Unfortunately we are full at the moment.

 

if/when this actually happens, you guys could also like rent out a spot in the shop for a day or two to other i-club members for a nominal fee to get some work done on their cars. honestly i think this whole hobby shop idea is great, if i wasnt currently on workers comp and making less i would be all over this. if you guys get this going i have 1 or 2 old 32" crt tv's sitting in storage i would donate for the cause.

 

see this could be done, BUT, it wouldnt be a "nominal fee". It would have to cover the costs of insurance (each day they are there, the 'non club member' would have to be added to it), along with saftey gear, and consumable costs.

Folks just remember, this isnt like "cool hang out place" there are a ton of laws, including OSHA that you have to conform to even if its a privately owned "hobby shop"

 

x2 if you start to get some random people at your spot and something on accident or something stupid happens the person who's name everything is under could have a major lawsuit on their hands.

 

Pretty much what we're doing. We have a centrally located shop.

I'd say your numbers are either right on if you're talking about S.F. or what not but high for most other places.

We have a shop in SJ. We split it. Our rent is $470 a month. It's currently got 3 full size cars in it. 1 1950 olds. 2 60 cadillacs. Not small cars. It still has space to work on another car. Has a spray booth. Welding tables and equipment. A bathroom. An office. Shelves up the ***. Etc. All utilities covered... we cover any increase when welding goes up.

No lift.


You can find an established shop in just about every industrial park that would be willing to rent you space and time.

I'd say that as a private person or a couple of persons in the right situation you could rent space and time for under $500 a month.

 

Or you sign a liability waiver.

 

I'm going to take a look into this a bit more. If anyone is interested pm me.

I have a bunch of stuff from my garage I'd bring. Motorcycle lift, sand blast cabinet, parts washer and stuff. Starting on Tuesday I am going to go take a look at places.

 

Carful with that man, in CA, you can NOT sign your rights away. So many times even a Liability waiver won't protect you fully.

I ran a car club (lowriders) for years and you would be shocked the kind of crap that can get pulled. When we thru a local car show, I had to carry 1,000,000 in accident coverage (cost us $350 for the day) PLUS we had to make sure every car that rolled into the show had full coverage (no minium here, full blown) or we could be held liabil.

So just be sure to cover all your bases. That said, if its in the east bay, I might be willing to sign up for said group/club, as I really could use a place to weld larger things like bumpers and frames. (cant fit rock rigs in my garage, door is too short)

*EDIT* Old.Guy, I would also be willing to step up with a laptop (older one) for use tracking funds/scedules and I might be willing to take on duty as tech (security system/cameras/computers/printers and what not) I have a lot of spair stuff including servers and such laying around I could donate to the cause.

 

Really... we've put on and been a part of a LOT of shows and I've never heard of their being a demand to check insurance. Never. Site insurance of course. I've even worked the gates and I have never once been asked to check I.D.'s or insurance. Hell some of the cars come in on trailers and are not street cars and are not fully covered if covered at all.

And I'm not talking about small time shows. Talking 4-6 page magazines spreads in EVERY hot rod magazine type shows.

 

Sweet... We will have to chat more about it. 1st part of the week I will get with you and we can work some ideas out.