Do You Still Self-maintain Your Car?

[dirzsignature]

Hi all,

My name is Yudhi Hartono and I am a fourth year industrial design student from the University of New South Wales. I am currently planning to design a automotive tool cabinet for one of my uni-project. My market would be the young car owners (25-35 y.o) and this cabinet will be used to store automotive-related stuff such as; hand tools, engine oil, car wash detergent, tyres, etc..

However I need to ask a question to you guys in order to see if this product has a market for it. For those of you in the 25- 35 y.o age bracket, do yo still perform some small regular car maintenance by yourself? or do you simply use your car and only bring it to the a mechanic/dealership when the scheduled maintenance due?

And also, would you spend your money to buy a cabinet that is made out of plastic or you rather get the metal cabinet?

Any replies will be appreciated.

Regards,

Yudhi

Edited March 26, 2009 by dirzsignature

[blinko]

im not 25 yet... but i do some services and other small things to my car very often.

[FloydWestwood]

yes. DIY ftw!!

saves $$$ and you get top notch quality assurance

[bubba]

I do everything to my cars except tuning and wheel alignments. Oh and I paid my tuner to fit the 044 fuel pump to my 32 because I couldn't be bothered sourcing fittings and delving into the depths of the fuel tank

[dirzsignature]

thanks a lot guys for the quick replies.

So that means you'll have some car-related stuff (e.g: engine oil, tools etc) at home?

And also, would you spend your money to buy a cabinet that is made out of plastic or you rather get the metal cabinet?

Many thanks,

Yudhi

[FloydWestwood]

metal. i paid $1200 for my kincrome chest of drawers. you dont skimp out on qualitly tools.

[N1GTR]

I do some stuff at home aswel.

Another angle for you could be a neat place to store general parts and oils (eg, i just leave stuff around the house, if there was a neat place to put it all that wasnt overpriced, id get it and use it)

Come up with a price (approx) and you'll get better interest

[N1GTR]

metal. i paid $1200 for my kincrome chest of drawers. you dont skimp out on qualitly tools.

Drawers and tools are different though

[blinko]

ive got some cheap metal cabinets on wheels to store my stuff in... but i still cant fit everything in them (5L oil and coolants)

i was looking at some plastic stanly ones but they seemed very unstable.

I like deep draws and also a cabinet at the bottom.

[(B1) MR_fanny]

i did industrial design. What i would like in a cabinet is

storage for tool sets

storage for small stuff

storage for large stuff

detatchable led mechanics light so you can stick in the engine bay, maybe even put lights where tool sets are so you can easily see them if your working in poor light

a manual pump oil dispencer so you can just fill the container in the cabinet and then just pump and fill via a hose to your engine. that way if you use the same oil all the time whats usually left over from the new oil can be topped up with another container when needed.

something to wipe your hands on say a towel dispenser or rags

power extention cable or sockets maybe so you can plug shit into it like drills and soldering iron...etc

depending on how big it is cause you say storing tyres, include a medium sized air compressor and retractable hose.

I would preferr a metal cabinet because its more manly, but it doesnt really win you points in environmental design so mix it up with some recycled plastics.

and most importantly, a beer holder....or two

If you get a HD or an award for this project i want you to mention my name in your speech..ha

[(B1) MR_fanny]

just realised my cabinet would cost a million bucks...but hey its ID and they dont really care about costs...haha

oh yeah make the bottom tray to slide out and become one of those trolley things you lay on to get under the cars

[dirzsignature]

@MR_fanny:

Wow, thanks a lot for the ideas. It's great to see another industrial designer here..

My cabinet has to be made of plastic because it will be made by using rotational molding technique.

I'm just looking at designing a cabinet for the garage with less utilitarian look and cheaper price for young drivers. It probably only contain some small tools, engine oil, car shampoo, radiator coolant etc.

[dirzsignature]

I do some stuff at home aswel.

Another angle for you could be a neat place to store general parts and oils (eg, i just leave stuff around the house, if there was a neat place to put it all that wasnt overpriced, id get it and use it)

Come up with a price (approx) and you'll get better interest

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. However I haven't really work out the price for it. But as majority of the material will be plastic, so I guess it will be considerably less than the metal cabinets.

[30three]

I'm an apprentice mechanic (2nd year) and I think it would be good if it had wheels to move around shed etc. maybe a solid work bench with a vice.

B1's idea about the pump is brilliant! lol. that would definately be a great feature.

I would rather a metal cabinet as my roll cab i have now is metal, but as stated the production costs are quite high.

just my 2C. good luck with it all.

Edited March 26, 2009 by 30three

[zebra]

Hi all,

My name is Yudhi Hartono and I am a fourth year industrial design student from the University of New South Wales. I am currently planning to design a automotive tool cabinet for one of my uni-project. My market would be the young car owners (25-35 y.o) and this cabinet will be used to store automotive-related stuff such as; hand tools, engine oil, car wash detergent, tyres, etc..

However I need to ask a question to you guys in order to see if this product has a market for it. For those of you in the 25- 35 y.o age bracket, do yo still perform some small regular car maintenance by yourself? or do you simply use your car and only bring it to the a mechanic/dealership when the scheduled maintenance due?

And also, would you spend your money to buy a cabinet that is made out of plastic or you rather get the metal cabinet?

Any replies will be appreciated.

Regards,

Yudhi

I do most of my own work, apart from engine builds and wheel alingments

I think somthing that has an inbuilt 4 or 5 drawer tool chest would be good, as for storing car wash, engine oil etc is not such a big deal, as most people I know dont have 20 drums of oil just lying around, and all my car cleaning products are usually under the kitchen sink, size is a big thing and having somthing I could store 4 17/18" tyres on is not going to be easy to move around, nor would many people have the room for such a thing.

Plastic is a good idea as long as it is solid and does not wobble around / bend shelves when you throw a couple of hammers in there.

But I do think that a mobile set of shelves with storage bins etc would be great as long as thge price is right.

[SkyHi_33]

Another industrial designer here (2nd year)

I do everything on my car myself apart from tuning and wheel alignments as mentioned above.

What you're planing on doing is a good idea however there is already a whole bunch of products in that area of the market. Most high spec tool companies have tool sets and storage already quite efficient. I guess your biggest selling point here however is price as the ones just mentioned are up in thousands of $$. If you can make it strong enough but keeping it reasonably affordable, you got yourself a good product.

Also another thing id like to mention, think of places in peoples garages where they don't have too much room. Things like slide doors or roll up doors on the cabinet could be much more space efficient.

and another thing, (b1) mr fanny is on to an important thing, if you're making this garage specific then you will most likely have to integrate car gadgets in there, as looking in to my own and other peoples garages you will find people just stack stuff up on metal shelves or have old wardrobes and cabinets.

Guess what I'm trying to say is if what you're really making is just another "cabinet" that looks pretty, it will have your average do it yourself guy wandering if its worth justifying spending x amount of money on it as face it, most of us do it to save money in first place.

[dirzsignature]

Another industrial designer here (2nd year)

I do everything on my car myself apart from tuning and wheel alignments as mentioned above.

What you're planing on doing is a good idea however there is already a whole bunch of products in that area of the market. Most high spec tool companies have tool sets and storage already quite efficient. I guess your biggest selling point here however is price as the ones just mentioned are up in thousands of $. If you can make it strong enough but keeping it reasonably affordable, you got yourself a good product.

Also another thing id like to mention, think of places in peoples garages where they don't have too much room. Things like slide doors or roll up doors on the cabinet could be much more space efficient.

and another thing, (b1) mr fanny is on to an important thing, if you're making this garage specific then you will most likely have to integrate car gadgets in there, as looking in to my own and other peoples garages you will find people just stack stuff up on metal shelves or have old wardrobes and cabinets.

Guess what I'm trying to say is if what you're really making is just another "cabinet" that looks pretty, it will have your average do it yourself guy wandering if its worth justifying spending x amount of money on it as face it, most of us do it to save money in first place.

Hi there,

wow didn't think I'd met other industrial designers in this forum.

Anyway, I do not think I'm still making the garage tool cabinet anymore.

The market I'm targeting is the young couples (25-35 y.o) who live in urban area, probably live in an apartment/ townhouse, and drive small cars (fiesta, polo, jazz, etc..).

After a second thought, I do not think they will do self-maintenance on their cars. Also the new cars are getting more reliable and they don't require as much maintenance. All you have to do just bring it in for regular service on time. I've asked around and people even rarely need to top-up oil anymore.

Those who do self-service at home are only the automotive enthusiasts,and I guess they will buy the metal cabinet. I do not think the plastic cabinet will be on their list.

Anyway, thanx a lot for your input.

[WRRR]

Dang

Don't know how you guys do it.

I have a 6mx6m shed and still don't have enough storage or working room.

If you can do something that imitates a Tardis I'll buy one.

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

Yeah I do self maintain, as one of my mechanics, who works for TGS Performance is a close family friend of ours so he and I work on my car.

He has done my oil and oil filter, fuel filter, disk brakes, brake pads, clutch slave and master cylenders, wheel alignment (Tyre rods, CV joints, steering wheel sensor), fix / re-align the door windows and anything the he is capible of doing in his garage with the tools.

If any bigger job I take it to my other mechanic at Le Mans Automotive.

[cosmic starz]

I do all maintenance on the vehicles I have.

My experience suggests your problem is : your whole supposition is WRONG - everyone's needs and resources are different so in reality there is probably no such thing as a universal mobile tools/equipment storage cabinet . The professionals such as mobile mechanics have vans that already fit that criteria. Home tinkerers don't need to do work on their cars every day or every week - sometimes only a few times a year and won't need to take masses of tools and tyres anywhere with them when they go out and can store such stuff in the garage or shed so why get a mobile storage cabinet that is likely to be expensive and unnecessary?

In fact most jobs require very few tools - oil changes, even spark plug and coil testing /changing needs just a few very basic tools.

And how big would a storage cabinet need to be to include all suspension and tyre changing and body work tools and ancillary equipment like ramps etc - as I said if you need all that stuff you probably already got a mobile mechanics van and are a mobile mechanic - lol- or else its in the garage somewhere and you get out what you need when you need it - no specialised costly storage cabinet needed.

Rethink your concept.