Automotive Consulting Firms? The A-C Q and A Thread...

[steve shadows]

So...

I have been tuning peoples cars and building Nissans for almost 9 years this December and I have now come to a place where i think the Nissan community and consumer market is in a place to be pricing EMS and turbo upgrads etc etc and people are needing mroe and more diverse services to save them money.

I have had some people who have been taking me up on my offer for 20 bucks or 40 bucks for phone call and outline consultation for exactly a matching setup to meet power goals, drifting needs etc and it's actually starting to get quite popular.

So do you guys see a place in the future, with the cost of parts getting more and more expensive and the drive for costs and saving price on parts is getting so popular for true automotive consulting?

I am and have always been driven to help others through my body of knowledge whether it be for free or for some fee if it requires more research and time and work on my part. I can now see a future where just like there is consulting companies for Auditing and Finances and your taxes and even Logistics that there may be a place for automotive consultants for peoples personal car builds...


So far it has been just a nominal fee, but on larger and more creative car builds the budget for a Nissan drift race car can go up to 50-75K dollars to buld the car.

If you think about it, it could take you hours or days to scour all posts in a thread to find out exaclty what setup you should go with and even then you may not know or trust your buying decisions right off the bat. The way I see it it could have the effect for the casual enthusiast of saving them a lot of time and in the process money.

It could work as a montly retainer or a yearly one or just a single time fee for call and follow up brief or write up to just name a few ideas. I do see a place for this in the future especially with the way that the budget for drift cars and more than anything the marketing for drift cars is becoming and how essential the cars are to the Sponsor's company or needs for marketing etc. Maybe even if the individual driver doesnt see a need the cars' sponsor do.
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Many consultants run their money making potential off of getting paid a Percentage of the SAVINGS that the customer gets by following their directions. Not sure if this would work for individual customers but maybe for larger companies with marketing firms budgeting for a car for a particular motorsport it would.

Anyways any input on this topic would be great, and i want to get the general idea out there in chat to see what you guys have to say about it.

[southerncross]

i think your idea is a good one, but the 240 community is mostly made up of broke people like me that have to save every penny to complete a build. im just not sure very many people would be interested in paying for advice when with some patience they can get the same info from the forum.

you'd be right at home in japan with this kind of service, but i think in the states there would be a very small percentage of the market looking for this kind of service.

im not trying to knock what you're doing at all, i think MANY people would be better off using a consulting agent for exactly the reasons you listed. . . i just don't know how many people on here would pay for it.

[Dousan_PG]

In japan
this idea is perfect (ie 326 power, dride, etc)
because of forums like this and others and support and suggestion by mmong thread I'd say it would an excellent side project but dint quit your day job
ido feel it isn excellent idea though and it is extremey common overseas

[S14_Kouki]

Yes sounds like a good idea. But like everyone is saying I dont think ppl will do it unless they have no time but alot of money on there hands and they know nothing. There are two types of car ppl the ones that know there stuff and build there cars or atleast know parts and pay someone to build a engine, then theres those kids that just buy a swapped 240 drive it for alittle then sell it. Its a good idea I just dont think there will be that many ppl that will do it.

[steve shadows]

This is true.

so far it has been a semi-success on here. I have gotten a trickle of people willing to throw me 20 bucks for an hour of phone discussion and a follow up email with an outline of all the parts I suggest they buy to meet their HP/Car goals.

I think it;s a fair way to cut down on the amount of useless posting too...more direct answers are given to help curve people in the right direction and then the forums can be used for technical updates and specific tech issues instead of just broad threads feeling out what someone should do with their bonus check.