FixFinder
UK platform connecting motorists with vetted mechanics — intelligent matching, transparent quoting, escrow payments and a full operations back-office. Designed to remove the phone-around-five-garages tax from car repair.
Pricing Model
20% commission
Onboarding
Same-day
Coverage
UK-wide
Pilot Status
Open
The Problem
When a car breaks down or it's time for a service, motorists face the same ordeal: ringing round local garages, waiting days for a callback, accepting opaque quotes, and hoping the mechanic is qualified and insured. Mechanics meanwhile spend hours each week on the phone chasing customers who never call back.
Customer Pain Points
For Motorists
- • No central place to find vetted local mechanics
- • Manual outreach to 4-5 garages for quotes (2-3 hours of work)
- • Can't compare pricing or labour rates easily
- • No guarantee of qualifications, MOT licence or insurance
- • Payment security concerns (cash in hand, no comeback)
For Mechanics & Garages
- • Work is unpredictable (feast/famine cycles)
- • Local reputation only; can't reach beyond word-of-mouth
- • Hours wasted on admin (quoting, invoicing, scheduling)
- • Payment delays and chase-ups with customers
- • No way to build a credible online presence
How We Built FixFinder
The Core Idea: Aggregation + Matching
Instead of building a two-sided network from scratch (chicken-and-egg problem), we built a job aggregator: motorists post the work they need, our matching engine routes it to the best available mechanic in range. Think “Uber for car repairs, but with transparent quoting and escrow payments.”
Motorist Flow
- 1. Post job with vehicle, symptoms/service type, photos, postcode
- 2. Receive 2-3 quotes from nearby vetted mechanics
- 3. Compare pricing, reviews, distance and ETA
- 4. Accept quote, pay into escrow, schedule the work
- 5. Rate the mechanic after completion
Mechanic Flow
- 1. Create verified profile (qualifications, insurance, ID check)
- 2. Set service specialties, coverage radius and availability
- 3. Receive job alerts matching profile and calendar
- 4. Submit quote directly through the platform
- 5. Complete work, get paid out of escrow automatically
The Matching Algorithm
This is the core IP. When a motorist posts a job, the platform doesn't blast every mechanic on the books. It intelligently selects 3-5 of the best matches.
Stage 1: Filtering
Narrow the field to qualified candidates:
- ✓ Offer the job's service type (e.g., diagnostics, MOT, brakes, clutch)
- ✓ Located within coverage radius of the motorist's postcode
- ✓ Verified profile (qualifications, insurance, background check)
- ✓ Average rating 4.0★ or higher
- ✓ Available on the requested date (calendar sync)
Stage 2: Scoring
Rank remaining candidates by fit:
- ✓ Star rating (4.8★ scores higher than 4.2★)
- ✓ Distance (2 miles away scores higher than 24 miles)
- ✓ Completed jobs count (track record matters)
- ✓ Response speed (previous quote time: ideally under 2 hours)
- ✓ Specialisation depth (deep clutch experience vs general)
Stage 3: Distribution
Send to top 3-5 candidates:
- ✓ Randomise slightly to prevent top mechanics from cherry-picking
- ✓ Track response rate: which mechanics quote, which are accepted
- ✓ Learn and improve: adjust weights based on real outcomes
Why three stages? Filtering removes anyone who can't do the job. Scoring promotes the mechanics most likely to delight the motorist. Distribution keeps the marketplace healthy by avoiding winner-takes-all dynamics. Weights are tuned continuously from real outcomes.
Built Features
Service Categories
Diagnostics, MOT, servicing, brakes, clutch, tyres, exhaust, electrics, AC and more
Vehicle Lookup
DVLA-style reg lookup auto-fills make, model, year and engine
Photo Uploads
Motorists attach photos or videos of the issue so mechanics quote accurately
Location Services
Postcode and GPS-based mechanic discovery with radius filtering
Quoting System
Mechanics quote directly through the platform — transparent line items
Escrow Payments
Motorist pays in advance; funds released to mechanic on job completion
Skill Verification
Qualifications, insurance, ID and right-to-work checks at onboarding
In-Platform Messaging
All comms logged — prevents off-platform cash deals and protects both sides
Two-Sided Reviews
After job completion, both motorist and mechanic rate each other
Dispute Resolution
If quality is questioned, the platform mediates with photo and chat evidence
Calendar & Scheduling
Real-time mechanic availability sync; prevents double-booking
Mechanic Dashboard
Earnings, jobs completed, ratings, response times and weekly payouts
Pilot Programme
Pricing Model
20% commission
No subscription, no listing fee — mechanics only pay on completed jobs
Onboarding
Same-day
Submit qualifications, insurance and ID — live within hours
Coverage
UK-wide
Garages and mobile mechanics in every major UK city
Payouts
Weekly
Stripe Connect escrow released on job sign-off — no chasing customers for cash
Who FixFinder Is For
Motorists: instead of ringing five garages, post once and get vetted quotes. Saves the 2+ hours per repair and removes the awkward “what's your hourly rate?” call.
Independent garages & mobile mechanics: a steady channel of qualified job alerts matched to skills and calendar. Predictable workflow, transparent quoting, no cash-handling friction.
Network Effect: more mechanics = better matching = happier motorists = more repeat bookings. The platform is being seeded mechanic-side first to make sure quote response times stay tight.
Technical Architecture
Stack
Frontend: React Native (iOS/Android app)
Web: Next.js (landing page + customer portal)
Backend: Node.js/Express with async job queue
Database: PostgreSQL (ACID compliance for payments)
Geolocation: PostGIS for geographic queries
Payments: Stripe (escrow via custom integration)
Maps: Google Maps API
Notifications: Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM)
Scalability Considerations
✓ Async job queue for matching (don't block user)
✓ Database indexing on location + service_type
✓ Redis caching for mechanic profiles
✓ CDN for customer job photos
✓ Message queue for notifications (email, SMS, push)
✓ Sharding strategy for mechanics by region
Algorithm Implementation
Language: Python (scikit-learn for scoring)
Inputs: 15+ features (distance, rating, specialization, response time, etc.)
Model: Weighted scoring (not ML yet, but rule-based)
Feedback Loop: Track which matches lead to quotes + acceptance
Optimization: Weekly re-weighting based on outcomes
Operations
✓ 99.7% uptime SLA (managed Kubernetes cluster)
✓ Real-time dashboards for motorist + mechanic metrics
✓ Automated dispute detection (unusual pricing, no-shows)
✓ Admin tools for customer support team
✓ Fraud prevention (duplicate accounts, scam patterns)
Key Learnings for Service Marketplaces
Matching beats demand generation
Spending heavily on Google Ads to drive motorist demand is the obvious play. The smarter one is to focus on matching quality first — motorists who get matched to the right mechanic come back organically. Referrals and ratings compound; paid acquisition does not.
Verification is a moat
Competitors can copy a matching algorithm. They cannot copy verified mechanic onboarding (qualifications, insurance, ID, right-to-work) overnight. Trust is the moat: motorists return because every match has already been screened.
Payment friction kills growth
Direct cash to the mechanic creates trust friction on both sides. Holding payment in escrow until the job is signed off makes motorists feel safe, makes mechanics get paid reliably, and gives the platform a clean dispute path. Win-win-win.
Specialism beats generalism
Modelling jobs by service type (diagnostics, MOT, brakes, clutch, electrics) lets the platform specialise matching per category. A generic “car repair” bucket is far less precise — motorists feel deep categorisation immediately.
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