I got a pretty decent land about 1 mile out of town that I can probably open up a shop out there. (It's on a main road between 3 towns so being a mile out shouldn't be a problem?) But I want to know of which one of you actually own one (not even business wise) about how big and how much cost it was to build it. (I know there is alot of factors involved like material cost in my area and things like that but I just want a general idea) Also I was thinking about opening a shop just kind of like a jiffy lube or something like that for now and see how things go from there.

Building cost+tools+lifts+more specialized tools
it wont be cheap

i'd try finding a already built location and some used lifts before bothering.

would take FOREVER to recover money if you built a brand new building+brand new lifts for a small shop.

Im not trying to be a dick i mean its great that you want to do this. go for your dreams. But in the past i have seen some questions from you that any aspiring mechanic should already know.

Irrelevant really, changing oil is pretty hard to fuck up.

so just land, nothing built? not even a building?
probably cost you several hundred thousand just to get the land landscaped, building built, pavement layed, lifts put in.

then you will need to get supplies, including tools, rags, buckets ext.
then get a contract with a company to haul away the oild, tires, batteries ext.
oh god just thinking of how much shit you need to set up is a bitch.

honestly your best bet is to find a shop that someone is either trying to sell or that has closed it down and redo it.

I have 3 friends who bought a shop that was going out of business.

They just go there to tinker with their cars, none of them are mechanics, just regular dudes with jobs.
Split 3 ways, having a garage with 3 bays, a parking lot and lifts is actually quite affordable.
They let friends/colleagues/family use the shop, Not the general public, but anyone who knows them is welcome.

Buying land and building a shop from the ground up, will cost you a significant amount of money.
Such a significant amount of money i doubt a bank would give you the time of day for a loan without some sort of business plan to make their money back.
At that point, you're going to be going into a for-profit business to keep your head above the debt.

If you would like to get a garage, find one that's built is my advise.
Finding some friends who are into tinkering will alleviate the costs quite a bit too.

what all has he said in the last 16 days?

also at the OP listen to them and just buy a place thats already built. if you want a professional looking place to run a real business its going to cost you out the ass before you even do your first job. if you want a small shop with no lifts or anything it wouldnt be too bad but a jiffy lube type place would break you up before you got started.

This post was edited by JDH on Jan 31 2013 10:33am

Thanks for all coments rude or not because i know it is going to be hard to start one. Also I'll start looking around for a place for sell. And again thanks any replies are welcome.

lifts are anywhere from 2500-5k so it's not that bad. Also remember you're gonna have to bolt those lifts down to the ground so have a good strong foundation.