Changing the car game

They’re hoping to change the narrative of the mechanic industry by providing fair rates and transparency of their work to their customers.

In undertaking market research before opening the business, the couple found a severe lack of honesty regarding labour costs for mechanics.

“I’ve always taken my car places and found it was very difficult to get an honest answer on what actually needed to be fixed and the cost of things, and I found that it was always so expensive, and I just wondered if it had to be,” Ms Paris said.

“I wondered if it was fair costing, and I don’t know whether it was due to gender or whether it was actually just so expensive, and there always seemed to be such a huge list of what needed to be done.

“So we wanted to see if we could change the narrative and make it affordable for not only the customer but survival for us.”

In achieving this, the couple incorporate full transparency into their business by always keeping customers in the loop.

“We will literally video call a customer and show them the problem,” Ms Paris said.

“We can send them photo updates, they can call and message us any time they want, and we will reply straight away.

“There’s no ‘we’ll get back to you’ or waiting forever for somebody to call back – we can show them exactly what the problem is and where their money’s going.”

Their services extend beyond their workshop’s doors – the couple also offers at-home mechanic work for those who aren’t able to get their car to the shed.

Both Mr Horgan and Ms Paris have worked in the automotive industry, so this is no new gig for them, but as business owners, it is.

Nine months before opening their business in early November, the couple worked on cars outside their nine-to-five job.

But after finding it was getting too much on top of their day jobs, they thought it was time to take the leap and officially open a business.

With Mr Horgan already being a mechanic who had picked up the tools again after taking a break from it and Ms Paris having had experience in the automotive industry, it was the perfect opportunity for them.

There is no doubt that the couple wanted to stand out with the incorporation of the classic Aussie hairstyle into the business name.

“Sam has a very luscious mullet, and my son’s mullet definitely gives his mullet a run for his money,” Ms Paris said.

“The two things in our house that are obviously spoken about so often are cars and their mullets.

“We thought let’s not do something just automotive and boring – we’re doing everything differently, so why don’t we make our name different.”

Manifolds and Mullets Mechanical are located at 7 Joseph Baldwin Pl, Shepparton and will be open over Christmas, excluding Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Contact Manifolds and Mullets Mechanical on 0480 451 394 to book an appointment.