A lot has changed at YourMechanic since Fixed Ops Journal profiled the car-repair disruptor ("Competition in the palm of your customers' hands") 14 months ago.
There was the March 2016 announcement of $24 million in funding to help drive expansion. The number of U.S. metropolitan areas the company serves has grown by half, to about 50. And founder and CEO Art Agrawal has stepped down from active management while remaining a board member.
In his place: Anthony Rodio, a Silicon Valley e-commerce veteran who has also worked at Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Amazon and Home Depot.
His four months at YourMechanic have opened his eyes. First, Rodio acknowledges there's plenty to be done to improve its basic service, which allows car owners to get a repair quote and summon a mechanic from their smartphone.
"But after being here a few weeks, I got equally or more excited about the potential of us working with companies instead of just working with consumers," Rodio said in a phone interview.
YourMechanic is testing prepaid maintenance programs for independent used-car dealers. It's also providing inspection services for Lyft, General Motors' ride-hailing partner.
Down the road, Rodio sees potential in servicing rental cars, corporate fleets and, when they arrive, autonomous cars.
Who knows? His roving mechanics might someday help franchised auto dealers and their overloaded repair shops.
In the meantime, he continues to "work toward being the overall destination to think about taking care of your car."
To that end, YourMechanic has loaded its website with some 7,000 articles on car repair. Baffled by OBD-II Trouble Code P0384? You're likely to get YourMechanic's summary of the problem at the top of your Google search.
And at the end of the article: an invitation to book service or call a service adviser.
Here are excerpts from Fixed Ops Journal's interview with Rodio.