Fixit45 introduces flexible options in auto repairs, experience

Since it entered the market in July 2021, Fixit45 has been focused on building a platform that provides a seamless, collaborative infrastructure for interactions to occur across verticals.

Verticals include, auto repair and maintenance services, fleet management, auto parts sourcing and delivery, auto care, refurbishment and upgrades, repair financing, and mechanic workshop software as well as pre-purchase inspections, underlying these with moderation for compliance and accountability.

According to VP, Business Development, Gerald Okonkwo, the business was founded to use technology in making the customer journey for car repairs very seamless by automating payments, helping them acquire the right tools for the job and providing professional care services.

According to Manager, Growth and Innovation, Gideon Adepoju, “The automotive space has a peculiar problem, which we have come to solve. Everything is all about solution for autocare services in Nigeria. We are engineering technological platforms that enable an all-new automobile ownership experience.”

For him, you buy a good car today, you take it to a mechanic, and however, “because of the sharp practices in automotive space, it becomes difficult to get good services.”

Adepoju said, “we are here to give seamless ownership experience to vehicles.”

It is also set to ensure that garages and technicians have enough support in terms of technology and technicians to meet their demands.

Adepoju revealed that Fixit45, as an auto tech solution company, enables efficient interactions across multiple aftermarket stakeholders. The aftermarket stakeholders include a vast network of automobile service providers, specialised technical teams, spare parts suppliers, and end-consumers.

This vast network is efficiently engineered to provide excellent auto care services, ensuring reliable, consistent, and quality services for Nigerians, exploring means you get one-stop solutions for all aftermarket automobile services, automobile service providers including vehicle insurance and car wash services, specialised technical teams including, repair workshops and garages, and spare parts suppliers.

“We are a platform providing a valuable opportunity for interaction among stakeholders: people who own cars, fleet of cars, garages, tyre shops, car washes. It is more of a market where everybody can come to interact and exchange value.”

To change the narrative in the space, Fixit45 is collaborating with a lot of stakeholders and partners to deepen value creation in the ecosystem. Some of these stakeholders include, workshops, spare part suppliers, insurance companies, tow trucks, fintech, and fleet owners.

The Fixit45 Vehicle Intact Programme (VIP) has been designed, as the name suggests, delivering quality and affordable repair and maintenance services via subscription-based plans to ensure that the lifetime value of a vehicle or fleet is enhanced and productivity optimized. The rich bouquet of plans comes in four packages that include the service plan, maintenance plan, extended services plan and the emergency services plan.
Head of Marketing and Communications, Bemigho Awala, revealed that with such a platform, motorists are able to choose their preferred services for car maintenance.”

To him, you don’t have to be running after somebody in Ladipo or mechanic who you will chase around with phones for parts or any form of automotive repair of your car. “It is a platform. We are not a service provider. We are not a workshop where we have,” he said. “Automobile ownership for car and fleet owners can be a frustrating experience owing to a myriad of factors that include highly fragmented, mostly unregulated industry, informal service providers who often lack the technical competence, as well as the proliferation of counterfeit spare parts with a lack of warranty on repairs. These challenges in turn have also impacted the service delivery experience from service providers.”

The service plan ensures that subscribers don’t have to worry about the workmanship and getting their vehicles in good shape. The maintenance plan is a commitment to routine and or scheduled preventive maintenance, which in turn mitigates the need for some repair work on the vehicle. The extended service plan works like an HMO for vehicles in which subscribers transfer to us the duty of keeping their fleet and or vehicles operational at all times. Because breakdowns don’t announce themselves, the emergency service plan is designed to give comfort and succor to motorists in the event of a breakdown.

“It is gratifying to see the uptake and adoption of Fixit45’s service platform by corporates in the FMCG, Mobility, and Tech industry. The glowing commendations we have received will further spur us to do more in the aftermarket space. Our value propositions of affordability, peace of mind, quick turnaround time, convenience, quality assurance, and accessibility will never go out of fashion. We will double down on these and ensure that the vehicle ownership experience is better improved,” said Awala. “Xparts is a discovery and trading platform for spare parts where you can explore a rich inventory, find exact parts based on the platform’s AI tools, and get these parts in very good time.”

With presence across four cities in Nigeria, more than 100 network partners, and over 2,500 vehicles under management, Fixit45’s ambition is to become Africa’s largest and most trusted autotech platform, Okonkwo said: “We have built a robust end-to-end ecosystem platform that caters for all players in the aftermarket segment. The industry has largely been based on brick-and-mortar operations and it is our intention to disrupt and digitize this space using technology.”