Stopped on the freeway or a highway?
A mobile mechanic is for a car parked somewhere safe, not one stuck on the Western Freeway or a country highway. Get everyone out of the car and away from the traffic, put the hazard lights on, and call roadside assistance if you have it: RACQ says it can tow you to a nearby mechanic when the car can't be fixed on the spot. If anyone is hurt or in danger, call 000.
What a mobile mechanic can do in a driveway
More than most people expect. RAC WA says its mobile mechanics do the same logbook service items as a service centre. Batteries, servicing, many starting faults and a lot of diagnosis can be done where the car sits.
The limit is the hoist. RAC WA says wheel rotation and balancing must be done with a hoist at a fixed workshop, and jobs like clutches, gearboxes and anything under the car generally go the same way. If the mechanic who calls says it needs a workshop, ask them to arrange it rather than try to make it work on the ground.
What decides a mobile visit around Ballarat
The frosty-morning no-start
RACV says batteries are more likely to go flat in winter and long cold spells, and Ballarat drops below freezing from May to September. A car that won't start in the driveway is the classic mobile job: the mechanic tests the battery and the charging system and replaces what's needed. Car battery replacement in Ballarat.
Wind and weather
Ballarat's mean daily wind run is almost twice Melbourne's, and its winters come with driving winds. A garage, carport or the lee side of a shed makes a cold-weather job easier for everyone, so say what shelter there is when the mechanic calls.
Rural properties and gravel driveways
Half the municipality is rural, and the council calls unsealed roads a vital part of its network out there. RAA asks for flat ground off the public road, with room for a trolley jack, for its own mobile inspections. Tell the mechanic about the gate, the track in and where the vehicle is parked.
Buninyong, Creswick and further out
Mobile mechanics set their own range. Buninyong is on the Midland Highway south of the city, and Creswick about 25 minutes north. Put the postcode where the car is, not your home postcode, and the mechanic who calls will tell you if it's in their area.
What to tell a mobile mechanic
- Exactly where the car is, and whether it's on flat ground off the road.
- Whether there's a garage, carport or other shelter.
- The make, model and year, and the kilometres if it's a service.
- What the car is doing: clicks, cranks slowly, won't crank at all, or a light on the dash.
- Whether someone will be there with the keys, or where to find them.
Our take
We'd call a mobile mechanic for the battery, the routine service and the car that won't start at home. For anything that needs the car up on a hoist, we'd let the mechanic say so on the phone and sort a workshop visit, rather than push for a driveway job that won't be done properly.