Gungahlin's roads and growth
From 389 residents to a town
Gungahlin was launched as Canberra's fourth town in 1991 with 389 residents. It grew 50.4% between 2011 and 2016, then 23.2% more by 2021. If the car is about as new as the house, the warranty notes below are worth a read.
A car that waits for the weekend
Light rail has linked the Gungahlin Town Centre with Civic since April 2019. If you ride it to work and the car only comes out on Saturdays, the battery gets little charging and the tyres lose pressure as it sits. A longer drive every week or so helps both.
The Majura Parkway south
The Majura Parkway runs 11.5 km at 100 km/h from the Federal Highway, at Gungahlin's edge, down to the Monaro Highway at Fyshwick. It's the quick way to the airport side of town and the start of the road south to the snow.
Up the Barton to Melbourne
The Barton Highway leaves Canberra through Gungahlin and Hall for Yass and the Hume Highway. Past Hall it becomes a two-lane, single-carriageway road in places, so towing a van or a trailer that way is a good reason to have the brakes, tyres and coolant checked first.
Servicing a newer car in Gungahlin
If the car is new, servicing by a qualified independent mechanic, done to the maker's schedule and specifications, does not by itself void the warranty. Ask the mechanic to stamp the book or send the record, and keep the invoices together.
A repairer needs a licence to operate in the ACT, and the register is public.
For a service in the driveway or the work car park, pick "Come to me" in the card, or read mobile mechanics in Canberra. For what a service should include, see car servicing in Canberra.
If it were our car
We'd keep the car on the book's schedule while the warranty runs, keep every record in one folder, and ask for the tyres and cooling system to be looked at before a long run up the Barton or the Federal Highway.