Living with a car in Doreen
Yan Yean Road
It's the road Doreen and Mernda commuters rely on to reach the city. The stretch from Diamond Creek Road to Kurrak Road was duplicated in 2019, with new traffic lights and the old dangerous corners near Heard Avenue taken out.
Green and hilly
Doreen is very green and quite hilly, with the Yarra Ranges foothills to the east and north and the Plenty River to the west. The eastern side is green wedge and still rural, and hills ask more of brakes and tyres than flat suburban streets do.
The train is a drive away
Mernda station, the end of the line, is the nearest, and four bus routes serve the suburb. When the car is off the road, getting to work gets harder.
Estates and blocks
Laurimar in the north was planned around semi-rural living, with rural residential estates and nurseries to the south. If your car lives on a rural block or tows a trailer, say so: it changes what the mechanic looks at.
Mobile mechanic or workshop?
| Mobile mechanic at home | Workshop | |
|---|---|---|
| Suits | A flat battery, many standard services, a car that won't start | Anything that needs a hoist: exhausts, clutches, gearboxes |
| What you need | A flat, safe spot off the road to work on the car | A way there and back, or someone to drop you home |
| Time without the car | Usually just the length of the job | Often the day, for bigger work |
Our take
Where the train is a drive away, we'd keep the car on its service schedule and have the battery tested at every service, so it's ready on the mornings it matters. If it won't start anyway, a mobile mechanic is often quicker than a tow.