Armadale's roads in and out
Four roads meet in town
Armadale Road goes west to Cockburn Central and Fremantle, and Albany Highway north to Cannington and Perth. From the same junction, Albany Highway turns east for Albany and South Western Highway heads south.
Over the scarp
South-east of town, Albany Highway climbs Bedfordale Hill and crosses the Darling Scarp into forest. Further on, Williams, Kojonup and Mount Barker are 100 km apart. The climb works the cooling system going up and the brakes coming down.
Kelmscott's inspection centre
In nearby Kelmscott, the state's Vehicle Inspection Centre handles high-risk, highly modified and oversized vehicles, and takes bookings only on the transport department's instruction. Everything else goes to an Authorised Inspection Station.
Licensed in WA
Every Armadale repair business needs a WA repair business licence, with mechanics holding a repairer's certificate. Consumer Protection WA has the online check.
Getting a car ready for the hills or the South West
Before a run down South Western Highway or over the scarp to Albany, the jobs that matter are the cooling system, brakes and tyres. RAC WA says to check hoses for softness and leaks and belts for cracking, and to flush and replace coolant at least every one to two years.
If the car tows a caravan or a horse float, say so, because that's a different service from a commuter's. Radiator and cooling work in Perth and 4WD and diesel mechanics in Perth go further.
What we'd do
We'd treat Bedfordale Hill as a test the car should pass before a long trip, not during one, with the coolant, hoses and brakes checked a week out. If the car had a yellow sticker, we'd get the defect fixed first, because the inspection looks at the whole car, not just the fault on the notice.