Dianella's roads and streets
Alexander Drive
Alexander Drive runs 2.6 kilometres through Dianella, meeting Woodrow Avenue, Grand Promenade and Morley Drive on its way north to Reid Highway. Head south and it carries on to Walcott Street in Menora, where it becomes Fitzgerald Street into the city.
Reid Highway, no lights
Since 2011, Reid Highway has crossed Alexander Drive on a diamond interchange with no traffic lights. Reid is half of Perth's outer ring road, running east to Middle Swan and west to North Beach, so steady highway kilometres are close at hand.
Post-war to the 2000s
Dianella grew slowly at first because its sandy soil was no good for farming. It filled in mainly from the 1960s, and the last big estates, St Andrews, Montclair Rise and the Dress Circle, went in during the early 2000s. Homes run from modest post-war houses to large two-storey ones.
Buses, not trains
Buses, including the CircleRoute, link Dianella with Galleria, Mirrabooka, Curtin University and Elizabeth Quay. If the car has to stay at a workshop for the day, work out which bus gets you home before you drop it off.
Workshop or van, one licence rule
Any Dianella business repairing or servicing cars, from a workshop or a van, needs a WA repair business licence, and its repairers hold a repairer's certificate. Consumer Protection WA suggests checking it online.
What can a mobile mechanic do in a Dianella driveway?
A mobile mechanic brings the tools and parts in a van. On a level driveway or a quiet street, that often covers a routine service, a battery, brake pads, a starter motor or alternator, and working out why a car won't start. A car that has to go up on a hoist, such as one needing a clutch or most gearbox work, goes to a workshop instead.
Say where the car will be: a sloping drive, a carport or the kerb all change what can be done on the spot. Give the make, model and year, and what's due or what the car's doing. If a warning light is on, a photo of the dash helps the mechanic arrive with the right gear.
Mobile mechanics in Perth has more on the jobs that suit home and the ones that don't, and car service in Perth covers the service itself. If the car's dead in the driveway, start with car won't start.
What we'd do
If the car was due a routine service or wouldn't start, we'd ask for a mobile mechanic and say exactly where it's parked. For anything that sounds like a clutch, the gearbox or a big leak, we'd go straight to a workshop, and we'd sort out the bus home first.