Subiaco's streets and car parks
Apartment living
At the census, 41.7% of Subiaco's homes were a flat or apartment, against a state average of 6.5%. Strata car parks often have rules about repairs, so ask the building manager before a mobile mechanic comes.
Old houses, kerbside parking
Subiaco's first house was started in 1886, and many well-preserved old homes still stand, not all of them with off-street parking. If the car lives on the street, say so, since some jobs need off-street room.
One-way pairs and Thomas Street
Roberts Road and Hay Street run one-way in opposite directions, Thomas Street along the south-east is a six-lane dual carriageway, and Loftus Street to the north meets the Mitchell Freeway.
Tight in the shopping streets
A lack of car parking in the commercial areas has been a problem here, so plan how you'll drop off and collect the car if the workshop is near Rokeby Road or Hay Street.
Licences
Any business in WA's motor repair and servicing industry needs a repair business licence, and the repairers in it hold a repairer's certificate. Consumer Protection WA says to look it up with an online licence check.
What city driving does to a car
A car that does short hops around Subiaco and into the CBD rarely runs long enough to warm the engine through or fully charge the battery. RACV puts the cut-off at drives under 20 minutes. A car that then sits for days between trips can find the battery flat.
Kerbside parking adds scuffed tyres and bent wheel rims, which the mechanic can look over at the next service. Car batteries in Perth and a flat battery cover the most common call-out.
Where we'd begin
If the car lives in an apartment basement, we'd check the building's rules first, then choose between a mobile mechanic in the car park and a workshop drop-off. For a car that only does short city trips, we'd keep to the 12-month service even if the odometer says it's early.