Mosman's roads and water
The Spit Bridge
Spit Road drops down to the Spit Bridge, where a lifting span stops traffic with lights and boom gates whenever it opens for boats. The roads authority found in 2007 that traffic takes 15 minutes to get back to normal after an opening, and the queues have long stretched up the hills on both sides.
Waiting on a slope
A queue on a hill is hard on a manual clutch. RAC WA says slipping the clutch to hold the car on a hill brings it to the end of its life much earlier, so hold it on the handbrake and let the clutch out properly.
Military Road
The shops run along Military Road past Spit Junction and on down Spit Road. Short hops between them rarely let an engine get fully warm, which is hard on the oil and the battery over time.
Harbour air
With Balmoral, Chinamans Beach and the bays all around the peninsula, salt air comes with the address. Salt speeds up rust on bare steel, and NRMA's advice is to seal a stone chip early, before rust starts creeping under the paint.
Pink slips and servicing in Mosman
A Mosman car more than 5 years old normally needs a pink slip every year before its rego renews. The check has to be done by an AIS station, and NSW allows mobile providers who inspect where the car is parked. The slip fee is the same, though a call-out fee may apply.
For servicing, a car that only does short hops fits the maker's severe-use schedule, which RACV says can mean a service around every six months. Wikipedia's motor oil article explains why: on short trips the engine never fully warms up, so moisture builds up in the oil. Car service in Sydney explains what each service should include.
Where we'd start
We'd ask for a battery test and a proper look underneath for rust at each service, and we'd use a mobile pink slip provider if the car is tucked away in a basement. If it's in a building, get the strata's OK before anyone comes out to work on it.