Broken down on the M1 or a pass?
A breakdown on Mount Ousley, Bulli Pass or the motorway isn't a job for a driveway visit. Put the hazard lights on, get everyone out and well away from the traffic if it's safe to do so, and call roadside assistance if you have it. If anyone is hurt or in danger, call 000. Once the car's home or safely off the road, a mobile mechanic can take it from there.
Getting a mobile mechanic to the car in Wollongong
The car that waits for the train
Around 20,000 people commute from Wollongong to Sydney each day by road and rail. If your car sits at home while you're on the train, home is where the mechanic should come, on a day you can leave the keys. RACT says cars that sit unused or mostly do short trips tend to lose their batteries sooner, so a battery test is worth adding to the visit.
Flat ground near the escarpment
The escarpment behind the city rises 150 to 750 m, and a driveway near the foot of it can be steep. For its mobile inspections RAA asks for a flat spot, off the public road, with room for a trolley jack. If your driveway slopes, say so in the note so the mechanic can plan where to work.
Wet weeks
Rain off the escarpment is common here, and more of it falls in the first half of the year. A mobile mechanic works in the open, so a carport, a garage or a covered car park at work makes a wet-week visit much easier to fit in.
A licence, mobile or not
NSW's motor vehicle repairer licence covers mobile and part-time repair businesses, not just workshops. The person doing the work also needs a tradesperson certificate for that class of work.
What a mobile mechanic can do at your place
Batteries are the classic driveway job: a test of the battery and the charging system, then a new one fitted on the spot if it's needed. RAC WA says slow cranking and dim dash lights can also point to a faulty alternator, so ask for both to be tested before anything is swapped.
Routine servicing suits a driveway too. RAC WA says its mobile mechanics cover the same logbook items as a service centre, but rotating and balancing the wheels needs a hoist at a fixed workshop.
Clutches, gearboxes, wheel alignments and anything that means lifting the engine belong in a workshop. If the mobile mechanic finds one of those, ask how the car should get there: driven, or on a tow truck.
Before the mobile mechanic heads over
- What's your NSW repairer licence number?
- Can the whole job be done here, or will part of it need a hoist?
- What do you need from me: a flat spot, the keys left out, access to power?
- Will you give me the estimate in writing and ring before doing anything extra?
- If it's the battery, will you test the alternator in the same visit?
If it were our car
We'd pick a dry morning, park on the flattest bit of ground we had, and put the model and the symptom in the note so the mechanic brings the right parts. For a battery job we'd ask for the charging system to be tested in the same visit, so a new battery isn't flattened by an old fault.