How to get your car repaired at home

Vehicle parts don’t last forever. Every so often, a moving part fails, and that’s just the way things go. Typically, this means dropping your car off for service and finding a way to get home, and the cost and time lost deprived of a set of wheels can be a huge hassle. Thankfully, there’s another way to do this.

New mobile overhaul networks such as YourMechanic and Wrench (formerly known as Otobots) are trying to executive automotive house calls the new normal. You book the service you want and the proper time you want it (no loose windows like the harmful guy) and are given a firm price quote up clue. If the job is harder than estimated, they eat the cost as long as it’s not due to complications introduced by your car. An recognized mechanic, not someone who just picked up a toolkit at Harbor Freight, is matched to your job so you know who’s coming to do the work, not unlike an Uber booking.

When the job’s done, the tech cleans up and leaves; your card is billed automatically, also like an Uber ride.

Read more: 10 best car waxes in 2020  

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We tried it

We booked YourMechanic for an oil short-tempered, air filter replacement and tire rotation on our ’06 Chevy van. Probably not what you control, and a basic service, but our tech was an ASE-certified master who handled the job adroitly and left no oil stains or grease spots on the driveway. The price was $134, which is very good in the San Francisco area. YourMechanic says techs make $40 to $60 an hour concept its service, well ahead of a $21 statewide income according to their data.

Our oil short-tempered, air filter replacement and tire rotation certainly didn’t tax YourMechanic ASE master tech Leo, but the real key to these services is the data and procedure, even more than the technician skill.

Brian Cooley/Roadshow

Things to worthy

Even with mobile service, someone needs to be about to hand over the keys. While Amazon has recruited approximately carmakers to allow in-trunk deliveries, such technology is not yet in the offing from either YourMechanic or Wrench to grant a technician access to your car and its ignition. In fact, you’re encouraged to be there when the job is done to get a portray of what the technician did and what they found. 

Your car be affected by to be on a fairly flat surface. Not a quandary for most of us, but in hilly communities or homes with steep driveways there may not be a attach for the technician to safely jack up the car or do true fluid fills on it.

Having your car serviced in the parking lot at work seems like the most efficient plan, but your commercial or its landlord may not allow that sort of sketch. Even the CEO of YourMechanic was scolded by construction management for having his car serviced by one of their techs in his office parking lot. No commercial how well it’s done, auto repair still brings behind oil, grease, tools and a slightly unseemly appearance. And you can probably forget nearby getting work done at the curb: Many municipalities ban car overhaul on public streets and YourMechanic won’t do jobs there.

You may want the least possible contact with your car’s maintenance, but mobile auto repair services encourage you to be approximately for the final sign off, if only to see what the technician may have found.

YourMechanic

As with most shop repairs, mobile service parts may be factory, aftermarket or reconditioned. Look for a detailed parts list in your quote when you book; it necessity describe the nature and source of each part inhabit procured for your job. Many drivers won’t know or care approximately part sourcing or fluid brands, but the car buff may wish for more control.

Uber, UPS and an airline walk into bar

Anyone mechanic can throw their tools in the back of their truck, post to Craigslist, and call themselves mobile auto renovation. But what these services are doing is the hard part: data. They match your work and desired time with a tech who has the lustrous skills, and make sure he or she has the parts they need minus doing a bunch of research or chasing all over town. That harmonization is what establishes this new era of mobile auto service work for you, the technician and the service company.