4 ms·

Where are you going to do maintenance? In your garage or driveway in the home you own? That's a pretty big privilege. The reality is a low income person is l

Where are you going to do maintenance? In your garage or driveway in the home you own? That's a pretty big privilege. The reality is a low income person is living in low income housing, typically large apartment complexes. These places have strict rules against doing car maintenance and work in their parking lots. In addition it's a huge privilege to have weekend and free time to do car work yourself, not to mention buying the tools and materials necessary for it. Working on cars is a hobby for middle class folks nowadays, it's not a solution to the general problem that low income people need reliable transportation in most of America.

deathanatos 4y ago
Even my not low-income ($3-$5k / mo) apartment complex forbids this. If you want car maintenance, or to run your own business, or any number of other things, you need to first own a home, apparently. And that just furthers the article's point…
- brailsafe 4y ago
  I would have to imagine a $3-5k type place would be even less likely to allow this.
tristor 4y ago
Honestly, a parking garage. I’ve done a LOT of small car repairs, installed exhausts, simple mods, etc for people in a random retail parking garage after hours. As long as you aren’t disassembling the motor and you’re not an asshole the security guard making $12/hr driving a hoopty in the exact same boat as you is not going to hassle you. It’s a lot less fun than doing it in a proper shop with a lift and power tools, but given enough effort you can do nearly anything with jackstands, a trolley jack, and basic hand tools.
grogenaut 4y ago
Parking Garages. Autozone Parking Lot. Saw two guys detailing their cars and adding trim to them in the parking lot of a trail head in seattle earlier this week.
- scruple 4y ago
  I once replaced an alternator in an AutoZone parking lot. At the time I had a '97 Ford Ranger XLT, which I got used in '03. It had broken down outside of Phoenix as I was driving cross-country from Ohio to LA. I got towed to the parking lot, used most of my remaining money to get the alternator, and then hung around til they closed up so that I could borrow an employees tools and a light for a pack of cigarettes. That truck is still in service today, though I sold it back in 2011.
sokoloff 4y ago
The great thing about a vehicle is that it’s mobile and can take itself to a place away from the tightest/most enforced of restrictions. I’ve done more maintenance on unpaved surfaces or even parked in front of signs saying I couldn’t do it than I care to recall. If the choices are between a $40 pad slap and a $400+ repair shop visit, a lot people will find a way to do the former.

deathanatos 4y ago

Even my not low-income ($3-$5k / mo) apartment complex forbids this. If you want car maintenance, or to run your own business, or any number of other things, you need to first own a home, apparently. And that just furthers the article's point…

brailsafe 4y ago
I would have to imagine a $3-5k type place would be even less likely to allow this.

tristor 4y ago

Honestly, a parking garage. I’ve done a LOT of small car repairs, installed exhausts, simple mods, etc for people in a random retail parking garage after hours. As long as you aren’t disassembling the motor and you’re not an asshole the security guard making $12/hr driving a hoopty in the exact same boat as you is not going to hassle you. It’s a lot less fun than doing it in a proper shop with a lift and power tools, but given enough effort you can do nearly anything with jackstands, a trolley jack, and basic hand tools.

grogenaut 4y ago

Parking Garages. Autozone Parking Lot. Saw two guys detailing their cars and adding trim to them in the parking lot of a trail head in seattle earlier this week.

scruple 4y ago
I once replaced an alternator in an AutoZone parking lot. At the time I had a '97 Ford Ranger XLT, which I got used in '03. It had broken down outside of Phoenix as I was driving cross-country from Ohio to LA. I got towed to the parking lot, used most of my remaining money to get the alternator, and then hung around til they closed up so that I could borrow an employees tools and a light for a pack of cigarettes. That truck is still in service today, though I sold it back in 2011.

sokoloff 4y ago

The great thing about a vehicle is that it’s mobile and can take itself to a place away from the tightest/most enforced of restrictions. I’ve done more maintenance on unpaved surfaces or even parked in front of signs saying I couldn’t do it than I care to recall. If the choices are between a $40 pad slap and a $400+ repair shop visit, a lot people will find a way to do the former.