I was wondering if there is such a thing as do it yourself garages? A garage that you can take your vehicle to work on and maybe rent a space in there for a certain period of time? My wife had the movie "Christine" on one night and the nerdy kid in the movie found a public garage that he could keep the car and work on. I was just wondering if something like that actually exists in real life? I live in an apt. that doesn't allow any type of vehicle maintenance in the parking lot so my options are limited. I tried doing some work on my truck today way off the road and up on a hill. It was kind of an area that was mainly gravel that nobody rarely drives up to. Well, a cop saw me up there and was screaming at me about breaking county ordinances and stuff like that. All I was basically doing was standing next to the vehicle when he pulled up but he ended up being a big jerk about it. I just lied to him and told him that someone said they saw something leaking and I wanted to check it out. He let me off fortunately after that bogus excuse. So, I have nowhere to do anything with my vehicle unless I can find someone kind enough to loan me there garage. Anyway, to get back to what I was asking, are there places that I can work on my truck and maybe rent out? It would be nice if there were. Thanks.

 

We used to have a place that was part of a auto parts house. they had several stalls that you could rent out and also tools. It was only around for a year or two before it close down. I would think that the problems with losing tools and liability ins. would be a issue. Really don't know how a person would get around it unless you just happen to have a friend that is willing to let you use their garage for projects. If you do I'd make sure I'd treat him real good.

 

Yeah, that's understandable concerning the tools. Too bad they don't have places out there where you can bring your own tools in with you. I guess I'm grasping at straws since I really enjoy working on my truck and have no place to do it! I did just manage to change my fuel filter in my apt parking lot since it's dark out. I snuck out and did it a little bit ago. I'm moving out of this place soon anyway, so I'm not worried about getting kicked out of here at this point!

 

I believe accidental and medical liability rules out those type options.

 

There was a place that rented garage space in town here, but it wasn't open for more than about six months. I suspect that they didn't make enough money to make it worthwhile. That and the liability concerns are big hurdles.

 

Many years ago I was stationed on an Air Force Base that had a building with six or eight stalls that could be rented out for auto maintenance. Each stall had a lift and you had to have your own basic tools, but you could rent specialty tools like gear pullers, engine analyzers and the like. I often thought that it's too bad some auto parts stores couldn't provide a similar service for light to medium maintenance. That way parts, tools and advice would be on the premises if needed. How many times do we find out that after getting the vehicle jacked up and taken apart we need something else to finish the job. It would be real convenient to go up to the parts counter and get what you need right there. Maybe I'll have to look into this more after I retire in a couple of years.

 

Years ago we had "Reelo" stations around here. (convience stores with gas pumps) They each had 2 to 3 bays with lifts that you could rent by the day. You had to bring anything you needed to do the job including engine crane, the only downside was if you rented the bay someone had to be there at all times. The one I used was only about a block from one of the best parts stores in the area. Done many an engine swaps in them. I don't know what happened to them but all of a sudden they all closed and the buildings were torn down. They even dug up the lifts and gave them away.