Most newer homes are built with 10foot garage ceilings. If yours does seriously look into buying a lift. A four post lift can be had for just under $2000.00 if you look around and requires no installation other than plugging it in. It can make a huge difference in how long it takes to do a job and can be the deciding factor in whether or not to send the car out to get it fixed at a shop. Also if you're over 40 it's just plain hard to be crawling around under a car or squatting on your knees for any length of time.

There is one other piece of advice and it may seem counterintuitive. Avoid having too many horizontal surfaces. There's always the temptation to install 8,10, or 20 feet of workbench surface in the delusional hopes that you'll have plenty of space to work on. Any horizontal surface in the garage exhibits a strong gravitational pull and will be covered within hours. No matter how much bench space you have, you'll always be working in the two square feet of space that you managed to clear by precariously balancing several dangerous things on top of each other. Next time you are at an auto repair shop check out how little bench space they have in the service bays compared to most home garages.