City living and fixing cars... where to do it - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jt20 · #1 07-06-2008, 04:30 PM

Anybody out there with issues regarding workspace? Where do you guys work on your cars if you rent? I can't find anything.

portland area

What are my options? - ask an auto shop?

johnathan1 · #2 07-06-2008, 04:59 PM

I have the same problem where I live. I live in an apartment with the only car space being a 2 space carport with cabinets. I'm always fighting with my neighbors and landlady about it. The owner of the building has even gotten to the point where she has threatened to evict us if I don't stop working on my cars on the premises. I don't make a mess and I'm not noisy, so I don't understand what the problem is. I have explained to her that if I can't fix my car, then I have no way to get to work, and she won't have any money in her pocket. That usually shuts her up for a while.

If I have to do any major work, I usually do it at someone else's house.

Skippy · #3 07-06-2008, 05:28 PM

For minor work, I do it in the street. For stuff that involves raising and/or getting under a car, there's the parking lot of the Long John Silver's that closed a few months ago. Before that, I used the parking lot of a transmission shop while they were closed on Sundays, and also had a spot behind a closed driveline shop. This is all probably illegal, but I haven't had any issues so far.

jt20 · #4 07-06-2008, 08:44 PM

I have been walkin 'round da hood all evening meeting great neighbors and asking to rent shop space. Nuttin.

did find a real estate broker who said he'd keep an eye out, and a diesel mech.
interesting.

G-Benz · #5 07-07-2008, 10:28 AM

With one exception, whenever I moved into a new town, I always shopped for apartments with individual garages. That got me around the "car show" years, when I would have the VW torn down at some stage for upgrades.

Making that a requirement limited my shopping to lesser choices as far as comfort, as the units weren't as nice as some others that didn't have garages. Nevertheless, my priority was having a place to wrench.

Dee8go · #6 07-07-2008, 10:37 AM

I've often wondered this. I live in the burbs at the moment, but anticipate moving in the near future closer into the city where I may no longer have a garage and a driveway.

Mistress · #7 07-07-2008, 12:47 PM

I live in a condo as well and go to a friend's house to work on the cars. Then again it's nice every now and then to get a rise out of the condo Nazi's so just for *****s and giggles, I'll pop the hood and look around for a bit and dare them to say something....

Benzadmiral · #8 07-07-2008, 01:11 PM

When I changed oil on the W126 and the W202, I'd do it on Sunday morning before the apartment office people dragged their lazy tails in to work. Nobody ever reported me. Doing a change with a Topsider doesn't look like an oil change anyway; it looks more like you're giving your car a transfusion.

I don't recall anything in the complex's rules about working on your car. I figure as long as you're reasonable and not too messy, what would they have to complain about? They won't do anything about the teen ferals who roam, holding onto their baggy pants, up and down the street, or about the gangsta wannabes who drive their Escalades with the stereo up so loud the bass shakes my front door, or the babymamas who screech at their packs of offspring in the pools. Why would they care about some drops of oil on the pavement?
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Mistress · #9 07-07-2008, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benzadmiral

when i changed oil on the w126 and the w202, i'd do it on sunday morning before the apartment office people dragged their lazy tails in to work. Nobody ever reported me. Doing a change with a topsider doesn't look like an oil change anyway; it looks more like you're giving your car a transfusion.

I don't recall anything in the complex's rules about working on your car. I figure as long as you're reasonable and not too messy, what would they have to complain about? They won't do anything about the teen ferals who roam, holding onto their baggy pants, up and down the street, or about the gangsta wannabes who drive their escalades with the stereo up so loud the bass shakes my front door, or the babymamas who screech at their packs of offspring in the pools. Why would they care about some drops of oil on the pavement?
.

x2.

Dee8go · #10 07-07-2008, 01:22 PM

Boom shaka lacka, Boom shaka lacka, . . . . .

kerry · #11 07-07-2008, 03:17 PM

I used to be a resident manager of a condominium complex. I completely rebuilt a Chevy 283 in the car in the parking lot. It took so long for people to figure out how to get the higher up nazis on the case of the guy who was supposed to the the resident nazi, that I had the job completely done before they got on my case.

TX76513 · #12 07-07-2008, 03:44 PM

Our brand new (not opened yet) Pull a Part franchise is supposed to rent DIY bays, tools and such. Sounds like a good idea - liability can't be any greater than having the average Joe walking around the yard pulling parts off.

Skippy · #13 07-08-2008, 01:11 AM

This is an excellent idea. Most military bases have a "hobby shop" where you can rent shop space, tools, even a lift. I always thought it was a shame that no one in the private sector offered anything like that, but I figured liability was probably the reason.

300SD81 · #14 07-08-2008, 01:14 AM

I hope the Pull-A-Parts around here start offering that too.. A lift would be very nice occasionally..

davestlouis · #15 07-08-2008, 10:13 PM

I have 1/2 of a 2 car garage at my house, I have a ComPac 16 sailboat in the other half. I HAVE to clean up after myself because any tools or other "stuff" left out will result in my autistic 13 year old wandering off with the stuff, never to be seen again. I can't even leave the extension cord out, because he will tangle it all up.

I used to live in an apartment complex where we couldn't even wash a car except in the designated area down by the maintenance shed. It's beastly hot around here in the summer, I can't imagine working on a car in the sun, I'd drop dead.