If you’re a London gearhead and want to work on your car but have no place to do it, you’ll want to check out Pit Start, a new self-service garage. It is exactly what it sounds like – a communal pay-by-the-hour workspace. Would-be tinkerers can pre-book a space or drop in, and upon arrival, a Pit Start employee will assign you one of the twenty repair bays depending on the kind of work you’ll be doing.
Bays can be rented for a minimum of hour, and it’s £10 for bays without lifts (a little over $15 USD) or £20 (roughly $30 USD) for one of the six bays that come with a four-ton hoist. Pit Start provides an array of common tools for free, sells oil and basic fluids, has a directory of nearby mechanics, and can arrange to have parts delivered for you within the hour. The only things you can’t do are tasks that involve welding or paint spraying. This month, bay rental is 50% off, and the garage is open 24/7 in case you get the urge to install a turbo at 3 a.m. They even provide shop manuals.
With a small amount of supervision, you can mitigate the risks.
I took an automotive shop class in H.S., we put cars on lifts and drove them in/out of the shop constantly. Nobody ever got hurt. If a H.S. can do it with 1 person supervising students, then this can be done.
In America, you can jump out of a plane at 13k ft., but you cannot open up a self-service auto repair shop.
My old subie was all jacked up at the lift points from the PO.
I was actually talking to my dad about this a few weeks ago, and he told me there used to be a place downtown to rent lifts for personal service. Dunno what happened to it tho.
bing… can somebody who has no idea what they’re doing just show up and rent a lift?
I don’t know if canadian law is better, but in the US even with a waiver and insurance some dumbass will drop a car on his head and that will be the end of it.