An honest page about the jobs a mobile mechanic should not take on. Some work needs a shop, and knowing that before anyone comes out saves you paying for a visit that cannot fix anything.
A great deal of repair work does not need a building. Diagnostics, batteries, starters, alternators, brakes, cooling systems, air conditioning, servicing and most electrical faults are all finished at the vehicle, usually at the first visit, with no tow at the start of it.
What a driveway cannot give you is a vehicle lift, a press, an alignment rack, welding equipment or a controlled space to strip an engine in. Those are real limits rather than a reluctance to take the work, and a mechanic who pretends otherwise is one to be careful of.
Pulling an engine or a transmission out of a vehicle needs lifting equipment, somewhere clean to lay the parts out, and often several days. That is shop work. Plenty of engine jobs are not teardowns, though, so it is worth describing the fault rather than assuming: a timing component, a sensor or a cooling problem on the same engine may well be an on-site job.
Jack stands on a level surface safely cover a great deal of work, but not everything. Exhaust work along the full length of the vehicle, suspension bushes that have to be pressed in and out, and anything requiring the car to be held at height for hours all belong on a lift. Full wheel alignments need a rack and cannot be done by eye at the roadside.
Structural rust, a corroded subframe, collision damage and body panels are a different trade with different equipment, and doing any of it in a residential driveway is neither safe nor legal in most places. The same goes for anything involving fuel tank removal, where the risk is obvious.
Some keys, immobilizers, control modules and security systems can only be coded with the manufacturer's own equipment and an account to go with it. Where that is the case the honest answer is to send you to a dealer rather than charge you to find out. Plenty of module work is not in that category and can be done on site.
A narrow shoulder on a busy road, a steep slope, soft ground, a parking deck with no clearance, or a space too tight to get around the vehicle are all reasons to decline. Working under a car needs firm, level ground and room to move. If where the vehicle sits is the problem, moving it a short distance is sometimes all it takes.
Where testing has to be carried out at an approved station, a mobile mechanic cannot issue the certificate. What can be done is getting the vehicle ready beforehand, so a fault you already know about does not become a failed test.
Diagnostics and warning lights, batteries, starters and alternators, brake pads and discs, cooling systems and overheating, air conditioning service and repair, oil and routine servicing, electrical faults, steering and suspension, filters, exhaust sections and the no-start calls that make up a good share of any week. Work trucks, diesel engines and trailers are covered as well.
That covers the large majority of what goes wrong with a car. The jobs above are the exceptions, and they are listed here so you can rule them in or out before anyone sets off rather than after. If the work does need a shop, saying so early is worth more to you than a wasted visit, and you will be told which kind of shop to look for.
The everyday mechanical work that does get done at your address is set out on Mechanic Athens GA. Heavy trucks, semis and tractor trailers run on a separate network, covered on Heavy Duty Truck Repair Athens GA.
Not sure which side of the line your job falls on? Describe it and you will get a straight answer. Call 706-940-4120.