Home Auto Repair Question

It really depends. Around here it's considered a pretty nice place to live, but there are still a lot people working on their cars. I've seen this one car in the neighborhood that seemed to perpetually be on jack stands on the same driveway. A lot of homeowners have converted their garages to workspaces so their cars are parked on the street or driveway, and some even use the driveway as workspaces. I don't think we have any specific ordinances that would prohibit it.

Having a car parking on the lawn would be another matter. I know someone (hint, hint) who is a professional mechanic and doesn't work at home as a side hustle. He told me that his dealership cut him off from buying parts at a discount, but he continued to go through other employees who he would help fix up their cars. He doesn't work there any more so he can't get in trouble for it now. His carport has a professional lift and everything. So far the local authorities haven't complained, even when he's got cars in the neighborhood parked more than the theoretical max time.

The most I've ever done was an oil change on my driveway. A few times I saw someone changing the oil parked on the street.
 
I'm one of the few people that I've seen working on their cars in my neighborhood. I'm also one of the few that parks in their garage. One or two cars a week sounds like a business or a lot of charity work. That's a lot of work for no monetary compensation.
 
From a liability standpoint, I would have liability for operations that originated from my owned premises. Can you help me understand your thought process?


Wouldn't this need to fit under the definition of commercial activities?
There is perceived liability sure just like being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's not actual liability unless proven. Saying up front, drive easy but if anything happens you know who's fault it is (mine) so send your attorney bills my way, is not the way to go into a situation. Now I wasn't born last night so sure someone can sue for most anything, but to me, and it seems to you, that risk doesn't outweigh helping folks.
 
One of the family of my cousins lived on a back street in a small house over a 4 car garage ( 2 wide, 2 deep ) and our grandparents owned the property. My cousins from a couple of families, and my brother and I use to work on our cars and trucks in that garage when we were in high-school, so we spent more time in that garage in the summer when we were not in school. Often we would be in that garage very late, sometimes even all night, and on nice summer days we left the door up. The neighbors in the house across the street actually called the police on us because of the light coming from the open garage. We had to bring down the door part way after dark after that.

If what you are doing annoys the neighbors, they may call the police.
 
It will depend entirely on the rules of the community you live in.

I am on our planning commission, and we work constantly at revising and modifying our regulations to get what we desire for development and to prevent what we don't want. In our case, through the school of hard knocks, we prohibit a home extended business that is centered around car repairs. While it is not as cut and dry as saying "Automotive repair businesses are prohibited", our regulations explicitly prohibit activities that are not explicitly allowed, and we don't allow home extended businesses that operate from a garage or accessory structure (again, in our residential zoning districts).

In your case, you are threading the needle of being a business. If true that it is just on you, your family, and your friends cars, and no money is exchanged, you might be able to thread the needle if push came to shove. But when we discuss no money, it means exactly that. Have income related to this activity? Can it be tracked back to a financial institution? Then you run the risk of being considered a business.

The biggest thing is to stay on your neighbors good side. If you get the wrong neighbor who doesn't care for the sound of an impact wrench every now and then, good luck... If your neighbors are all good, then in our city, you'd never get a visit - enforcement is complaint based only. There's enough coming in via complaint to tend to, that the city isn't out looking for rule benders and breakers...

YMMV, and refer to the rules of your community, not mine - they are for reference only!
 
Michael, you live in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood. I know you are not gonna have a bunch of beaters stashed all over the street.
Work in your garage, no one will care. That's what I do.
Heck, I am the only wrench on my street; the neighbors come to me for help and questions.
I am the only one who puts oil jugs out for recycling...

Good luck. Just do what you do; keep helping people. Keep pulling those wrenches as you are doing far more good than bad.
 
I'm one of the few people that I've seen working on their cars in my neighborhood. I'm also one of the few that parks in their garage. One or two cars a week sounds like a business or a lot of charity work. That's a lot of work for no monetary compensation.
Not necessarily. 1-2 a week is certainly not commercial work full time. There are young people and car hobbyists who work on cars all the time, especially if they go to tracks.

Typically the annoyance to the neighbors are noise, oil stains, eye sores, and sketchy people. If you want to avoid problems try not to use impact tools, compressors, dropping wrenches, spill, blow black and blue smokes, etc.

Also try not to piss off neighbors or they will try to find everything to complain and report to get back at you.
 
Michael, you live in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood. I know you are not gonna have a bunch of beaters stashed all over the street.
Work in your garage, no one will care. That's what I do.
Heck, I am the only wrench on my street; the neighbors come to me for help and questions.
I am the only one who puts oil jugs out for recycling...

Good luck. Just do what you do; keep helping people. Keep pulling those wrenches as you are doing far more good than bad.
Recycling oil, is a good thing, but putting empty oil bottles in plastic recycle collections is a bad thing.

Empty oil jugs containing even a very small amount of oil, will contaminate used plastic if the recycler does not catch that it is an oil container, and remove it. Used oil containers, even if they were washed well usually still contain enough oil to ruin use plastic recycling. Just do not do it.
 
Recycling oil, is a good thing, but putting empty oil bottles in plastic recycle collections is a bad thing.

Empty oil jugs containing even a very small amount of oil, will contaminate used plastic if the recycler does not catch that it is an oil container, and remove it. Used oil containers, even if they were washed well usually still contain enough oil to ruin use plastic recycling. Just do not do it.
I have curbside oil recycling. They drop off and pick up milk jugs of used oil. Sometimes they will pick up 5 quart oil containers, some drivers will only take the milk jugs.

I have not heard you cannot recycle empty oil containers. I will check into that. I can tell you that Silicon Valley has some of the most forward thinking recyclng in the nation. Thanks for the information.
 
BTW, if you like working on vehicle, like for a hobby, and run out of friends and or relatives vehicles to work on, then there are some very deserving vehicle drivers using there own vehicles to deliver meals on wheels and or boxes of food to elderly people who are basically home bound. I see them delivering in my neighborhood to an elderly man who lives across the street. The meals on wheels delivers to him a couple of times a week, and the doorstep delivery deliver a box of food once a week to him. I call him when I place a Walmart curbside pickup and add his items to the order. And neighbors on both sides of him help him with landscaping, and taking out his trash.

Anyhow, I always though it would be nice if someone provided some free car maintnce to people who use there own vehicles to voluntarily without any pay or compensation deliver food to shut-ins, even if only free labor and they still pay for the parts. I see these people delivering on there appointed days using there own vehicles and even if they have to get out of there vehicles when it is raining, or the steps are covered with snow.
 
Recycling oil, is a good thing, but putting empty oil bottles in plastic recycle collections is a bad thing.

Empty oil jugs containing even a very small amount of oil, will contaminate used plastic if the recycler does not catch that it is an oil container, and remove it. Used oil containers, even if they were washed well usually still contain enough oil to ruin use plastic recycling. Just do not do it.

I try to put the oil back into the containers for this very reason. Even if it’s quart jugs.

But I do put fuel additive and other small “oil” related containers in the mixed stream recycling. Will need to check into this.
 
I have curbside oil recycling. They drop off and pick up milk jugs of used oil. Sometimes they will pick up 5 quart oil containers, some drivers will only take the milk jugs.

I have not heard you cannot recycle empty oil containers. I will check into that. I can tell you that Silicon Valley has some of the most forward thinking recyclng in the nation. Thanks for the information.
Yeah we have that SMART station thing. Basically a sewage treatment plant integrated with recycle center, trash sorting station, compost station, and hazmat drop off. Basically they wash the heck out of every single kind of plastic you can recycle and even recycle cartons, use food scrap slurry to power the treatment plant, etc.

The only thing they told us not to recycle (surprise) is black plastic, clam shell (berry boxes), egg cartons (they are the scrap of paper recycling and has no value), take out food containers, drinks containers, frozen food paper box (they have plastic liners), aluminum foils (not much valuable aluminum, dirty, oxidized, etc), and some other what not. Our station probably output the best quality recycle plastic in the US, rather than bundling everything together and just burning them like others.

I don't remember seeing oil jug being non-recyclable but IMO it is better to throw in the trash so it won't contaminate the food grade stuff. Fewer jugs to increase quality is better for everything than scraping lower quality jugs any day.
 

8.25.500 Restrictions; prohibited repairs.
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The City Council determines that the public health, safety, and welfare require the prohibition of the repairing or dismantling of vehicles in public view in residential areas,
It says "in public view." I'd put up a temporary wall made out of tarps or something so no one from the street could see the vehicle in my driveway. Problem solved.

It used to be considered a good thing to increase community social interaction when a random neighbor would be working on a car in their driveway and people would stop by to start up a conversation and be all neighborly and supervise while holding a beer and perhaps even talk about propane and propane accessories. Yep. Mmmhmm.
 
That ordinance is pretty thorough and he'd be violating a couple sections of it. Temporary screening is also likely covered somewhere, so your plan is unlikely to be OK.
 
That ordinance is pretty thorough and he'd be violating a couple sections of it. Temporary screening is also likely covered somewhere, so your plan is unlikely to be OK.
The cut/paste I provided was from a neighboring city's municipal code. My city's municipal code does not have the same verbiage.
 
The cut/paste I provided was from a neighboring city's municipal code. My city's municipal code does not have the same verbiage.
Thanks. I did read the post, but must have missed that part. I left this post for a couple of days and it blew up. Good luck!!
 
They nailed a guy around here couple of years ago for same thing. He claimed helping family and since he was a disabled auto mechanic he got watched. Lost everything and opened a shop but since his back was so bad he lost that as well and cost him everything. EPA fined him since he didn't have proper disposal for fluids.
 
That is essentially my question: if a neighbor was to complain, what could the city do about it? If I work on 1-2 cars per week that do not belong to me and I am not running a business, what would I be violating?
Do you have complaining neighbors? How close are they to you? Only you know the answers to this.

An impact and air compressor and possibly a hammer is really the loudest thing I can think of. Would this really cause people to complain? Do these people not mow their yards?

I personally don’t see it as an issue.
 
There would be no way in hell I would do any type of brake, suspension, steering work in California on someones vehicle without being properly insured. Your going to think it's okay until they smash into someone and blame your brake job or whatever. My dad is a retired attorney and would have no problem suing you for tens of thousands of dollars.
I have never heard of a friend not helping another friend (within reason) because of liability.

Your father sounds like quite the character.

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