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Episode 37, Garage Time: Airbnb for DIY mechanics

Michael James

Proper maintenance for owner's first cars requires at least learning basic maintenance.

Andrew Koretz formerly lived in a building in Chicago that didn’t have a garage. He had to improvise. When he needed to change the oil in his car or motorcycle, he used the roof of a parking garage across the street from his residence.

A self-described gearhead, Koretz, 31, enjoys do-it-yourself challenges. But while working on engines from his former vantage point, he noticed plenty of vacant homes.

The result is Garage Time (www.bookgaragetime.com). The online marketplace is the equivalent of Airbnb or VRBO for vehicle owners who wish to work on their vehicles, but who don’t have available facilities.

Garage Time is an Airbnb for DIY mechanics.
Garage Time is an Airbnb for DIY mechanics.

Koretz is our guest on Episode #37 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Bruce Aldrich and I ask Andrew about his new business and his passion for vehicles.

Garage Time works in two ways. It’s individuals who rent their garage spaces, often to help offset their mechanical efforts, rents or mortgages. And there are professional spaces for rent. The business began four months ago and it’s building a following as the only business of its kind in the United States.

According to Koretz, who formally worked in the financial industry, DIY garages flourished in the 1960s and 1970s. He explained much of that mentality has been lost as society has evolved into a “service-based culture” and as cars have become more complex to repair. The community sense of working on vehicles, explains Koretz, “is a lot more fun when you wrench with other people.”

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Article Last Updated: May 29, 2018.

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