The Automotive Free Clinic started at the beginning of the pandemic as a dream to create a shop that was primarily about serving the community and not making money. Shops have a reputation of ripping people off. Some of this is certainly a well-deserved reputation, but some of it is just in the structure of the capitalist system. They also have a reputation, which I feel is really well deserved, of being misogynist and homophobic.
I wanted our shop to cater to people who get taken advantage of by automotive repair shops. A shop that explains things clearly, a shop that respects everyone’s intelligence, and a shop that is also kinda like a vehicle consulting firm that helps people make decisions about vehicles that will save them the most money in the long run. A little over a year in, the shop is really rounding into shop.
About a month ago, we moved into our first brick and mortar shop after doing mobile for over a year, during the height of the pandemic. During that time we repaired about a vehicle a week and got a ton of support from the community. So far, we’ve worked on ten vehicles the first month, which is double what we were doing and that’s after not working on anything the first month because we didn’t have insurance.
I’ve done a lot of work in organizing and politics, but, in all honesty, this is the most important thing I’ve ever done. It really fills a hole in the community that would be difficult to fill without the shop. People are so reliant on vehicles, which is actually a stupid way to organize society, but that’s a different story. Not having a vehicle can lead directly to poverty, declining health, and other maladies and the skills that we have are really being put to use for the good of the community, not in a high minded or ideological way, but in a really down-to-Earth, practical way.
It is definitely political because it undermines the capitalist automotive repair industry and if we could ever get to the point where we can pay technicians, it could be truly revolutionary. But, most importantly, it’s rooted first and foremost in service to the community, and especially to people who are often abused by the automotive repair industry. And maybe, that in and of itself is what revolution is or should be about.