Top-of-the-line tinkerers
Keeping your car in tip-top shape makes it gas-efficient, but the fear of getting ripped off can cause you to ignore that blinking maintenance light. Luckily, there’s Ender Negiz’s NorCal Auto Tech, the only Bay Area shop to earn a 100 percent in every single one of Consumers’ Checkbook’s ratings categories—while still charging a reasonable $80 per hour for labor (a real bargain in these parts). 140 Dillon Ave., Campbell, 408-374-6666, norcalautotech.com

Save some green
We can’t help picking eco-friendly Luscious Garage for the second year in a row, not just because of its primo hybrid-car repair, but also because the shop is now offering a new depression special: a $50 oil change. 459 Clementina St., S.F., 415-875-9030, lusciousgarage.com

Get greasy
While some bike shops are intimidating, the do-it-yourself Bike Kitchen’s mission is to teach even the least mechanically savvy newbies how to fix their own bikes. In its huge, brand-new space, the collective offers 22 workstations with tools and parts, as well as volunteers to walk you through fixing a flat or changing a derailleur. The privilege of working on your bike there comes cheap: $5 a day, or a sliding scale of $40–100 a year. For a moderate fee, the Bike Kitchen also offers small hands-on classes covering basic repairs and how to build your own bike. 650H Florida St., S.F., 415-647-2453, bikekitchen.org

Public-transit app
There’s an iPhone app for everything these days—have you seen the one that turns your phone into a trombone?—so it’s no surprise that apps to help you navigate BART and Muni have also been proliferating. If anything, there are too many to choose from, but iBART and iCommute SF top the list when it comes to ease of design and number of useful features. They can both GPS you to the closest stops and map out your trip step by step; iCommute SF (which costs $2.99 to download) gives you real-time arrivals, but to get that information for BART, you’ll need the brand-new iBART Live, which costs $4.99. Now, if only these apps could guarantee you a seat. (For non-iPhoners: Hopstop.com can at least tell you how and when you’ll get there.) Available at the iPhone app store

The no-brainer
If you still don’t know about SanFranGasPrices.com, bonk yourself on the head—then check it out. As gas prices rise once again, this site tells you where to get the cheapest fuel in the Bay Area.

Electrify the competiton
Sign up now if you want to be among the original owners of a new Mission One electric motorcycle. The first 50 bikes come out next year, but the preorder list is already filling up fast with the names of monied, gadget-minded greenies. This San Fran­cisco invention may be battery-powered, with zero emissions, but with its racing circuit–grade components and sleek, futuristic Yves Béhar design, it handles better than many gasoline-powered bikes. Without the combustion engine, the Mission One is smooth and quiet, and you can accelerate quickly at any speed without shifting gears. At $68,995, this ride ain’t cheap, but it’s one of those eco-friendly investments that will pay for itself over time. ridemission.com