My car is in the shop on the other side of town and I regret everything

I thought I was being smart taking my car to a specialist my friend recommended, but I didn't realize how much of a hassle it would be. The garage is like 45 minutes away without traffic, so getting an Uber back and forth just to drop it off and pick it up is costing me a fortune. It really hit me today how much why proximity matters in auto servicing when you don't have a second car. If I had just chosen a place down the street, I could have walked home and checked on the progress easily. Has anyone else made this mistake and learned the hard way that closer is usually better?