Thanks for the quick reply! Yes I am using the Gear interface, and repairing at garages when I have the funds. When I clear the early stages I go around and collect all the crates so I've got as much gear as possible. There's only so much you can do when there's like 9 cars to kill along the Arizona highway with almost no chance to repair in between.
I also don't understand the money mechanic. You collect Cash (₡) for kills, but it seems you can't spend the Cash on repairs, you need to collect Parts (screw icon) to do repairs. Cash is spent on Fuel, which you are supplied anyway so there's no need to buy it, and Ordnance, the purpose of which isn't clear to me. It seems it would be better to allow cash to pay for repairs? It would also be nice to sell extra weapons, I often end up with more Junkthrowers than I can use.
I don't mean for this to sound like complaining, it's a fun game with lots of potential, I'd love to see it get even better :)
The core turn-based driving with the two speeds and the various options for numpad movement is brilliant. It takes some practice to place the car exactly how and where you want for complex moves, but when you pull a move off it looks so cool and is very satisfying. Balancing that with the WASD directional shooting so you minimise movement input and maximise shooting is really well done. The advantage of two-squares-per-turn at high speed is subtle and I need to explore that more.