The tools and "tech parts" are a good idea, especially if some of them would be tied in w/ your skill level. IE, you might find some sort of car part or computer part, but only be able to "identify" it or use it if your repair and/or computer skill is high enough. You could also expand this concept to include various weapons, or basically any other item in the game, depending on the item/weapon.
The trade-off here is that the more "skill-specific" the items are, the less of the game you get to experience because you won't be able to use certain items unless you play as a certain type of character. Additionally, the developers would have to be careful not to make things like a screwdriver or knife "skill-specific", as the use of these items would seem to be common knowledge for just about any type of character.
However, if it was implemented correctly, and especially if it is a "party-based" game (ie at least 1 NPC henchman, so that if the player character doesn't have a certain skill maybe the NPC would still be able to use the item), I think most players would find something like this enjoyable and rewarding, as it would reward the player for playing as different types of characters. Additionally, this type of thing would add to the game's replay value, so that you might be more inclined to replay the game as a different character type in order to use items that you weren't able to use the first time around.
I would also like to reiterate my previously stated idea that a motorcycle would be a much more practical, interesting vehicle to add into the game than a car or truck, with the exception that it doesn't really allow for more than 1 extra passenger (assuming the game is "party-based"), unless you have a sidecar. It seems to me that in a post-apocalyptic world a motorcycle would be much more useful than a car; it would be less conspicuous, easier to hide, easier to navigate past difficult obstacles (such as past abandoned cars or potholes or down narrow alleyways), easier to hop on/off of, etc. Plus, given the fact that the developers are using the Oblivion graphics engine for the game, it's not much of a stretch (graphically speaking) to make the leap from horses to bicycles/motorcycles. I guess it just seems like a natural choice to me. And while we're at it, let's make it a chopper, not a fatboy.
