Broken down in Danville? We come to the vehicle.
From American Canyon, straight over the Carquinez. Calls come off I-80, I-680 and the streets either side of them. With refinery row at Rodeo/Martinez around town, the same handful of failures come up again and again. One call and Patrick is on the road.
- Straight over the Carquinez
- Open 24 hours, seven days
- No hourly minimum
- Cars, trucks, farm and heavy equipment
We run out of American Canyon, and straight over the Carquinez. I-80 is the way in, and knowing that road at every hour is what makes the window we quote worth something. What we get called to here follows from what the town is: refinery row at Rodeo/Martinez, delta agriculture east. That local knowledge is the whole product: anyone can own a toolbox, but knowing what I-80 does at five on a Friday is what makes the arrival time real. We would rather arrive with the part than book a second trip, so we ask what the vehicle is doing before we load up for Danville.
Four things that speed this up
The location
The nearest cross street or business sign is more use than coordinates, especially after dark in Danville.
The vehicle
Enough to know what parts might be needed before we load the van.
What it did
Noise, smell, warning light, or nothing at all. The detail you think is irrelevant is often the one that matters.
Whether it is safe
Tell us if you are on a live lane or a blind bend and we will treat it differently.
The regular spots
Danville runs hard on its machinery
You can predict a lot about Danville repairs from one fact: this is refinery row at Rodeo/Martinez country.
There is also delta agriculture east, which puts a different kind of load on the same machinery.
That is why we ask what the vehicle does for a living before we set off, because a truck that runs loaded every day fails differently from one that sits five days a week.
The calls people forget they can make
Not all of this is roadside. A good share of what we do in Danville is arranged in advance.
Routine servicing, inspections and the catch-it-early repairs. The advantage of a mobile mechanic is that the vehicle keeps working while it waits for its slot.
When you cannot tell how bad it is
If you are weighing whether it is worth a call, that hesitation is worth addressing.
There is no charge for the conversation. Describing the noise to somebody who works on these every day usually settles it in a minute.
Farm, fleet and heavy work
Farm machinery is where a mobile mechanic earns the description, because moving it to a workshop is the expensive part.
In practice that means tractors, gators, sprayers and the implements behind them, diagnosed where the machine is standing rather than after somebody has paid to move it.Which in this area means tractors, gators, sprayers and the implements behind them, and the awkward part is almost never the repair itself but getting a working mechanic to where the machine actually is.
Danville and the roads around it
Most Danville work begins on I-80. That is the approach from our end and it carries the traffic that generates the calls.
We also work I-680 and Highway 4 regularly, and we pick between them by time of day rather than distance.
Before a tool comes out we deal with position and visibility, because most of the danger on a call like this is other drivers.
Danville on the map
The neighboring towns
Danville is not an island. These are the towns we reach on the same kind of notice.
Distance on a map and time on the road are different things around here. Every town page says which one applies, and what I-80 is doing at the hour you call.
Or see the rest of Contra Costa County and the full service area.
Before you call
Short answers. The phone is faster if yours is not here.
How quickly can you get to Danville?
Straight over the Carquinez. You get a real window on the phone before we set out, based on what I-80 is doing at that hour rather than a number that sounds good.
Do you charge a minimum to come out to Danville?
None. You are quoted for the work itself, agreed before anything starts, and a short job stays a short job on the invoice. That is deliberate: a minimum charge punishes exactly the early call that would have kept the repair cheap.
What hours do you answer?
Every hour there is. The late calls are a real part of the work rather than something we tolerate, which is why somebody actually picks up.
Can you work on refinery equipment?
Yes. Danville being refinery row at Rodeo/Martinez country is exactly why we carry what we carry. Cars and trucks are the baseline; farm machinery, heavy equipment and fleet vehicles are the rest of the week.
Do I need to get the vehicle somewhere first?
Usually not. We would rather come to the vehicle than have you pay a tow truck to move something we could have fixed where it sat.
Is a weekend call to Danville priced differently?
Same rate, whatever the hour. We would rather you called at three in the morning than sat on a shoulder until sunrise trying to avoid a fee.
Is there work you will not attempt on site?
Then we say so plainly and tell you what the real options are. You are not charged for a repair that was never going to work, and you will have a clear diagnosis to take wherever it goes next.
Get somebody out to Danville.
You will speak to the person who does the work. Describe where you are in Danville and what happened, and we will tell you what it costs and when we will be there.