The mechanic who drives to Richmond instead of towing it away.
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
Everything we do starts from American Canyon. For Richmond that means straight over the Carquinez. The route in is I-80, so an arrival window we give you over the phone is a real one rather than a number meant to keep you holding. Cars, trucks, trailers, farm machinery and heavy equipment all get worked on where they sit in Richmond, which spares you the cost of moving something that was never going to need a workshop in the first place. Patrick has been doing this long enough to know which faults in Richmond are a ten minute fix and which are somebody selling you a tow. Most Richmond jobs are finished in a single stop, because guessing at the fault from a phone description is how people end up paying twice.
When you cannot tell how bad it is
A fair number of Richmond calls open with somebody saying they are not sure this counts as a real problem.
The call costs nothing. If it is something you can safely drive on, we will tell you that and you can get on with your day. If it is not, you have found out before it became a tow and a much larger repair.
Richmond runs hard on its machinery
What a town does for work decides what breaks in it. In Richmond that means refinery row at Rodeo/Martinez, and the failures follow from it.
With delta agriculture east on top, the vehicles here rarely get an easy week, and the wear shows up in predictable places.
So the van is packed for what this area actually breaks, rather than for an average that fits nowhere and leaves you waiting on a second trip.
Where the calls come from
What we get called out for in Richmond
If you want to know what we spend our time on in Richmond, it is this.
Commute-hour breakdowns
Vehicles that fail on the way to work, where the priority is getting the driver moving rather than a perfect repair at the roadside. In Richmond these come in off I-80 more than anywhere else.
Contractor and plant vehicles
The trucks and equipment working refinery sites, where access and timing get planned before we roll. Most of them reach us from I-80 or the streets feeding it.
Brakes that started making noise
Pads and rotors get done in a driveway or a yard as readily as in a shop, and we would rather look at it early than after something seizes. Nothing exotic, and it is finished at the roadside most times.
No-starts with no obvious cause
Starter, alternator, fuel delivery or something electrical. We test rather than guess, which is what stops you paying for the wrong part. It is a steady share of what Richmond calls about.
Flat and shredded tires
Changed on the spot where there is a usable spare, and where there is not we can talk through the next step before anybody calls for a tow. In Richmond these come in off I-80 more than anywhere else.
The calls people forget they can make
Most people find us at the worst moment, but a fair amount of Richmond work is booked rather than urgent.
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.
Equipment, not just vehicles
A lot of shops will not touch farm machinery. We will, and in Richmond that is most of the reason the phone rings.
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.
How we reach Richmond
I-80 is the spine of this. It is how we get to you and it is where a good share of the breakdowns happen, because it is the road everything in Richmond uses.
I-680 and Highway 4 carry the remainder, and at certain hours they are the faster way in even when they look longer on a map.
Roadside work has one rule before any diagnosis: get the vehicle and the people in a position where traffic is not the biggest hazard.
Richmond on the map
Other towns on the same run
If you are just outside Richmond, one of these is probably nearer to you.
If you are between towns, call anyway and describe the nearest junction. We would rather work it out on the phone than have you guess which page to read.
Or see the whole of Contra Costa County and the full service area.
Before you call
Short answers below. Anything else, ring the number.
How quickly can you get to Richmond?
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 Richmond?
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. Richmond 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?
Not unless the repair genuinely needs a workshop. Paying to move a vehicle before anyone has diagnosed it is the most common way people overspend on a breakdown.
Do you charge more to come out to Richmond at night?
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.
What if the vehicle needs a workshop after all?
Sometimes, and we would rather establish that in twenty minutes than after three hours. You are charged for what was actually done, not for the attempt.
Richmond, day or night.
No queue and no script. Call from Richmond, say what is wrong, and get a price and a time before anything is agreed.