The mechanic who drives to Bolinas instead of towing it away.
South on 37 then 101. Most of what we answer in Bolinas is on or near Highway 101, Sir Francis Drake Blvd. This is commuter corridor to the bridge country, so the faults have a pattern to them. One call and Patrick is on the road.
- South on 37 then 101
- Open 24 hours, seven days
- No hourly minimum
- Cars, trucks, farm and heavy equipment
We run out of American Canyon, and south on 37 then 101. Because the approach is Highway 101, we can read the traffic before we commit to a time. Cars, trucks, trailers, farm machinery and heavy equipment all get worked on where they sit in Bolinas, which spares you the cost of moving something that was never going to need a workshop in the first place. That local knowledge is the whole product: anyone can own a toolbox, but knowing what Highway 101 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 Bolinas.
From your call to a working vehicle
You call
Straight to Patrick. Where in Bolinas, what the vehicle is, what changed.
Agreed up front
Cost and timing settled before we move. Where the repair is not worth the money we will tell you that instead of driving out.
On the road
In on Highway 101 normally, traffic depending.
Found, not guessed
Measured on the spot. Guessing at parts is how a small bill becomes a large one.
Finished, or a straight answer
The majority are done and driving within the hour. The rest leave with a clear diagnosis and a real plan.
Straight answers
The calls people forget they can make
Most people find us at the worst moment, but a fair amount of Bolinas 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.
Bolinas runs hard on its machinery
What a town does for work decides what breaks in it. In Bolinas that means commuter corridor to the bridge, and the failures follow from it.
Add marine and boatyard work to that and you get vehicles that work hard on a schedule somebody else set, which is exactly the situation where a breakdown costs more than the repair.
The practical upshot is that we carry parts for the failures this area actually produces rather than a generic van load.
When you cannot tell how bad it is
People in Bolinas apologize for calling about something small more often than you would think.
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.
Bigger than a car
Beyond cars, Bolinas work means trailers and tow vehicles, seen where it stands.
That covers boat trailers, bearings and the trucks that pull them, diagnosed and repaired on site.
Bolinas and the roads around it
Ask where Bolinas breakdowns happen and the answer is mostly Highway 101, which is also the road we arrive on.
We also work Sir Francis Drake Blvd and Highway 1 regularly, and we pick between them by time of day rather than distance.
A shoulder is a bad place to do anything slowly, so the first thing we sort out on arrival is whether the vehicle can be made safe where it is or needs to move first.
Bolinas on the map
The neighboring towns
Bolinas 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 Highway 101 is doing at the hour you call.
There is also the full Marin County and the full service area.
Before you call
Brief answers here. Patrick picks up for anything else.
How quickly can you get to Bolinas?
South on 37 then 101. You get a real window on the phone before we set out, based on what Highway 101 is doing at that hour rather than a number that sounds good.
Do you charge a minimum to come out to Bolinas?
No hourly minimum. A ten minute fix is billed as a ten minute fix, which is the whole point of the way we work. The alternative, charging a block of time regardless, teaches people to wait until something is genuinely broken before they pick up the phone.
What hours do you answer?
Twenty four hours, every day. Nights and weekends are ordinary working time here rather than an emergency surcharge, and the late calls are a real part of the week rather than something merely tolerated.
Can you work on commuter equipment?
Yes. Bolinas being commuter corridor to the bridge 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?
No, and it is worth saying plainly because people assume otherwise: the van carries the work to the vehicle, not the other way round.
What does an after-hours Bolinas call cost?
There is no night surcharge. A two in the morning call is billed like any other, which is the only arrangement that makes sense when the whole promise is that somebody picks up.
Do some jobs still end up at a garage?
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.
One call from Bolinas and we are moving.
No queue and no script. Call from Bolinas, say what is wrong, and get a price and a time before anything is agreed.