The mechanic who drives to Inverness instead of towing it away.
From American Canyon, south on 37 then 101. Calls come off Highway 101, Sir Francis Drake Blvd and the streets either side of them. With commuter corridor to the bridge around town, the same handful of failures come up again and again. 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. Whatever is stopped in Inverness, it gets diagnosed and in most cases fixed at the roadside, and where it genuinely cannot be you get a straight answer rather than an afternoon of hopeful attempts. 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. A Inverness call gets the same treatment whether it is a commuter car or a loaded truck: find the fault, price it, fix it where it sits.
What we get called out for in Inverness
This is the work that actually comes in from Inverness, in rough order of how often the phone rings for it.
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 Inverness these come in off Highway 101 more than anywhere else.
Boat trailers and launch-ramp trouble
Trailer bearings and brakes that have been in salt water, plus the tow vehicles that pull them. In Inverness these come in off Highway 101 more than anywhere else.
Warning lights nobody can read
We pull the codes on site and tell you plainly whether it is drive-it-home or stop-now. Most of them reach us from Highway 101 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. With commuter corridor to the bridge in the mix, this one repeats more here than it should.
Batteries that died overnight
A vehicle that turned over fine yesterday and does nothing today is usually the battery or a corroded terminal, and both get handled at the roadside. With commuter corridor to the bridge in the mix, this one repeats more here than it should.
How we reach Inverness
Ask where Inverness 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.
Getting to Inverness
The work behind the breakdowns
What a town does for work decides what breaks in it. In Inverness that means commuter corridor to the bridge, and the failures follow from it.
There is also marine and boatyard work, which puts a different kind of load on the same machinery.
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.
Booked work, not just breakdowns
The emergency calls are how people meet us. The scheduled work is what they come back for in Inverness.
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.
The call is free
People in Inverness apologize for calling about something small more often than you would think.
There is no charge for the conversation. Describing the noise to somebody who works on these every day usually settles it in a minute.
Bigger than a car
A lot of shops will not touch trailers and tow vehicles. We will, and in Inverness that is most of the reason the phone rings.
In practice that means boat trailers, bearings and the trucks that pull them, diagnosed where the machine is standing rather than after somebody has paid to move it.Which in this area means boat trailers, bearings and the trucks that pull them, and the awkward part is almost never the repair itself but getting a working mechanic to where the machine actually is.
The Inverness map
Other towns on the same run
We cover the whole area around Inverness. The neighbors below come off the same runs.
Being close by is not the same as being quick to reach, so each of those pages gives the honest drive rather than a flat promise. Highway 101 decides most of it.
Or see the whole of Marin County and the full service area.
What Inverness callers ask
Brief answers here. Patrick picks up for anything else.
How quickly can you get to Inverness?
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 Inverness?
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. Inverness 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?
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.
What does an after-hours Inverness call cost?
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?
Occasionally. When a Inverness job needs a lift or a press we say so rather than burning your afternoon proving it, and you keep the diagnosis either way.
One call from Inverness and we are moving.
You will speak to the person who does the work. Describe where you are in Inverness and what happened, and we will tell you what it costs and when we will be there.