The mechanic who drives to Stinson Beach instead of towing it away.
From American Canyon, south on 37 then 101. Most of what we answer in Stinson Beach is on or near Highway 101, Sir Francis Drake Blvd. 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
Stinson Beach sits where it sits relative to American Canyon, and that is the whole story on timing: south on 37 then 101. Highway 101 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: commuter corridor to the bridge, marine and boatyard work. We are not routed through a call center in another state, and nobody in Stinson Beach is quoted a time by somebody who has never driven Highway 101. Most Stinson Beach jobs are finished in a single stop, because guessing at the fault from a phone description is how people end up paying twice.
How a call from here actually goes
You call
No call center in between. Say whereabouts in Stinson Beach you are and what it is doing, and you are talking to the person who will turn up.
Agreed up front
You get a price and an arrival window before anything is agreed. If it is not worth doing we say so on the phone.
On the road
In on Highway 101 normally, traffic depending.
We diagnose on site
Measured on the spot. Guessing at parts is how a small bill becomes a large one.
Back on the road
The majority are done and driving within the hour. The rest leave with a clear diagnosis and a real plan.
Getting to Stinson Beach
The work that is not an emergency
The emergency calls are how people meet us. The scheduled work is what they come back for in Stinson Beach.
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.
What Stinson Beach does, and what that breaks
What a town does for work decides what breaks in it. In Stinson Beach 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.
Ask before it gets expensive
People in Stinson Beach apologize for calling about something small more often than you would think.
Asking is free, and a straight answer over the phone is often the whole service. We would rather talk you out of a job than sell you one you do not need.
Farm, fleet and heavy work
Trailers and tow vehicles is where a mobile mechanic earns the description, because moving it to a workshop is the expensive part.
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.
Highway 101 and the streets either side
Ask where Stinson Beach 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.
Roadside work has one rule before any diagnosis: get the vehicle and the people in a position where traffic is not the biggest hazard.
Stinson Beach and its neighbors
Nearby, and just as quick
If you are just outside Stinson Beach, 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 rest of Marin County and the full service area.
Questions we get from Stinson Beach
The common ones, answered briefly. Call for the rest.
How quickly can you get to Stinson Beach?
It depends on the hour, and we will tell you honestly. South on 37 then 101. That window is what we plan around, not a promise made to end the call.
Do you charge a minimum to come out to Stinson Beach?
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, and it is a large part of the work here. Commuter corridor to the bridge means machinery that cannot easily be moved, which is the case a mobile mechanic exists for.
Do I need to get the vehicle somewhere first?
No. Wherever it stopped in Stinson Beach is where we start, whether that is a roadside space, a work yard or a field gate.
Do you charge more to come out to Stinson Beach at night?
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.
What if the vehicle needs a workshop after all?
We tell you straight. Some jobs need a shop, and knowing that with certainty is worth more than an afternoon of hopeful attempts at the roadside.
Get somebody out to Stinson Beach.
The phone goes straight to the mechanic, whatever time it is. Tell us where in Stinson Beach you are parked and what the vehicle is doing, and you will have a price and an arrival window before we hang up.