Occidental calls get a person, not a queue.
From American Canyon, over the hills; 101 is the spine. Highway 101, Highway 12 carry most of the trouble we get called to here. With wine country around town, the same handful of failures come up again and again. One call and Patrick is on the road.
- Over the hills
- Open 24 hours, seven days
- No hourly minimum
- Cars, trucks, farm and heavy equipment
Occidental sits where it sits relative to American Canyon, and that is the whole story on timing: over the hills; 101 is the spine. The route in is Highway 101, so an arrival window we give you over the phone is a real one rather than a number meant to keep you holding. What we get called to here follows from what the town is: wine country, dairy and ranch equipment. We are not routed through a call center in another state, and nobody in Occidental is quoted a time by somebody who has never driven Highway 101. A Occidental 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 Occidental
The Occidental call list does not vary much. These are the regulars.
Stock trailers and ranch trucks
Bearings, brakes and lights on trailers that carry animals, where a failure is not something you can leave until next week. With wine country in the mix, this one repeats more here than it should.
Dairy equipment and feed trucks
Machinery that runs to a milking schedule and cannot wait for a workshop slot. In Occidental these come in off Highway 101 more than anywhere else.
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. In Occidental these come in off Highway 101 more than anywhere else.
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 Occidental these come in off Highway 101 more than anywhere else.
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 Occidental calls about.
The calls people forget they can make
Most people find us at the worst moment, but a fair amount of Occidental 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.
The regular spots
Occidental runs hard on its machinery
You can predict a lot about Occidental repairs from one fact: this is wine country.
With dairy and ranch equipment on top, the vehicles here rarely get an easy week, and the wear shows up in predictable places.
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.
When you cannot tell how bad it is
A fair number of Occidental 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.
The machines nobody else will drive out to
A lot of shops will not touch farm machinery. We will, and in Occidental 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.
Highway 101 and the streets either side
Ask where Occidental breakdowns happen and the answer is mostly Highway 101, which is also the road we arrive on.
We also work Highway 12 and Highway 116 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.
Occidental on the map
Nearby, and just as quick
We cover the whole area around Occidental. 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.
There is also the full Sonoma 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 Occidental?
It depends on the hour, and we will tell you honestly. Over the hills; 101 is the spine. That window is what we plan around, not a promise made to end the call.
Do you charge a minimum to come out to Occidental?
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?
All of them. The phone goes to the mechanic at two in the morning the same as it does at two in the afternoon, and that is not a voicemail promising a call back. The people who need a mobile mechanic most are rarely the ones calling during business hours, which is the entire reason the number is answered around the clock.
Can you work on wine equipment?
Yes, and it is a large part of the work here. Wine country 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, 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 Occidental 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.
What if the vehicle needs a workshop after all?
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.
Stopped in Occidental? Call.
The phone goes straight to the mechanic, whatever time it is. Tell us where in Occidental you are parked and what the vehicle is doing, and you will have a price and an arrival window before we hang up.