Bay Area Service Provides Mechanics On Call
A couple of years ago, my car died in the middle of the night while at a friend’s house. The tow fees to my house and then to my mechanic ended up costing more than the alternator replacement itself. I still cringe to this day when I think about the final sum, and a service like YourMechanic.com would have made things a lot easier on my wallet and my sanity.
A sort of automotive paramedic, Yourmechanic.com will dispatch a mechanic to your location to perform most repairs. Everything from troubleshooting to a tune-up to things like alternator replacements and brake jobs are on offer, provided your car is in a parking lot or driveway (they won’t work on a vehicle if its street parked). The repairs are backed by a 12-month/12,000 mile warranty, and best of all, users can pick from a variety of mechanics based on their profiles and their listed credentials.
Most TTAC readers – or at least commenters – are likely to scoff at the notion of needing a mechanic to make house calls. But there are some of us out there *ahem* who tend to screw things up even worse as soon as they pick up a wrench. For those types of people, there’s definitely some value here. Not that I’d know or anything…
More by Derek Kreindler
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My Geico policy allows to add roadside assistance for something like $15 for each 6 month cycle on top of all other fees, which I did take advantage of. My car got towed 3-4 times since then. I paid $0. My insurance premium stayed the same. A great deal for someone with an older car(s).
I see the tractor-trailer equivalent of these services working on trucks by the side of the interstate pretty regularly. Where I grew up, one of these guys bought a decommissioned ambulance for the purpose. It had lots of lights, and was easy to see by the side of the road - so it was probably the perfect vehicle for the job. And the owner was a diesel mechanic, so the age probably wasn't much of a problem for him!
My boat guy makes house calls. He sold his business, claimed the land lord kept raising the rates at his shop/garage. So he switched to just heading over to people's houses and working on their outboard engines. This works well because you don't need a lift or any other major tools. Of course you are working outside... in Florida (!) so having LOTS of water to drink is important. Surprised more mechanics don't do this too - after all when you cars is broken it is kind of hard to drive it over to the fix-it place.
I'm sure they will, but at what price? My window regulator literally exploded in Florida two years ago while on our honeymoon. I called 10 different "mobile auto repair" companies, none of which offered same day service and all of which wanted $300+ to replace a $40 part. I duct taped it shut, drove it home, and then replaced the regulator in less than half an hour. If I had known it was such a simple procedure I would have just done it when I was in Florida.