Our Services

Honest Advice and Low Cost Car Repairs

At The Lift Garage, we provide free inspections and low-cost car repairs to low-income families in Minnesota. Our inspections focus on the safety and drivability of cars – and our repairs are provided at our $15/hour labor rate and parts are sold without a markup.

Services

Inspection & Repairs

We provide free inspections (by appointment only). We focus on safety and drivability issues with the car. After the inspection, we will write an estimate for the low-cost car repairs that we can offer. Our repairs cost $15/hour for labor and parts are sold without a markup. Customers are eligible for inspection appointments every 3 months or 3,000 miles.

Man inspecting inside hood of car.

Pre-Purchase Inspection

Searching for a used car isn’t easy – so we offer free pre-purchase inspections. We will alert you of any repairs that are needed so you can make the best possible choice with your resources. We won’t write an estimate or offer any repairs from this appointment, it’s simply to help inform your purchase. Appointments can be made at anytime and we typically get you in within a day or two.

Call the shop to schedule an appointment: (612) 866-5840

Two Lift Garage employees inspecting vehicle in a garage.

Express Services

Every Friday from 10:00am to 12:00pm, The Lift provides walk-in Express Services (first come, first served). During these hours we can check and top off fluids, check and replace bulbs/headlights, check and replace wiper blades, and even test and replace your battery.

Express Services are low-cost and walk-in!
No appointment needed, just stop by on Fridays between 10:00 am -12:00 pm!

Lift Garage employee hosing down the garage with water.

Eligibility of Services

The Lift Garage works with customers who have a household income at or below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines (see chart for income limits). The Lift Garage will verify income at each inspection appointment. Documents that can be used to verify your income include: pay stubs, Social Security or SSI income statements, proof of WIC benefits, proof of Medical Assistance eligibility, or an Income Verification Form completed by a caseworker.

Click here for a link to our Income Verification Form – and return the form to incomeverification@theliftgarage.org

Click here for a FAQ guide for caseworkers and other service providers.


Cars on jacks elevated in a garage.

Safe Cars Build More Secure Lives

Recently Samera had a $300 repair bill at The Lift. She maxed out credit card after credit card in order to make her payment. It ultimately took her six separate credit cards to pay for her $300 car repair payment. If Samera had been at a traditional shop her bill would have been closer to $1,200. While her repair at The Lift was still costly, she was able to invest those savings into more needed items like rent, groceries, and possibly day-care.

FAQs

We work with low-income Minnesotans and we will ask for proof of income at your inspection appointment. To be eligible, your household income must be at or below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines. For a household of one that is an income below $1,823 per month.

No, a referral is not required. Caseworkers or advocates can complete an Income Verification Form to help a customer provide proof of income. This form is not a referral and it does not guarantee an appointment. For an appointment you can contact us directly on the second Monday of each month at 8:30 am to schedule an appointment.

Our appointment calendar opens one month at a time – the calendar opens on the second Monday of the month at 8:30 am. Appointments go quickly – sometimes they are all filled within an hour of the calendar opening. You can schedule an appointment in three ways:

  1. Visit the website at theliftgarage.org/appointments/
  2. Visit our shop to schedule in person at 2401 East Lake Street
  3. Call us at 612-866-5840 to schedule over the phone

The Lift Garage provides free inspections that focus on the safety and drivability of the car. After the inspection, staff will go over the findings with you. If we can offer repairs, we will also provide a repair estimate with prices and a timeline for when repairs can be completed. Due to the severity of repairs, age of vehicles, and accompanying costs we find that not every car is worth investing in and sometimes we recommend the customer does not invest more money into the vehicle.

We have a lobby that you may wait in. We try to keep it stocked with hot coffee and snacks. You can also find food, drinks, or visit shops, grocery stores, and a library in our immediate neighborhood.

Inspections: Keep in mind, your inspection may take several hours.

Repairs: After your inspection, we will provide you with a repair estimate for the repairs we can offer. Your repairs can take several business days. It is best to plan for car repairs to take up to 3-5 business days to be complete. Therefore, we do not recommend waiting in the lobby for repairs because ETA’s are an estimate and they can change. We will call you when repairs are finished.

We do not work off of estimates from other shops. Even with an estimate from another shop, you will still need to schedule an initial Inspection appointment to move forward with repairs at The Lift Garage.

You can drop off your car one day before your scheduled appointment. If you are dropping off outside of business hours – we do have a key drop off box at our side door (next to the first garage door bay). Please make sure that you complete a drop-off envelope with your name, phone number and vehicle information. Please be aware that we have additional security in our parking lot from 10:00pm to 6:00am, you may notice this if you drop off during those hours. Tow truck drivers can also use this drop box if they are dropping the car off for you.

The cost for repairs is $15/hour for labor and parts are sold at cost – the amount you need to pay will depend on the type of repairs that your vehicle needs and the type of vehicle that you have. We cannot provide an estimate for the cost of repairs until we complete a full inspection.

No! We only need proof of income for your household to be eligible for our services.

Cathy teaching a Lift Garage customer underneath her vehicle.

We are changing the world one car at a time – join us!


At The Lift, car repair is a vehicle for repairing lives! With your gifts, we are able to create more secure lives for low-income Minnesotans through low-cost car repair.