Groat's Garage

Groat's Garage Automotive repair, maintenance, and more!

Summer arriving means the fun vehicles finally start coming back out:motorcycles, project cars, jet skis, side-by-sides,...
05/17/2026

Summer arriving means the fun vehicles finally start coming back out:
motorcycles, project cars, jet skis, side-by-sides, and weekend cruisers.

After sitting through winter, we often start seeing:
• no-start conditions
• weak batteries
• fuel/carburetor problems
• new leaks
• tire and brake issues

Here’s a look at a jet ski engine currently being rebuilt at Groats Garage for its first lake day of the year. As well as an older motorcycle that has waited years for a new engine.

Whether it’s your daily driver or your weekend toy, we’d be happy to help get it ready for summer.

We are big fans of internal combustion engines here. But it was pretty cool to be able to work on this Tesla Model S P10...
02/14/2025

We are big fans of internal combustion engines here. But it was pretty cool to be able to work on this Tesla Model S P100D. It had a failure in one of the door handle microswitches so we replaced that switch and they can now use their rear door again!

We also install aftermarket parts, check out these two vehicles we have done. The first one is a 2009 Toyota Tacoma that...
02/12/2025

We also install aftermarket parts, check out these two vehicles we have done. The first one is a 2009 Toyota Tacoma that we installed this heavy duty ARB bumper on. The second one is a CAE racing short shifter we installed onto a 1987 VW GTI, this one was interesting as we needed to translate some of the manuals from German in order to figure out some steps of the installation.

Is there an old car you have had sitting in your garage or yard for years that you just haven't gotten around to getting...
02/10/2025

Is there an old car you have had sitting in your garage or yard for years that you just haven't gotten around to getting on the road again? Is there someone in your life who is unhappy with that car or delivering ultimatums? Get ahold of us and we can help get it back on the road at a reasonable cost! Here is our 1990 BMW 325i that we rescued from a similar predicament. It spent 10+ years sitting next to a barn. We brought it to our shop and cleaned it up, changed out all the belts, hoses and fluids, replaced spark plugs and wires then fogged the engines cylinders and put some new tires on it and now we are driving it around!

Do you know if your car has a timing belt, or if it has a timing chain? If it has a timing belt you may want to consider...
02/07/2025

Do you know if your car has a timing belt, or if it has a timing chain? If it has a timing belt you may want to consider getting it inspected, timing belts have a typical lifespan of 100k miles at most. If it gets worn out and breaks it can cause catastrophic engine failure. This Subaru Outback came in because it wouldn't start and we found that the timing belt had broken. We put a new belt on to test the engine and found it to have been severely damaged which means it will need a major overhaul or to be replaced entirely. Either of which will be much more expensive than a new timing belt would have been.

Did you know that we don't just fix cars? Here is our 1991 Honda CRX which we swapped a J35 from an Acura TL into. We di...
02/05/2025

Did you know that we don't just fix cars? Here is our 1991 Honda CRX which we swapped a J35 from an Acura TL into. We did as much of the work and fabrication as we could in house including: The wire harness for the standalone ECU, creating an exhaust system and we made a box for the shifter to mount underneath the car. The vinyl wrap was done in house as well, which is a service we aim to offer in the future as well. There were also many other custom parts used made by great companies such as Hush Performance Hasport Performance ECUMaster USA

We are a little bit behind on the beginning of the year post. Our little shop has grown a tremendous amount over the pas...
01/31/2025

We are a little bit behind on the beginning of the year post. Our little shop has grown a tremendous amount over the past 8 months since we opened. We have gotten to work on some pretty cool cars and met a lot of cool people too. We are incredibly grateful for everyone who has given us a chance with their vehicle. The shop is starting to get a little full but that doesn't mean we can't help you still!
Coming soon our website will have some shirts and other Groat's Garage merchandise available.

Signs are up and our first batch of shirts are printed! I want to give a huge thanks to Gabe of for helping with these ...
10/26/2024

Signs are up and our first batch of shirts are printed! I want to give a huge thanks to Gabe of for helping with these projects and for creating our logo in the first place.

Address

525 East 2nd Street
Ames, IA
50010

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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