Car Repair in Barbados | Barbados Caribbean Travel

Most of the time, we?re pretty upbeat about the joys of living on a Caribbean island, but there are times when the experience isn?t quite as joyful, such as when you have major car trouble ? and that?s because of size of the market. Car repair in Barbados can be an exhausting, lengthy and painful experience if there?s a really big problem.

When will Tango be better? Your guess is as good as ours.

In a big country, if something goes wrong with your car, you take it to the nearest dealer and get it fixed or you shop around and get the best price from a dealer that?s a little further away. There are dealers pretty much everywhere, usually specialising in one particular make. Here in Barbados, there?s a single main dealer for each make available (and most dealers cover several makes). That means you only have one choice if there?s a major problem.

Minor problems aren?t an issue. Barbados has a lot of good mechanics, car electricians, bodywork and other automotive professionals scattered around the island and there?s also Automotive Art, which has always given us good service. Get a recommendation from a friend when you?re ready to choose.

But in this case, where there?s a major problem with the main computer that runs the car, there?s a problem. This issue has some history. The car has been malfunctioning for months and despite a couple of attempts, we only found out for sure what was wrong about a month ago.

Then about three weeks ago, the car broke down, went to the dealer ? and it?s been there ever since. We are waiting ? and waiting ? and waiting for the part.

They were going to do a rush order and get it here within a week, but that didn?t happen. Then the person handling the issue went on holiday. We?re still waiting for info on where the part is now ? and for some reason they are not returning our phone calls.

Oh, and by the way, don?t expect a courtesy car when your car is in for repairs. Either make alternative arrangements, take the bus or hire a car at an exorbitant rate. Luckily for us, we have very good friends with a spare pickup truck ? that?s what we?re driving while we wait.

And there?s one more nail in the coffin. The part will probably cost double what we would have paid elsewhere. Oh, joy!

Source: http://www.barbadoscaribbeantravel.com/2012/11/car-repair-in-barbados/

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