EDITOR: With the increase in vehicles in St Vincent and the Grenadines, there is need for proper mechanics and parts. It is unfortunate, that with the increase in modern vehicles which are in many cases, computerised, that we don’t have many qualified mechanics who can effectively deal with these modern vehicles.

Yes, we have many mechanics, but few try to upgrade themselves in order to efficiently fix and service these vehicles. The sad thing is that these vehicles are most often used Japanese vehicles and so are not perfect. So from time to time, they would require some maintenance work and servicing.

However, sadly but true, the majority of mechanics we have today are of the old school and seldom seek to upgrade themselves, as a result many times a simple problem escalates to a big problem and in some cases, more damage is done. Also in some cases, mechanics do guess what the problem and the solution are, only to find out that they are wrong and caused the owner of the vehicles to buy parts that are not necessary or they may not have fixed it properly.

On the other side is the fact that although there are so many modern vehicles and different models, there is a serious lack of parts available in the country. In many cases, persons have to order parts abroad and this entails a cost for not only shipping and customs charges, but also in some cases having to use an alternative vehicle until the parts arrive and the vehicle is up and running.

I think in these modern times, mechanics need to upgrade themselves by educating themselves about these vehicles and more persons ought to seek to be qualified mechanics by doing the auto mechanics course at the community college, researching things and even furthering their knowledge by going abroad and study.

Also of importance is that Auto Parts shops need to keep up to date with parts for all these modern vehicles.

I have known of many persons having these modern vehicles which are not as durable as the older types of vehicles, wanting parts which cannot be sourced and also suffering because of the lack of good, trusted and qualified mechanics. Bearing in mind that a bad mechanic can ruin a vehicle and puts the owner into stress and frustration.

After all, what good it is to have vehicles imported into this country at regularity and cannot get a good mechanic and can not get parts when needed.

It is time to up the game mechanics and auto parts places. Safe driving.

Kennard King