AT least one auto mechanic of a popular car dealership believes fewer motorists are turning up at his location for repairs because they have been going instead to a Chinese-operated facility in Ferry Pen, St Andrew.

And, according to president of the All Voice Taxi Association Lorraine Finnikin, he’s not surprised, because Jamaicans have been dealt a raw deal by several mechanics over the years.

The team of Chinese mechanics at Whole Hearted Car Service Company — which undertakes all kinds of large, medium, and small vehicle maintenance; fix; decomposition; installation; and commissioning — emerged on the scene recently.

Long queues of motor vehicles at the location almost daily, including on Sunday when the Jamaica Observer visited, appear to be testament that word has been spreading about the quality of work being delivered by the Chinese team.

On Friday, Finnikin said, for various reasons, players in the public transportation sector will easily buy into the services offered by the Chinese.

“The sector is under extreme financial strain; maintenance cost of vehicles is very, very high. We have been getting a lot of complaints from our operators that they are getting inferior parts being sold as genuine parts, especially front end and electrical parts. They have to wait on certain auto parts places to come in with a container; persons who can find the money would go to that auto parts place when the container comes and buy six to one dozen of each spare parts that are changed regularly, because those used parts are genuine. The newer ones are not.

“The other complaint I have gotten is that some mechanics that you go to, [motorists] are getting a raw deal in terms of the repairs. Because of those things…I strongly believe it is something the sector will buy into because of the financial strain that we are under right now as we speak.

“When you take into consideration the roads in the Kingston Metropolitan [Transport] Region, our operators have been going to the mechanic very often,” Finnikin pointed out.

He told the Observer that, three weeks ago, he stood witness as one of his executive members brought her motor vehicle to a mechanic and was, in his opinion, overcharged.

He said he went with her to buy the needed car parts, after she was initially told by the mechanic that the cost to replace the car parts was $12,000.

“When she brought the parts to him he immediately increased the price. He increased the price to $26,000 right in my presence,” said Finnikin.

“The other example I will give you is a broad one happening across Jamaica [when] you… take the vehicle to the garage. In a number of instances, because you have other engagements, you leave and the mechanic doesn’t put on the parts that you bring there, [but instead] puts on used parts and keeps your new parts, or he puts on only some of your new parts. Most taxi operators who complain it’s within two days that the same problem comes back. When they go to another mechanic he would say no parts were changed on this vehicle.

“A member of my organisation has operated buses for over 20 years. He owns the bus and he called me two days ago and said he spent $100,000 on electrical parts and, after going to four different electricians, each gave a different diagnostic. After spending $100,000 on parts, the vehicle is still in the garage and can’t come out,” Finnikin said.

He bemoaned that mechanics have a tendency to tell car owners to buy certain parts and when they buy them they are not what the vehicle requires. He believes that some of them are outright dishonest.

“Some of these mechanics, as far as the reports say, are mechanics who have been doing work for years. Our Jamaican tradesmen have always been giving the citizens of this country a raw deal in terms of what they do; it is not unique to any [particular] trade area…[but] broad-based.

“When some of the workers get to work between 8:00 am and 9:00 am, they chat for half an hour, smoke ganja, and they idle for another half an hour before they start to work, and by 4:00 pm they start pack up to leave. We in the public transportation sector, if we are sick and if the car sick, we don’t make no money.

“No operator or investor wants their car to stay in the garage longer than is necessary. If we are having a certain type of service from the Chinese and it is publicised, the sector is going to rush to it,” Finnikin added.

“I walked into a garage one day and on the ground I found two clips for disc pad. I took them up and gave them to the mechanic and he told me that they came off the car that just drove out. I told him to call the man and put them in and he said no. He said maybe the same man will come back and say they dropped out of the vehicle and he said he would sell them to him,” the taxi boss recounted. “I shook my head and wondered how many persons he had done that to.”

But despite the many “bad eggs” in the sector, Finnikin highlighted that there are still a few good men who display high proficiency and professionalism, even without having cutting-edge equipment.

“There is a young man in St Margaret’s Bay in Portland, who works on the front end of vehicles, rebuilds bushings, [and] is good at alignment. This young man has no equipment and you better get there early to get your vehicle fixed, because the line is always long.

“He does everything manually, but at the end of the day everybody is happy and he is highly recommended.

“There is a mechanic in Long Road, Portland, that man would prefer to take his own money if he knows you well and go and buy the parts for your vehicle, rather than patch it up and tell you to go and come back,” Finnikin shared.

Social media users have also been weighing in on the work of the Chinese mechanics and, simultaneously, hitting out against some Jamaican mechanics.

“People, go and check Mr Chin. Whip them, Mr Chin, whip them. Mechanics have been…scamming people for years. You will go to them with your car to fix and they tell you all kinds of donkey stories. They are sucking the blood of the children and milking the people’s money. They are wicked. The women who don’t know anything about cars, they feel it big time.

“They will keep your car for two to three months and tell you lies on top of lies. All they want is money. I want the Chinese to open locations across the island. They come to save the women and young drivers,” one social media user commented in a video.

Another social media user, who did a video from the location in Ferry, said: “About 50 cars come out here from morning and the Chinese fly inside the vehicles and send them back out one, one. Everybody problem get fix. That lady over there is just smiling because she got through.”

A line of cars outside Whole Hearted Car Service Company in Ferry Pen, St Andrew, on Easter Sunday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

A Chinese mechanic stoops to inspect a motor car at Whole Hearted Car Service Company.