The small local garage stated that the job would cost “Not more than 6000 baht”, yet when I got the bill it was for a total of 12,500 baht!   The garage made such a mess of the service that the car drove for approx one km and stopped dead when the timing belt snapped, they had apparently fitted an incorrect belt.

It was lucky for me that the timing belt snapped.  Because they had also disconnected the oil light after damaging the oil pump. Fortunately the Suzuki Caribbean is one of the few cars where a snapped timing belt does not cause damage to the the insides of the engine.

In desperation I called the Suzuki Main Dealer on the Doi Saket road. They came out and recovered the car and after getting it back to the workshop gave me a full appraisal of the problem and pointed out that the small independent garage had not only fitted the wrong parts, they had damaged the sump, the oil pump and messed up everything that they touched. On top of that they grossly overcharged me for parts.

The Suzuki main dealer fixed everything at a very reasonable cost and I learned a lesson that I have passed on to many expats in Chiang Mai. Don’t use the small garage, take your car to the Main Dealer as it will actually be cheaper and they do a better job.  It’s not just Suzuki. Since then I have used Toyota Main Dealers for an older Toyota car and they too have been thoroughly professional and incredibly cheap.

It’s fair to say that there are a few excellent independent motor mechanics in Chiang Mai, but unless a mechanic comes highly recommended it’s safer to just use the Main Dealer for whatever brand of car you own.

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