Well, not all Island cars, just the ones I have owned and my experiences with them. This is more of a comparison between Bonaire and the First World. Maybe the UK will soon join the status of Bonaire?

I arrived on the island in September 2014 and shortly afterwards (well 2 months later) my old commuter vehicle arrived from Germany. It was a Mazda Tribute, probably about 10 years old with no resale value in Germany but possessing a new set of tyres – a very valuable commodity here. Following the Great Separation, the car moved with her and is now mainly driven by her new husband. I find this mildly amusing, I drove the car in Germany for several years and now a German drives it. Oh well.

But, by then I had bought the sensible little runaround: a 4.6L big American pickup truck. It is now 15 years old but I got it almost 6 years ago. Its big, dirty (never really washed), paint peeling from the sun but has for most of its time done the job in transporting people or stuff. Timber merchants, rubbish tips, plastic picking on the rough East Coast, BBQs on the beach, it has fulfilled its role perfectly. More on the Truck later.

I also had a 1994 Daihatsu Feroza which was a rust heap (aka Rusty) and a project car. Easy to park, smaller engine at 1.6l, it was a great little runaround. But it had a myriad of problems: 2 engines, 1 gear box, most of the lower body trim, steering rack, shocks, yup all replaced. In the end it became so unreliable, I sold it. Guess what, it broke down on the way to its new home. I had to give the buyer half his money back.

Now I have a luxurious, it is to me, 2012 Jeep Liberty. It’s white, which shows the dirt, and its 3.6l engine is as thirsty as me. Going very well, just needs new tires as the current ones are pretty bald. Well past European safe, but still got a couple of months of Bonaire style left in them. The only problem is I have been driving over the rocky rough East Coast in it, never mind our town roads which have disintegrated in the recent rains. The new tyres were estimated to arrive within 2 weeks, up tomorrow.

This new car has its issues already. The new battery that someone installed is too small and the car can be reluctant to start after all the short distance trips on a small island with air conditioning. This should be easy to fix but I need the patience to queue (due to COVID) outside the spares shop whilst the other 2 customers inside do their business. If they are locals, they always take longer as there is a lot of catching up to do, never mind buying the spare part.

Also, the car is clean inside, so I have bought a rear seat complete cover, almost a hammock for Sara to travel on the back seats. Hopefully, the slobber, sand, mud and “odor de chien” will stay on the covers unlike with the Truck where it vies with my ashtray.

So why 2 cars for one man? Well, getting things repaired here is not so easy. If it is for maintenance, then you can order in advance. But breakdowns, then you are in trouble for weeks or months.

An example with the Truck. It was rusty above the front windscreen and let the rain in. So I scheduled with a garage to have it fixed. Taking the original windscreen out, to cut and weld above it, was not easy and it cracked. So they stopped work and returned the car to me whilst they ordered a replacement screen at their cost.

Over a month later, I had been driving around with a cracked windscreen, taped to prevent it spreading, when I got the word the new screen was in. I went to the garage and we found the new screen was too small. So they sent it back and I continued.

Then an oil line for the automatic transmission went about a month later. So into garage I went, having poured a US Quart of fluid into the transmission. They fixed that and said the new windscreen would arrive any day. So I left the car, and any day turned out to be about 10 days!

Finally I picked the Truck up and went off for lunch with Margot. It was great, transmission working, new windscreen without tape and a bloody great hole in the dash board. The plastic had become brittle in the intense sun and smashed when they leant against it to steady the new windscreen. Never mind I though, a bit of fibreglass will fix that.

After a satisfying and thirst quenching lunch, I headed home. OK, the roads are really bad but I felt a really unusual vibration. On stopping and investigating, i noticed that the drive shaft was hanging down in the middle of the underneath. So tow trucked back to the garage.

Just a bearing had gone, but Ford designed the drive shaft so that you have to buy a new one as the bearing is in the middle and doesn’t come off the ends. The Ford dealer wanted $1,700 plus fitting, the Spares shop wanted over $1,500, I was concerned. I was looking around the internet and finding parts in the $500 range, plus shipping which would be 2-3 weeks. Then I met a friend who said, just buy the bearing, he would cut the shaft, take off the old bearing and reweld the new one in place. So $28.90 for a new bearing, plus shipping of 2 weeks and the job was done.

Picked up the Truck yesterday and celebrated taking the dog for a walk while Margot and I sat on the tailgate and drank beer – the dog is self walking.

On the way home, the headlights didn’t work and it was going dark along the fastest and most dangerous road on the island. Then the clutch started slipping when the automatic gearbox changed up! Oh bugger.

I have checked all the fluids and tomorrow I return to the garage. The lights, who knows the problem? I guess something got dislodged but as there are 2 fuses involved for low beam (each side) and a further one for both on high beam, its not that. So maybe collateral damage to the dashboard? Probably immediately fixable.

The clutch slipping could be oil damage from the transmission leak or the plates are worn. This could mean new parts so off the road for another month?

It’s a fine line between keep repairing a pile of junk or getting a newer car. I haven’t got loads of cash to buy a New car as I spent it building the house. I’m not buying a bicycle as I live on a hill and the roads are suicidal. So I guess I hope its fixable and the Jeep gets new tyres soon.

So when you next have a car problem, don’t stress. Leave that to me!