01
Servicing & oil change
Engine oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter where it’s serviceable, plugs on petrol engines, and a full walk-round while the oil drains. We use the grade the manufacturer specifies, not whatever’s cheapest on the shelf.
issue 03
workshop notes
serrekunda, the gambia
mon–fri, 9–5
Mobile mechanic · Greater Banjul
Your car breaks down where it’s parked. So that’s where we work.
Tulip Garage is a mobile workshop — a van, a full tool kit and two mechanics who come to your compound, your office car park or the shoulder of the Bertil Harding Highway. No towing bill, no waiting three days for a bay to free up. You call 319 7575, we tell you honestly whether it’s a roadside job or a workshop job, and we turn up when we said we would.
Most of what we do is ordinary and unglamorous: a service that’s overdue, brakes that have started to grind, a battery that gave up in the heat, an alternator that stopped charging on the way to Brikama. We also do the jobs other people send away — diagnostics on a car that keeps cutting out, air-conditioning that blows warm, suspension that clunks over the potholes on Kairaba Avenue.
Call now
319 7575
We answer between 9:00 and 17:00, Monday to Friday. If we’re under a car, leave a message and we’ll ring you back the same day.
What we do
The job list
Everything below is done at your location unless it genuinely needs a ramp or a lift, in which case we say so on the phone before we set off. Prices are quoted after we’ve seen the car — we don’t guess over the phone and we don’t add things you didn’t ask for.
02
Brakes — pads, discs, fluid
Grinding, squealing, a pedal that’s gone soft or a handbrake that no longer holds on the ferry ramp. We replace pads and discs, bleed the system and check the lines and hoses while we’re in there.
03
Batteries & charging
New battery fitted and the old one taken away, or a charging fault traced properly — alternator, belt, earth strap or a parasitic drain that flattens the car overnight. We test before we sell you anything.
04
Diagnostics & warning lights
Engine light, ABS light, a car that cuts out at idle or surges on the highway. We read the fault codes, then actually test the circuit — a code tells you where to look, not what to replace.
05
Air conditioning
Recharge, leak test and compressor check. In this climate a car with no cold air is barely usable by April, so we treat it as a repair job, not a luxury.
06
Suspension, steering & tyres
Clunks and knocks over the bad stretches, wandering steering, uneven tyre wear. Shocks, bushes, ball joints, track rod ends, wheel bearings. Puncture repair and tyre changes on the roadside.
07
Roadside callouts
Won’t start, overheating, a warning light you don’t recognise, a wheel that feels wrong. Call and describe it — if we can fix it where it stands, we will. If it needs the workshop, we’ll tell you straight away.
08
Pre-purchase inspection
Buying a used car in Serrekunda or Westfield? We’ll go with you, put it on our own jack, check the chassis, the engine, the paperwork numbers and the things a seller hopes you won’t look at. Cheaper than buying someone else’s problem.
The process
How a callout works
-
1
You call 319 7575
Tell us the car — make, model, year — and what it’s doing. A noise, a light, a smell, a refusal to start. The more specific you are, the more likely we arrive with the right part already in the van.
-
2
We tell you what it’s likely to be
Straight answer, including “that sounds like a workshop job” when it is. We give you a rough range before we leave, so there are no surprises when the bill comes.
-
3
We come to you
Your compound, your office, the roadside, the car park at the market. We bring the tools, the jack, the diagnostic reader and the common parts. If we need something unusual we’ll source it and come back.
-
4
You see the old parts
Anything we replace, you keep. We show you what failed and why, in plain language, and we tell you what to keep an eye on next. Then we take payment and we’re gone.
The garage
Nine years of other people’s driveways
Tulip Garage started in 2016 with one second-hand van, a borrowed jack and a phone number written on the side in white paint. The idea was simple and slightly stubborn: most breakdowns in Greater Banjul don’t need a tow truck, they need somebody who knows what they’re doing to turn up with the right tools. Towing a car across Serrekunda costs more than most of the repairs we do.
Nine years later there are two of us on the road and a small lock-up off the Sayerr Jobe Avenue side of Serrekunda where the bigger jobs and the welding happen. The van has been replaced twice. The phone number hasn’t changed.
We work on what people actually drive here — Toyota Corollas and Hiluxes, Nissan Sunnys, Hyundai and Kia saloons, the occasional older Mercedes that somebody’s grandfather bought new. We’re honest about the limits of a mobile job: if a car needs a lift, a press or a diagnostic session that runs for hours, we’ll say so and book it in rather than pretend we can do it in your yard.
What we won’t do is invent work. If your brakes have another six months in them, we’ll tell you that and charge you for the oil change you actually asked for. That’s the whole business model — the reason people call us back, and the reason nineteen of them have left us a review.
“A mobile mechanic is only worth having if he turns up. Everything else is detail.”
Find us & call us
Hours, area and how to reach us
There’s no form on this page on purpose. The fastest way to get your car looked at is to ring the number and describe the problem — that’s how we’ve always worked.
Opening hours
| Monday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Thursday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Friday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
Roadside callouts are booked inside these hours. If something fails on a Saturday, leave a message and we’ll ring you first thing Monday.
Get in touch
Phone is the only way in — and it’s answered by a mechanic, not a call centre.
Call Tulip Garage 319 7575- Address
- Serrekunda, The Gambia
- Area covered
- Serrekunda, Kanifing, Bakau, Fajara, Westfield, Sukuta, Bijilo and the Banjul–Brikama road
- Reviews
- 4.5 out of 5 from 19 reviews
Please have your make, model and year ready, plus a rough idea of where the car is parked. It saves a phone call later.
Where we work
We’re based in Serrekunda and cover the whole of Greater Banjul. If you’re further out — Brikama, Lamin, Kartong — ring anyway. If we can’t get to you today we’ll tell you honestly and give you a day we can.
One last thing
If it won’t start, don’t force it.
Cranking a car that won’t fire can turn a small fault into an expensive one. Ring us first, describe what it’s doing, and we’ll tell you whether to leave it alone until we get there.
Call 319 7575