Selling a car

First of all, let it be known that website information is not what it is cracked up to be. Abu Dhabi police have a helpful website with information about documents needed to buy, sell and register a car. Unfortunately it is not accurate! We decided to buy a second hand 4WD the other day. We’ve been looking for a while and I noticed that when I found one that seemed interesting it was often sold before I got to contact the owner. So when I finally found one that my spouse and I agreed upon we committed to it quickly. Actually at this writing we have not completed that transaction, but this is not the story of that purchase but instead the sale of our 3 year old small sedan car. Having decided to buy a car, we needed to sell the sedan to help pay for the 4WD. I looked up the website to find out what is needed to buy and sell a car. I was soon to discover just how fast the car market is here in Abu Dhabi.

Since we were going to get this other car we needed to get rid of the sedan. So at 6pm on a Tuesday evening, two hours after deciding to buy the 4WD, while waiting for one of my daughters to finish a dance class, I logged into Dubizzle.com, created an account and created an ad from memory.  When I got home an hour later I got a call from a prospective buyer asking me about the car. I walked out to the sedan to check the odometer because I hadn’t known the exact reading (my spouse drives it) and found it was 6,000 more than I’d put on the website. . He wasn’t particularly concerned but wanted to know what my “last price” was. I said that as the car had been on the market for less than an hour I wasn’t going to negotiate just yet!  I went back on the website, corrected the mileage and uploaded two photos of the car. One a standard long shot that was actually a little old but still quite representative of the model and colour. The second was a close up of a self inflicted scrape on the rear fender where I had inadvertently backed into the edge of a wall. During the remaining part of the evening I received a number of calls and texts. I had offers made that were 3~5000 less than the listed price and a couple of people who seemed genuinely interested in coming to see the car the next day. I turned the phone off at 11pm to put an end to the evening.  As far as I was concerned I wasn’t interested in offers from people who hadn’t even seen the car and certainly not with a chance to test the market at my stated price. My ad said to text during the day and call during the evenings.  I got a couple of texts during the next morning, and few calls that I couldn’t take, and a couple that I did. I had people calling from Sharjah, and Dubai which I thought was a little odd since it would be a long journey for them to come and survey the car from there and the Dubai market seemed much more dynamic. My earliest opportunity to show the car was at 4pm so I offered that time to some of the texters. When I returned home from work I picked up the car and drove around the corner to my nearby easy meeting point and found my interested party already there. He walked around the car and talked to me a bit and wanted to know my "last price". I said it was still very early days but I’d consider dropping by about a 1,000 since it was due for a 50k service. He said he wanted it. I practically forced him to take it for a test drive around the block first. He said he trusted me because I have been up front and posted the pictures of the damage, and he felt that this meant I’d be honest about other problems if there were any. Actually he is correct but I wouldn’t suggest anyone to rely on that logic too much in this market!  Result, a commitment to buy less than 24hours since I’d placed the ad online. I took the ad offline at 5pm.
 Next came the difficult part. My schedule is pretty tight and we soon discovered that there was no mutually possible time to do the ownership the next day, which was his only day off. That left doing it the same day. He would go home and get the cash, I would take a different progeny to a music lesson and we would meet up again at 7pm to do the deed. I warned him that according to the website he would need his passport, and perhaps employment certificate and that he would have to arrange insurance at the time. The car registration was only 4 months old so a new vehicle test would not be needed according to the website. At 7pm we began the process. First getting the insurance.  None of the companies who have offices on site were particularly known to us but he chose one and accepted their quote. They took his money and wrote up the paperwork. Into the main hall, we found the line for collecting queue tickets was rather large as the ticket issuer was on a break... Once we got that and eventually our turn came to register the transaction we discovered that the car actually did need to be retested. No amount of pointing to the website page which I had printed out would counteract that her computer said to do it again. So, we had to pay more money (120aed), and line up outside for the car to go through an inspection (exhaust, brakes, lights and undercarriage). It was getting quite late by this time so the line to do that was mercifully short. Then back inside again, pick up the new certificate and back into line for processing. Now the car had been bought under hire purchase (or mortgage as they like to refer to it here) and I was appropriately armed with the certificate of clearance from the bank to say it was paid off. At the time that I had received the document I had been annoyed that it had cost a large amount to have it couriered to me but I was glad to have it now. However, I was shocked to be asked to pay 200aed to have the document accepted by the system to register the release of the mortgage. More gouging was my inner thought! Still it was done, a text arrived instantaneously on my phone to say the car was no longer mine. Outside, in the car, he offered to drop me back home, but made me drive! 9pm I was back at my house minus one car.
Next task was to de-register the Salk tag, and get a refund on the insurance. I had removed the Salik tag from the windscreen and I phoned the call centre to get them to deal with it. However, they told me I had to email them all the details because I was from Abu Dhabi! Two days later I got a text to confirm the de-registration was complete.  At the time of the change of ownership I was given an insurance release certificate so that I could get my remaining insurance refunded. Actually that will end up being credited to our next policy as we want to stay with them to ensure easy receipt of the no claims  status.

In the end the documents required were

• Seller’s drivers license
• Buyer’s drivers license
• Car registration certificate
• Fresh vehicle certificate
• Buyer’s vehicle insurance policy
• & Mortgage clearance certificate if been on hire-purchase

Documents that were suggested as necessary but not actually needed were

• Employment certificate
• Passport

In the past a No Objection certificate has also been required but that seems to have faded completely.
Now, all of that happened quickly but purchase of the new car is taking longer. But that is another story entirely :-)

Buying a second hand car

Okay, we've started to look around for a desert car, something that we can take out on the sand and not worry too much about.  Taking your nice new car into that environment is really quite a risky business financially. Not just the wear and tear, but also the inevitable prangs.  Now when you start to look at the second hand market you are immediately aware of some of the pitfalls. One is the clock fiddlers who alter the odometer to give you a false sense of how much use the vehicle has had.  The other is the nature and number of accidents that it might have had.  There is a website that can help you with the latter. It is a service by the Abu Dhabi Police and it lists the accident history that they know about, based on the chassis number. You can easily find the chassis number on the car registration card, and pop it into the website  http://www.adpolice.gov.ae/trfesvc/EN/accidentinfo.aspx (do it from your mobile phone while checking out the car) and you get the type of collision, date, the location (in Arabic), and the model of the vehicle. I've modified the attached image for privacy reasons, as it shows a real event, which if you have read previous post you will know the origins of!!! But it is nice to know you can verify the Abu Dhabi history at least. Of course if it got knocked up elsewhere, you'd still be in the dark (I imagine).

Getting your car out of the pound in Abu Dhabi.

Okay so not so many of you are going to need this, well hopefully. But since my escapade I have talked to a number of people who have had interesting accidents here in the UAE. Including passport confiscation for hitting a camel!

Anyway if you have the unfortunate circumstance of having your car impounded in Abu Dhabi, here is a little advice and directions.

The Abu Dhabi police have contracted Al Sahraa towing to take cars to the pound in BaniYas. Although my car was impounded in Abu Dhabi city it was subsequently transported to BaniYas (at my cost).  When you are ready to collect your car, after whatever arbitrary or court decided period, you can’t just go and get it.  My insurance company said I had the documents I needed (proof of fine payment etc.,) but when I eventually found the place I, along with a stream of others, was turned away and made to go back to a major police station (Mussafah would do, but I opted to go back to Moroor) to get a clearance form.

The clearance form is available in the traffic court building, nominally at counter 15. However, counter 15 is impossible to find (of course). In the fines and violations hall there are only 14 counters and you are pointed off down a corridor which eventually circumnavigates the building and brings you back to where you started. The best way to find it is to enter the building at the main impressive glass entrance. Look for a staircase on your left leading up to the Traffic Court. Instead of ascending, go down a few short steps in the staircase beside it which leads towards the body of the building. You quickly come to a T. To the right is a short corridor with a kind of reception desk which may be staffed and beyond the main corridor that circumnavigates the building. But we are not going that way instead you turn left at the bottom of the aforementioned short stairs and you are again immediately at another T. Here left would take you to some cleaning or other kind of room, so right is the way this time. The corridor is short and soon has a branch to the left which is to a door to the outside (more on that door later), directly opposite this exit is an open door into an office with about 4 desks and an annex room off the left. This room is counter 15. There seemed to be a lot of people sitting around, some in uniform, some in national dress and some in suits, all of them worked there. One guy in a suit spoke English and passed on my request for the release form. It was quickly looked up on the computer to verify that sufficient time had passed, then a page printed, rubberstamped and countersigned by the annex superior. Five minutes and I was out of there. (But I had found this room on a previous visit and it had taken me 30 mins and a number of circumnavigations to get there so be on your guard.) Remember counter 15 is a room, and it is not labelled or marked.  I took the exit directly in front of the room and as I exited the door looked back to see if it had any identifying features to help find it again. Unfortunately the only name on the door was “prison” so I doubt I would convince many people to take that shortcut.

Okay, back on the road to the BaniYas Vehicle Pound.  Now I tried to do my homework about where this place was before I ventured out there. Not much luck. Nobody could tell me an address. The best I got was that it was in BaniYas, go around 3 round-abouts, turn right and it is opposite YasMart.  Now if you know BaniYas you would probably know YasMart, but for me and the people I asked it was a mystery. Through a combination of Googling and Google Earth, I was able to put the roundabouts together on a map and locate a visual image of what looked like a vehicle graveyard. So I had a location, sort of. I had phoned the Al Sahraa tow agent there but he didn’t speak any English and couldn’t tell me the location. The head office did speak English but told me to call the first guy for directions. I explained that didn’t work and that was when I got the roundabouts explanation.

I found YasMart and did my u-turn to end up in front of what looked like the pound. There were lots of tow trucks parked outside, a mosque and an office for the Abu Dhabi Environment office or something (that was clearly not the towing business). I called the office again and the best explanation I got was to go around the mosque and I would find it. There are two little entrances past the mosque which lead into a weird compound of small business sheds all numbered, very decrepit and largely shut up.  To cut a long story short, as I did drive up and down the road a couple of times, let me explain. The buildings and entrances that you see opposite YasMart is not the pound you want. You have to go past that complex and turn right down a dirt/sand road that runs down the side of it until you are nearly at the back. There you will see a locked yellow iron gate. Park up there (off the side) and enter through the people hole. You will see a couple of very old Plywood box offices with 3 doors. The first houses the workers who will eventually find your car for you. The second should have a lone police officer who will send you away if you haven’t got the clearance form. If you have got it he will sign it then send you into the third door where you will meet the Al Sahraa towing agent who will get you your car. You will have to settle up the towing fees (Cash only – 180 for towing from Abu Dhabi, 140 for Mussafah, best to have spare and small notes in case there is no change!) They will then get one of the workers to retrieve the keys from the office that houses the police officer and get your car for you.  In my case since I had to now get it to the garage to be repaired I also had to pay to have it towed to the dealership. Make sure you get your receipts if you are on insurance as you may be able to claim that (pound to dealer) as rescue.

Copy and paste this address into Google Earth to locate. 24°17'19.64"N  54°40'1.31"E

Accidents & Traffic Court

I was recently involved in an accident and have to shoulder the blame for it. I am not going to go into the traffic details here, what I want to comment on is the process subsequent to that accident because it has some lessons that should be shared.

• My passport was confiscated – this was two days before my vacation travel was to start and I had to cancel my flights
• If I hadn't been able to get my wife to deliver my passport from home to the police station, I would have remained at the police station!
• It was difficult finding a timeline of when and how things would progress

The accident was at an intersection and was considered moderate~serious. As such the serious accidents’ unit arrived and took over from the Red and White patrol units. Then, as my car was drivable they told me to drive to the police station. I didn’t know where it was so had to follow a patrol car.  At the police station they impounded the car for a mandatory 15 days. There was a long period at the police station while they wrangled with the computer trying to write the report. It took at least four people in succession to get it done.  It was determined that the case would require a court appearance and therefore I needed to give them my passport. I offered a passport copy which I always carry, but it needed to be my original. I asked if my Second passport (I have two) would be okay, but again no, it had to be the one with my visa in it as it was designed to stop me from leaving the country. And leaving is precisely what I wanted to do, to go on vacation with my family. But the system is set to stop people from escaping justice so the vacation was immediately in jeopardy.

I called my wife and she delivered my passport. At that point they printed me a receipt for the passport, and explained to me that if I wished to leave the country on vacation I could substitute someone else’s passport. This is passport bail. However, since I was intending to be away for a month and all my friends were currently away anyway it was not really a realistic proposition.  Also there was no indication on when the case would be held. To add to the issue, Ramadan hours were about to start in a couple of days’ time which could alter the time taken. And it was unclear whether I would be required to be present in court. That is determined by the court.

I do not know exactly what would have happened if I hadn’t had my wife available to retrieve my passport. If you live alone, you might have to get someone to come and get a key from you and go and get it. I would like to find out if they would accompany someone to go and retrieve it… I would advise keeping your passport in an accessible place in your home so that you could give someone directions to retrieve it for you in an emergency.

I was free to go about 4 hours after the incident.  By that time I had received a txt message to say that my car was impounded. They returned my car registration and my driver’s license to me so that I was free to drive. The next day I got a local HR staff member to enquire if there were any alternatives to the passport deposit but that was negative. I was also unable to find out a timeline for when the court case might happen.  I was forced to cancel my flights, and we opted for my family to proceed on holiday without me.  Next I received a txt informing me that I had accumulated 8 Black Points from the accident, and urging me to drive safely.

After the week end I took my documents down to the insurance office only to find that the Arabic documents were not the ones needed and had to go back to the police to get a proper printout of the report. While there, I asked again about the timeline, and they pointed me to an adjacent building which housed the traffic court and told me to enquire there.  I got lost in that building a couple of times, and queued up in the wrong department twice but eventually found the registrar of the court who told me that the case was set for 3 weeks later. Then he helpfully mentioned that if that was not convenient that he could try to change it. I requested an earlier date and he got it changed to the beginning of the following week. However, he warned there could be a follow up appearance required. With the appropriate documents now I went back to the insurance office and gave them copies. Now they still need the final outcome from the court but they are able to open the file. Once the car is released from the pound they can get it delivered to the agency for repairs.   tbc...

Notes

• Keep your passport available, know where it is and how someone can retrieve it.
• Have air tickets you can change
• Look at cancellation provisions in travel insurance, particularly for events occurring prior to travel
• If you have a court case pending, go to the court to discuss the details with them pro-actively.

Speed Test - revised - and again

Revision MKII... I thought it was wise to keep this open. At last we have seen that the original idea of taking the official speedlimit to 140kph on the Abu Dhabi ~ Dubai was not an urban myth.  It has now been posted but with a caveat that apparently the buffer of +20 will not be valid. So apparently 141kph will trigger the radar. There is nothing like being consistent. So some radar will give you +20 on some roads and others won't.  Er, why don't we just say that a speed limit is a LIMIT and stick with that?  I have quite enjoyed the bizarre comments that have been posted online about this new speed and the 127 car pile up in the fog on the same road a couple of days before the limit was revised. The funniest usually revolve around criticizing people for driving at the speed limit in the left lane and therefore forcing cars to swing around them. There is no hope! People have an ingrained concept of there being a "fast" lane in which it is their "***"  right to go any speed they wish. That applies in town too, where the concept that the left lane could possibly be for those who intend to turn left, and move into before the actual intersection, is also clearly alien. No, No, the left lane is for me to do 100+ in a 60kph area to get to the next set of traffic lights quickly and then block traffic because I am in the wrong lane... You should not get into my lane and drive at the pathetic speed limit you slow poke driver...


This entry was originally posted in December following a news announcement in Gulf News that certain highway speed limits were going to be increased to 140kph. That has since been retracted. And highway speeds have been maintained at 120kph (+20) I will leave my original post intact beneath until I get further clarification. My sentiments about the radar grace from 120+20 remain the same.

I have kept away from writing about the roads. I would like to collect some video to illustrate what the roads are like because really it is not easy to describe. However, with the approach of the new year Abu Dhabi has announced new speed limits.  In an effort to reduce accidents and to regulate the flow of traffic better it had been announced that they were planning to make the speeds more consistent throughout the city and surrounding areas. Indeed in the short 14km distance that I drive to work the speed limit changes 5 times in the same straight stretch of road (2nd Street, aka Old Airport Road). It seems that stretch will now be consistently signposted as 60kph (but have an allowance of 20kph = effectively 80kph).

The highway from Al Raha over to Dubai is signposted as 120kph.  The new limit that has been announced for this road is a whopping 140kph!  However, the inevitable irrationality is immediately attached to this with the stated caveat that the radar will only kick in after a 20kph grace. This of course means that now everyone can drive at 160kph with impunity.
The problem with the roads here is not actually the speed as such, it is more the weaving in and out of traffic that takes place at these high speeds as some drivers seek to satisfy their "F1" envy. Now some drivers are not going to go over 140kph and indeed some cars are not going to succeed is driving safely, or even be able to go over 140kph, so you are going to have traffic running at 140kph but still being overtaken recklessly by those who will push to the edge of 160kph, not to mention those who believe the odd radar ticket is just an annoying form of tax and drive any speed they like. Indeed not paying speeding tickets is almost a national pastime.

The concept of a grace amount to compensate for variations of automobile speedometers is conscionable when it is about +5, any more than that and you'd be reasonably held liable for having an unfit vehicle as it cannot register its own speed accurately.

The other disturbing thing about a grace of 20kph on speeds, is that really it is just reinforcing the concept that stated laws are not actually worth anything at face value!  That the law may say this ..., but the practice is actually that ...

In conclusion, I believe we will see the following:

• a number of small cars breaking down from over "exhaustion" on the roads as they try to keep up (tires and engines are going to suffer)
• a greater fatality rate associated with accidents happening on the highways, as a result of many cars being driven beyond the limits of their safety specifications (most cars here have only the minimum airbag configurations and smaller cars were really only designed for 100kph conditions)
• more weaving drivers over and under-taking  across the lanes as they negotiate the vehicles that either can't or don't want to exceed 140kph
• greater intolerance of trucks which appear to be remaining restricted to 80kph and hugging the right exit entry merge lane (if you have to slow from 160 down to 80 to fit in between some trucks to get off at your exit, you're going to feel like you are at walking speed... and nobody walks around here!) so the ability to decrease speed and get into the appropriate lane prior to an exit is going to get even messier. (Seeing cars swing across 3 or 4 lanes to get to an exit is a regular, and heart stopping, sight.)
• not to mention the increased fuel consumption that results from these higher speeds on the roads
• can you imagine what the safe following distance would be specified for cars travelling at 160kph? I can tell you it is not the distance at which the car-behind-you's flashing headlights disappear from view because it is so close.

Will any of the stated objectives be satisfied. Traffic will still travel at varying speeds, cars will still weave in and out, and accidents will probably become more extreme. However, they won't have to make so many different kinds of speed signs any more.