Buying a car in dubai
Okay here goes, i have recession at one end crying out aloud, you fool... not now...
Then, it is the better half, with her other half of ideas of an ideal car...
and finally i have this unrealistic idea of what a good car can be...
I am sure we all have had this strange re occurring feelings... why some cars have some features and others dont, and if they have all the features and more, it is so expensive... No I am not chinese... but you can say I have just read a book on wishful thinking...
Yes like all of us i heard all the wise cracks out there, i heard their opinion on cars... i ve heard the sales man, giving their best sales pitch... which generally resulted in a home run... then i have seen all possible cars online, offline and in line on the road and their respective showroom...
The best was walking into the Mercedes showroom... and asking about ML 350, 2009... remember I have the ML 320, 2002 and then i have this sales man coming over and telling me all the features, i nearly fell asleep waiting for him to come up with something i have not heard off and is not available in my current vehicle... ouch, finally to add some fuel to the chernobical inferno in me... he told me the price... and yes my jaws dropped to the floor... and i wish i could spit fire all over him...
My only question... You call the car fully loaded and you do not have a navigation unit... and i must admire his straight face, when he said, ' Ah yes that will cost another 20k aed'... THAT IS ALMOST 10% VALUE OF THE CAR...I think he was very lucky he was not in the ring with me... he hurt my sentiments so bad...
And he says that since Dubai being a small city, we really do not need a navigation system... Agreed, if i was driving around dubai... but little did he know that the car was meant for my better half... (no further comments, dont want to sleep on the couch)... ;)
Finally, I called it quits and gave him a complimentary - fake - good - salesman smile and waited for him to print the numbers on paper... and walked out of the showroom, planning my next stop at the Mercedes approved pre owned car showroom...
Then we had a short visit at the GMC showroom, Acadia... lovely SUV... correction lovely big car... the ground clearance is as good as an other big car... however the size, the shape and above all the features were worth the drool... Just imagine the features and it had it all... Double sun roof, navigation system, ceiling mounted dvd system... heads up display... 3 rows of seats... price was good, sales man was humble and precise... but he did hurt my feeling again when he told me that the Mercedes SUV's did not really do well in the market... for moment i felt even my mind was playing games with me and i was imagining him with swollen bluish red nose... but then the better side of me took over and he received a warm smile... let us be fair, he was only doing his job and trying hard...
But the worst news from the GMC news desk... like many other American company they are filing for bankruptcy... and my wife being the hard core financial adviser ... gave me a no go sign... and again i was on a cross road with a red light glaring back at me...
Then we did pay a visit to the volvo showroom... nice straight forward car / suv... yes after seeing the GMC Acadia, the volvos didnt feel or look as inspiring, until we sat in the vehicle... and we felt oh so safe... why? those heavy doors going clonk... I had my engineering mind, running through an animated video showing me how various locks came into place to secure the door and felt like they were locking us inside a pressure controlled space mobile... loved the vehicle especially for some reason we were not interfered by a sale - hungry - salesman... and we left the showroom with a satisfied we-are-coming-back smile...
As we walked out of the showroom... stood before us like a huge monument of Toltec civilization... the building like a tall pyramid... staircase leading all the way up into the truncated entrance... and as we walked into the showroom, stood the grand LS 460L, standing guard also representing the best of the lexus brand... Thank fully, I could read from the distance, the 6 digit numbers, excluding the decimal digits, defining the value of the car... and is exactly the same reason, why i cautiously walked past the car completely aware that this car did not deserve a humble being like me...
As we walked deeper into the monument, we found ourselves among the so many wannabe lexus... so many cars... looked nice and had the lexus brand written all over it... and the dealers did well to inflate the price and bring these not so deserving lexus's feel like they are worth the price... in our final verdict, we walked down the stairs to our loyal Mercedes... convinced that yes someday, when we are rich enough to own a second luxurious car, it would be the LS 460l... to pick up our groceries... he he
More to come...
Then, it is the better half, with her other half of ideas of an ideal car...
and finally i have this unrealistic idea of what a good car can be...
I am sure we all have had this strange re occurring feelings... why some cars have some features and others dont, and if they have all the features and more, it is so expensive... No I am not chinese... but you can say I have just read a book on wishful thinking...
Yes like all of us i heard all the wise cracks out there, i heard their opinion on cars... i ve heard the sales man, giving their best sales pitch... which generally resulted in a home run... then i have seen all possible cars online, offline and in line on the road and their respective showroom...
The best was walking into the Mercedes showroom... and asking about ML 350, 2009... remember I have the ML 320, 2002 and then i have this sales man coming over and telling me all the features, i nearly fell asleep waiting for him to come up with something i have not heard off and is not available in my current vehicle... ouch, finally to add some fuel to the chernobical inferno in me... he told me the price... and yes my jaws dropped to the floor... and i wish i could spit fire all over him...
My only question... You call the car fully loaded and you do not have a navigation unit... and i must admire his straight face, when he said, ' Ah yes that will cost another 20k aed'... THAT IS ALMOST 10% VALUE OF THE CAR...I think he was very lucky he was not in the ring with me... he hurt my sentiments so bad...
And he says that since Dubai being a small city, we really do not need a navigation system... Agreed, if i was driving around dubai... but little did he know that the car was meant for my better half... (no further comments, dont want to sleep on the couch)... ;)
Finally, I called it quits and gave him a complimentary - fake - good - salesman smile and waited for him to print the numbers on paper... and walked out of the showroom, planning my next stop at the Mercedes approved pre owned car showroom...
Then we had a short visit at the GMC showroom, Acadia... lovely SUV... correction lovely big car... the ground clearance is as good as an other big car... however the size, the shape and above all the features were worth the drool... Just imagine the features and it had it all... Double sun roof, navigation system, ceiling mounted dvd system... heads up display... 3 rows of seats... price was good, sales man was humble and precise... but he did hurt my feeling again when he told me that the Mercedes SUV's did not really do well in the market... for moment i felt even my mind was playing games with me and i was imagining him with swollen bluish red nose... but then the better side of me took over and he received a warm smile... let us be fair, he was only doing his job and trying hard...
But the worst news from the GMC news desk... like many other American company they are filing for bankruptcy... and my wife being the hard core financial adviser ... gave me a no go sign... and again i was on a cross road with a red light glaring back at me...
Then we did pay a visit to the volvo showroom... nice straight forward car / suv... yes after seeing the GMC Acadia, the volvos didnt feel or look as inspiring, until we sat in the vehicle... and we felt oh so safe... why? those heavy doors going clonk... I had my engineering mind, running through an animated video showing me how various locks came into place to secure the door and felt like they were locking us inside a pressure controlled space mobile... loved the vehicle especially for some reason we were not interfered by a sale - hungry - salesman... and we left the showroom with a satisfied we-are-coming-back smile...
As we walked out of the showroom... stood before us like a huge monument of Toltec civilization... the building like a tall pyramid... staircase leading all the way up into the truncated entrance... and as we walked into the showroom, stood the grand LS 460L, standing guard also representing the best of the lexus brand... Thank fully, I could read from the distance, the 6 digit numbers, excluding the decimal digits, defining the value of the car... and is exactly the same reason, why i cautiously walked past the car completely aware that this car did not deserve a humble being like me...
As we walked deeper into the monument, we found ourselves among the so many wannabe lexus... so many cars... looked nice and had the lexus brand written all over it... and the dealers did well to inflate the price and bring these not so deserving lexus's feel like they are worth the price... in our final verdict, we walked down the stairs to our loyal Mercedes... convinced that yes someday, when we are rich enough to own a second luxurious car, it would be the LS 460l... to pick up our groceries... he he
More to come...
posted by JD at
7:12 AM
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