Category: Automotive

I just got a phone call a few minutes ago from the BMW workshop manager. He was very sincere and apologized about how my radiator leak was handled and they want to now fix the car at their cost. They are sending a tow truck to pick up my car from the other garage.

I just got a phone call from my Mercedes contact asking me nicely if I could remove my negative review of the car so I complied. I didn’t have to remove the review, I did it out of courtesy because I didn’t want to cause the person any problems. Just wanted everyone to know why that post disappeared.

I was driving the E-Class all day today and so far I have mixed feelings about it. First let me get the negatives out of the way.

The E-Class I am driving is the E200 which is the lowest spec’d E-Class at the moment. The engine is a small 4-cylinder pumping out 183hp which means the car isn’t fast at all. In fact I found it frustratingly slow when driving off from a stand still. When you first slam the gas nothing happens until the RPM passes the 2000RPM mark and only then the car moves so it feels very laggy, you have this 1 or 2 second pause before the car reacts. The 0-100 acceleration is around 11 seconds! The second thing is, the car doesn’t have any special options, no navigation system, no rear view camera, no seat warmers, the steering wheel and chair don’t retract when you come in and even the passenger side chair isn’t electrically adjustable.

Now that we got that negatives out of the way here are the positives. The car is extremely comfortable and its very relaxing to drive. The mood inside the car with the plush leather seats creates a very cozy atmosphere. The sound proofing is also great, even at high speeds there is barely any wind or engine noise, although the later might be attributed to the small 4-cylinder engine. The legroom in the back is really roomy and the car does have a large sunroof which is always appreciated. The AC and stereo controls are very simple to operate which is a godsend for people who don’t want to fidget around with a complicated control system.

Really though I am really curious to know why Mercedes has the lowest spec’d E-Class as a test drive vehicle. If I wanted to buy the car I would have been put off with the lack of power and features in this test drive vehicle. Its a Mercedes which is expected to last a long time so if I was going to buy it I would personally invest more money and get a higher spec’d model like the E280 or even the E350. But for those who are budget conscious or for people who don’t want to pollute the planet with a gas guzzling 6-cylinder car, the Mercedes E200 costs around KD12,000.

You can get more information on this car and a full price list on the local dealers website. [Link]

I am going to be test driving the Mercedes E-Class for the next few days. I was hoping to get the brand new redesigned C-Class but that won’t be possible until next week. The E-Class series is positioned between the smaller C-Class and the larger S-Class Mercedes. So far, judging by the ride from the dealership to my house it looks like its going to be a very comfortable weekend.

So I passed by the BMW dealer today and they tell me that I have a leak in the car which is causing it to overheat. They then give me the list of parts required to fix the leak, here are the items:

SP: KD30
Mount. plate: KD13.850
Exp. Tank: KD18.950
Thermostat: KD14.200
Radiator Cap: KD4.650
Switch: KD4.400
Housing: KD24.600
Fan Clutch: KD45.850
RMFD. Pump: KD21.950
Hose: KD9.050
Hose: KD7.700
Hose: KD7.500

Parts = KD202.700
Labor = KD98.750
Mis. = KD20.000
———————-
Total = KD321.450

Is it me or does that seem like overkill just to fix a leak? I am not a mechanic but why would I have to replace the radiator cap to fix a leak? Why change the thermostat, a switch and fan clutch also?? Wouldn’t the leak be from just one place? So why not just replace that one item why do I have to replace everything else also? I had my car towed out of the dealers garage and its now going to get fixed elsewhere. Once I find out how much its going to cost me to fix it outside I am going to post it here.

You won’t believe what happened to me today! Yesterday I picked up my BMW from the dealer and as I mentioned before, the car overheated just before I reached my home. Today morning I was supposed to pass by the dealer to give them a piece of my mind when on the way while driving on the Gulf Road my car overheats again! I parked the car in the Green Island parking lot and called a friend who got a tow truck to come pick up my car. We took my car to the BMW dealer and I go up to the guy who had taken care of my car and told him that after I left the dealership yesterday the car over heated and today on my way over it also over heated. He was very cold and didn’t apologize or anything, he took my car keys and told me to wait and then left.

Fifteen minutes later the guy comes back and tells me your car needs to stay here you can leave now. I was like what do you mean I can leave?? What about my car, how long does it need, whats wrong with it? He was like they are checking on that now. I was like ok but I need another car, I have work and things to do. He was like you can talk to the manager so I do.

I explain my situation to the manager, I tell him I brought my car in because of some strange vibrations and after paying a shit load of money I take the car back and suddenly its over heating. I tell him its a fault from their side and they should give me a car to use until they fix their mistake. He tells me its not their mistake and its not their responsibility. He tells me its very normal for a car to over heat and it can happen to any car at any time. I stood there in shock, other then the fact that no one apologized to me but now the guy is telling me that the problem is my fault no theirs! What car built in this century still over heats?!? Maybe if it was 1985 and I was stuck in traffic I could imagine a car over heating but this is a 2001 BMW and its over heating without any traffic!

I end up leaving the place thinking about how much I hate BMW and the dealership. When I was thinking of selling my car I was thinking of maybe getting a BMW Z4 or a Land Rover LR3 but now I am thinking about how I never want to buy a BMW ever again yet alone anything from this dealership.

A few minutes ago I get a phone call from BMW, they tell me they found some leak and it will cost KD320 to fix. I was like excuse me? No thank you, please don’t touch my car I will pick it up tomorrow and go fix it somewhere else.

So I finally pick up my car today from the dealer and I am on my home and guess what? The car overheats! I had to park the car, wait till the engine cooled and then had to fill it up with at least 2 liters of water! I mean what the hell! I just paid a load of cash to have my car fixed and I get it without water in the radiator?!!? I am sooo pissed I am going back to the dealer tomorrow morning to give them a piece of my mind!!!

A Chinese car maker called Huanghai Auto has copied borrowed designs from the Pontiac Torrent and Lexus RX350 and combined them to create one car, the Huanghai NCV. Should be available in Hawalli soon. [Link]

via autoblog

Currently I am craving a Land Rover Defender. I found a website of this guy who bought a 1991 white defender and then fixed it up nicely. I want to do the same thing, I found a Defender on Q8car.com selling for like KD2,500. I am sure the price is negotiable and I am also sure I can find even cheaper Defenders elsewhere if I look. What I feel like doing is buying one and then just spending time on it. My biggest obstacle of course is Nat, she really really hates the Defender. Here is a link to the website where a guy refurbished his Defender. [Link]

update: just found out from a friend that his friend just bought the white Defender last week for KD1,750!

As some of you already know, I am currently driving a Toyota Corolla rental car until my cars repairs get completed. I am extremely shocked and surprised by the Corolla. I was in no way expecting it to be like this. The car is in a league of its own, its right on top of my list as the worst car I have ever driven!

First of all to be honest I didn’t know they still made cars this slow. The acceleration from 0 to 100 in the Corolla takes like 30 minutes, its unbearably slow. It also feels like an electric car because the engine it so tiny and weak it makes practically no sound. Lets not even talk about the max speed of the car which I am assuming I would require a 500km long traffic free drag strip to be able to hit.

Another big problem with the car is that no other car respects it. In the past three days I have been cut off more times then the past 6 years combined! People just don’t care if I am occupying a lane or not its as if the Corolla is just invisible, and it is! If you are planning on tailing someone this is the car to be in, it has no personality at all and such a generic look that no way will you be spotted!

Fuel consumption is good, KD1 fills up half the tank and that has lasted me like 3 days now but who cares about fuel consumption when you have an oil refinery in your back yard. The cars ergonomics are also terrible, I am 186cm tall and yet have to stretch really far out all the way just so I can increase or decrease the volume on the radio. I don’t think I can even reach the right side of the radio without unbuckling my seatbelt and moving into the passenger seat!

Yes its a Toyota and I am sure a lot of you are going to defend the Corolla by saying its a very reliable car and its cheap but thats no excuse, there are a lot of other cars similarly priced with more power and better looks (Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Mazda3). Renting the car is cheap at KD6 a day so thats why I am stuck with it but I would never ever buy this car or recommend it to anyone. No offense to anyone who owns this car already, I am guessing you bought it because of reliability and high resale value, two factors that don’t interest me.

Yesterday was the launch of the Lamborghini IMSA which I posted about earlier in the week. Marzouq was there and took pictures and posted them on his blog along with a ton of pictures. [Link]

Someone posted a link to a website the other day when I was looking to rent a car and I thought it was spam. Why? Because the comment said I could rent a Hummer for KD10 and then sent me to a website which looked like a second hand car dealership called Gallardo.

Fast forward to today, I am flipping through an Al-Waseet clone when I found an advert for a car rental agency called Gallardo where you can rent an H3 or a Mini convertible for only KD10. Not only that but I could rent a Ferrari F430 or a Lamborghini Gallardo for KD150 a day which is less then half the price of competitors.

So I called them up to see if there were any strings attached and so far it seems there aren’t any. The cars are fully insured and you can rent them for 1 day if you want there is no minimum. Currently they only had a Bentley, Gallardo and 6-series BMW available but the guy said to call back at 7PM because thats when some of the other cars will be back in. It still sounds too good to be true so something must be up. How is it possible to rent an H3 for KD10 a day when a Corolla is for KD7?

Here is a scan of their advert with prices [Link]
Here is a link to their website [Link]

Just found out how much my car will cost to repair…

Labor: KD496.300
Parts: KD1004.450
Misc: KD30
————-
Total: KD1530.750

note: this is to repair some things in my BMW not Wrangler. Also on a positive note, the service is extremely friendly.

Today morning I returned the Lumina to Europcar. I had found a better deal on another car with another rental agency so I no longer wanted the Lumina. The employee at Europcar was extremely friendly and even though I had rented the car for only 1 day she still gave me the same rate as the weekly one which is KD10 a day.

After that I walked over to Al Sayer rental which was very close by. I had passed by yesterday evening to check out a Toyota Echo he had and I was planning on renting it. The car wasn’t in great condition with hub caps missing and some weird stains on the seat. I figured I could haggle the price down a bit but the guy refused. He wanted KD5.750 per day if I wanted the car for a week but if I brought the car earlier he would charge me KD7 a day. I told him Automax was renting a Corolla for KD6 a day and I was sure it was in better condition. He refused to lower the price and I left the place.

Once I got to work I called Automax and asked for a Corolla. Guy told me if I have the car for less then a week its KD7 a day but if its more then a week its KD6. I asked if they could drop the car off to me and they said it wouldn’t be a problem and it would be at no extra charge.

So now I am driving a 2006 black Corolla. Its not in the best condition either and I have no clue where the car papers are because I couldn’t find them in the car but it’s cheap. I just paid them KD30 deposit and thats it, they didn’t take my Visa card number or anything. I actually don’t think I would have trusted them with my credit card details anyway, the whole thing feels fishy to me. This is why I would rather deal with international franchises but of course those cost more.

I really have to say though renting from Europcar was really great and the service very friendly. If anyone needs to rent a car from them you can call Lisa on +965 6540248. She was very helpful and probably the best person I have ever rented a car from.

Can anyone recommend a car rental agency. I am looking to pay max KD8 a day.

Update: So I called some rental agencies and here are the results:

Avis: No one picked up
Budget: They had a 2007 Lancer for KD8, but they couldn’t have it ready for me before 1PM and the guy I spoke to didn’t know if car smelled of cigarettes or not.
Hertz: For KD8 they only had a Hyundai
AutoMax: They had a 2006 Camry for KD8 but they were located in Salmiya.
Europcar: Very friendly and professional. Only had medium sized car available. Location close to my office.
Sixt: Called them up, they had problems with their automated teller, everytime I pressed 3 for Sixt it would take me back to main menu.

In the end I went for Europcar mostly because I needed a car before 1PM and they were walking distance. I was in contact with the Sheraton branch and the employee there was very friendly. She gave me a 2007 Lumina for KD10 and promised to arrange me a cheaper car from a different branch. I picked up the car at 12:30 and it was in excellent condition with just 1300km on the dial.