Leaderboard

Nothing is nonsense here at Carnity @Jayakrishnan. People like you, Emmanuel, Frederic who ask a lot of questions help many other users in clarifying their doubts without even asking. Insurance is more or less the same as the road coverage: the Third party will not cover your car and Comprehensive will most likely cover your car for any offroad damages. Yes, you do need a police report for any damage done in offroad so that insurance can open a claim. If it's a collision it's a straight case of red and green paper like on road. If it's accidental damage hitting the dune, trees etc. then police report will come with a fine amount of 400 dhs (I guess) as it's your fault and the insurance will take care of the damages within the stipulated excess amount you have as per your policy. Most insurance companies don't cover offroad damage, and others like RSA, AXA and Oman do cover offroad damage and one needs to read their offroad coverage clause carefully as some mention 5 meters away from the road and others have no distance limitation. If you behave well and follow all the rules and convoy discipline chances are you will never damage your car. Almost all the accidents I have seen are caused by drivers who either think they can venture by themselves or just like to try some more adventure by breaking the convoy. In my last 12 years of offroad, I have accidentally damaged my car twice - first was in 2006, when I was learning and broke the convoy to go little left and right and ended up on nose dive. The second was in 2017 when dune ended with a sharp drop and soft sand resulting in nose dive again because I was too fast in technical dunes (my mistake).

Hi Sunit, welcome aboard I'm using Mobil1 for 8 years in my Pajero for extreme offroad conditions and it never failed. I tried many brands and in end, I love the Mobil 1 quality and expertise. You can get Mobil 1 in Dubai from any Grand Service Center or there is Mobil 1 quick lube in Sharjah Industrial Area 8 near tire market. Sharjah is a tad cheaper than Dubai. I also would like to know how you have a feeling of fake geolanders, UAE seems quite strict in counterfeit products so will be interesting to know how to find a fake geolanders. If it's based on price judgment only, then it won't be fair as every retailer has a different markup and you can't say that 600/piece is original than 400/piece. I bought my last set in 2017 for 450/piece for 5 tires I paid 2250 with fitting and balancing.

Congratulations @Emmanuel on successfully leading his first official drive so wonderfully that at no time, I felt it was his first lead and that too in Sweihan. The second most important thing I love about this drive was impeccable planning with plenty of exit strategies depending on time and situation and still keeping the whole convoy moving. Well done for doing a solo recce trip to scout the fencing and awesome dunes. Keep it up and I'm sure you will be a great asset to Carnity Offroad Club and other offroaders in the future. Congratulations @Javier M for joining the first intermediate drive and keeping the pace with the convoy at all times. I love your dedication to BBQ in the windiest and rainy conditions, to be honest, I was skeptical in the beginning, but later on, we found a way to hide under the mats, sunshades, and blankets. Truly a great night to remember, just because of the lovely company of like-minded enthusiast's from the drive - bbq - drinks - sleep in a car and waking up to yet another beautiful day.

Hi Sunit, welcome to the forum and congrats with your Pajero ! Regarding your queries: 1) Yes, Mobil1 is a really good brand, @Gaurav his car runs on it. Not sure where you can buy it here in UAE. I have asked the same question to quite a few workshops and they all seem to have their own preference based on what they have available and the type of car. Have a look at the attached SAE grade range. 2) I bought Geolandar 265/70/16 about 6 months back and paid closer to 2000 i think, ill check my invoices and update you. I don't have the impression my tyres are fake but how to define this is the million dollar question. What matters is the fabrication date stamped on the tyres. Some shops try to get rid of their older batches of tyres at lower prices. 3) Have a look at the attached Pajero maintenance schedule. 4) I am not sure what the Habtoor guys do in every minor or major schedule. This might depend on the car history. If you just bought it and don't have enough reliable service information on what was done before, i would recommend bringing it do a decent workshop and going for a 25,000 service to remove any doubts you might have and let them inspect all belts while they are at it.

Thank you Frederic. After reading the comments, i will go with Mobil1 0W-40, Souk is selling 4LTR for AED 185, would need another litre i believe. I don't believe the tyres are fake, it seems legit. the date stamp is 482018 which means its manufactured almost towards the end of 2018. Thanks a lot for the schedule. Hi Gaurav, thank you, Mobil1 it is, will change to it starting next interval at 5K itself on the current one. Regarding tyres. i do not feel they are fake, i was actually given the impression, and yes, the person was basing his reasoning solely on the price. I too believe that that UAE market is fairly reliable unless you are visiting some really shady stores. This particular tyre shop has given me a stamped bill and moreover, i did do some visual check and they seemed legit. It has the date stamp and no spelling mistakes the exact tyre range is GEOLANDAR H/T G056 P265/70R16. I think it was stock clearance and hence priced that low. Thanks Rahimdad, yes, i believe that is the case here as well. I plan to change a 10K oil at 8K interval. Exactly, 30 doesn't sound right, but the person was very confident and even said we put this in Patrol's and Land Cruiser's 😮 personally, i will yet go with a 40 grade since this number should be closer to the max temperature of the area that the car is driven and considering UAE temperatures that can go upto 50 deg. C, a 40 oil can handle it but 30 will most definitely suffer and would adversely affect the engine (correct me if i am wrong).

Coming back on this issue @desertdude you are right. After installing an additional, digital temp gauge, i can now see that the factory temp gauge does not budge between 65 and 110 degrees Celsius. So if something was indeed wrong with engine overheating i would have only known it when it’s almost too late. Although The OEM sensor was replaced and I read the same issues with gen2 Pajero on other forums. I’ll be keeping a close eye to the digital one on the next off-road drives. During normal highway it sits stable at 80 degrees so that looks ok.

I have an Axa « Premium » comprehensive coverage (2.4k/y) for my Xterra 2013 and I asked them about the restrictions. I was told that there is no limitation in terms of distance from the road. Just races not allowed.

No problem 👍 There's no restrictions on the distance from the road but the deductible is higher for off-rad claims (1.5k).

I have comprehensive insurance with off-road coverage from Dubai National Insurance. It's 2k a year on a 2015 Pajero 3.5l LWB.

Found these 10 shops selling used spare parts for Ford in the Carnity Business Listing, call them and check https://carnity.com/search?&q=ford&type=cms_records5&nodes=86&search_and_or=or&sortby=relevancy

Well if it's a fully synthetic then you are good for 10K kms, if its semi (5K) and mineral (3K) for normal road usage. If you are regularly driving offroad every week then change fully synthetic at 5-6K max for a better life of an engine. I'm using fully synthetic 0W40 from Mobil 1 and changing every 5K kms (2-3 months time), as my Pajero is only used for offroading.

Actually, there are rules in UAE that forces engine oil manufacturers or traders (Oil Marketing Companies) to get their products certified by ESMA (Emirates Standardization & Metrology Authority). Federal law no. 28 of 2001 empowers ESMA to force manufacturers and traders selling consumer products (including engine oil) to get their product certified. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) need to prove their products are complying with UAE standard GSO 1785-2013. This standard requires minimum API Service Categories (SJ) for gasoline engine lubricants & (CH-4) for diesel engines lubricants among other requirements. Many local OMCs will just write whatever they need consumers to read on their product labels without getting the product certified by ESMA and they will still be able to sell in the UAE market. On the ground, enforcing ESMA compliance on OMCs is still "under development". A good practice by engine oil consumers is to ask for ESMA ECAS or ESMA EQM Certificate before buying engine oil. This certificate should be available in garages, spare part shops and other outlets for reputable brands upon request.

Did you drive it because most of the 4 wheels do not give more than 10 or 11KM per liter as per my experience, Please drive it in between full tank because the system can show anything. As advised Gaurav wonderful car but these car but sell it before the warranty expires and note when you sell it do not expect anything as it may be sold at lowest price. I recommend take it for rent, drive it for a day to get an exact KM. Thanks.

I recently got my Geolandaers for AED 475/- per piece, but manufactured 6 months back, some tire shops have them lying around longer, so a tire produced a year back will cost slightly cheaper than one that has been produced 6 months back. Have not come across fake tires, just Chinese ones.

Thank you @Gaurav. It wouldn’t have been possible without your great support and advices before and all along the drive.

In!

Good topic @Barry, what I personally feel is the use of new technology introduce a lot of electronics and computer management stuff in cars that started scaring petrolhead to mess with their car due to lack of knowledge and confidence. This started a trend to depend on the qualified mechanic or dealership, both are expensive and hence owners got more scared and moved away from the basic maintenance or quick fix that we use to do back in old days when cars were more simple to work than waiting for the binary command of 1's and 0'S.

Here is a list of all the capable and best 4x4 cars in UAE that you can get under 10,000 and 20,000 Dhs in UAE. I have been asked this question on every off-road drive, so let's build a list with collective experience and knowledge: Best 4x4 cars in 10,000 Dhs 1999 - 2004 - Nissan Pathfinder 3.3 L / 3.5 L 1997 - 2006 - Mitsubishi Pajero 3.0 L / 3.5 L / 3.8 L (SWB is better than LWB) 1991 - 2001 - Jeep Cherokee 4.0 L (Finding clean one is extremely rare) 1999 - 2004 - Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 L / 4.7 L 1989 - 1998 - Land Rover Discovery Series I 3.9 L / 4.0L (1995 - 1998 year is better) 1998 - 2004 - Land Rover Discovery Series II 4.0 L (Average offroader) 1995 - 2002 - Land Rover Range Rover P38 4.0 L / 4.6 L Best 4x4 cars in 20,000 Dhs 1996 - 2006 - Jeep Wrangler TJ - 4.0 L 2006 - 2010 - Mitsubishi Pajero 3.5 L / 3.8 L (SWB is better than LWB) 2002 - 2009 - Chevrolet Trailblazer 4.2 L / 6.0 L 2005 - 2010 - Jeep Commander 4.7 L / 5.7 L 2005 - 2010 - Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 L / 5.7 L 2008 - 2009 - Nissan Xterra - 4.0 L 2006 - 2010 - Chevrolet Tahoe - 4.8 L / 5.3 L / 6.0 L 2006 - 2010 - Hummer H3 - 3.7 L 1996 - 2003 - Toyota Prado VX - 3.4 L (SWB is better than LWB) 1998 - 2004 - Land Rover Discovery Series II 4.6 L 2004 - 2009 - Land Rover Discovery 3 / LR3 4.0 L / 4.4 L 2002 - 2006 - Land Rover Range Rover L322 4.4 L 1997 - 2005 - Nissan Patrol Y61 4.5 L / 4.8 L (Finding clean one is extremely rare) 1998 - 2003 - Toyota Landcruiser 4.5 L (Might be just little over 20K range) 2006 - 2010 - Nissan Armada 5.6 L (Offroad version - Ranchos shocks, skid plate, tow hook, trimmed bumper) Please, guys, keep on suggesting more options based on your offroading experience, I will keep on updating this list DISCLAIMER: I don't intend to put the price of your ride or contest the "ballpark" value that I suggested. The used car market is subject to huge fluctuation due to demand and supply based on season and offroad 4x4 cars in UAE will always sell for a higher premium in winter (Oct-Mar). P.S. Having said that, if you have any constructive suggestion to edit the list - I will accept that. This awesome scrapper pulls the average price daily and update in single excel

Discover the Top Fuel-Efficient Cars in the UAE. Looking for the best fuel-efficient cars to tackle your daily drive in the UAE? Explore this curated list of eco-friendly vehicles that offer exceptional mileage and performance. Drive smart and save on fuel costs with these top picks tailored for city commuting. 4.4 L/100 - Suzuki Celerio 4.8 L/100 - Mitsubishi Attrage and Mirage 4.9 L/100 - Mazda 3 5.0 L/100 - Audi A3 / A4 5.1 L/100 - Chevrolet Spark 5.2 L/100 - Ford Fiesta 5.4 L/100 - Honda Civic 5.5 L/100 - Ford Focus 5.7 L/100 - BMW 2 Series 5.8 L/100 - Toyota Yaris, Honda City and Fiat 500 6.0 L/100 - Peugeot 208 6.1 L/100 - BMW 3 Series and Kia Picanto 6.2 L/100 - Nissan Sentra 6.3 L/100 - Volkswagen Golf, Honda Jazz and Hyundai Accent 6.9 L/100 - Nissan Micra and Sunny

HI , Would like to get some expert opinion to renew my car insurance Pajero 2016 3.5LT. My query is , do i need to take a additional off road package to get the insurance coverage while off road ? What is the normal process if we come across any car body damage while off road like Bumper,mud flap damages ?Does it can cover in the normal insurance? In roads if we met an accident , we have to get the police report . What about in Desert ? Is the process is same like road accidents ? These are few general doubts in my mind ,Pardon me if you all feels it like nonsense. Jay

I had very bad experience with Dubai National Insurance, I had to run around for 8 months to get my car repaired. They even refused to believe the police report for the incident.

Hi there, I am seriously considering getting a Dodge Durango, havent decided on the trim or the v6 vs v8. Here are my reasons : Great Price with the current offers and low monthly installment Excellent mileage for an SUV ..almost 17+ kms per liter. Great looking vehicle Good enough SUV and I prefer SUVs. Anybody driven this for more than 5 years? I am worried about maintenance beyond the warranty period as I plan to keep it at least for 8 years or more. Any other comments / tips?

The Prado looks like a great option.. Thanks

My Mrs Company rental Yaris 1.5 gives some real bad ass mileage. 70dhs to fill to the brim and easily does 500kms in city and 600plus highway. Should be getting the Indian made Sunny soon lets see how that compares. Although not looking forward to the ugly POS. Dunno what happened to Nissan, seems like they go out of their way to make ugly cars.

List the best resale value cars in UAE with specific brand and model and not just Japanese or Amerikan Toyota Corolla Nissan Sunny Honda Civic Once I have best 10 in all level then will make a apoll to get more votes

Last time I did Dimond polish on my Renault Megan's and the worst of scratches were gone. Cost about AED 350 I think.

Toyota will win hands down in this section: Rav4, Prado, Land Cruiser all are having very good resale value

Thanks for sharing your details as I never knew that Dubai National Insurance does offer an offroad coverage. Have you read the offroad coverage clause and does it restrict to certain meters or unlimited?

Hi, Please suggest me from where I can get a used transfer case motor for my ford explorer. I live in Sharjah. Thanks,

Always love to drive with carnity. 😍

One of my cousins had a Durango and he put donkey miles on it and soon after the warranty is over, it becomes the money pit as most of the things are designed to fail just after the warranty period. My advice is to drive until you have a warranty and sell it just before it gets over an upgrade. No doubt the SUV is good value for money as per performance, luxury and features you can get.

Welcome @Shafik and thanks for sharing your expertise, do feel free to participate in the discussion and help others or seek advise from existing car expertise at Carnity.

Welcome @AMH to Carnity and thanks for shedding light on official rules for Engine Oil in UAE as per ESMA guidelines. I think we all should follow this minimum certification standard before buying any Engine Oil. I assume with your designation, you work with Mobil 1. Do you mind sharing the images highlighting what exact part we should be looking on the label to make sure it complies the ESMA regulations?

Thank you all for giving me this opportunity to learn, for your support, for the fun - and @Rahimdad for this perfect report. I hope you enjoyed as much as I did.

Trip report. Thank you @Emmanuel for graduating yourself within the club to be able to post what turned out to be an amazing place to discover. While you graduated through the different levels you have bought in many ideas and inputs to improve the experience of the new comers. Congratulations to @Javier M for graduating to the next level to enjoy this drive and thank you and Ramon for bringing your A game. Thank you to @Gaurav and @Srikumar for the support. A big thank you to @Asif Hussain bhai for joining us and giving us company. As we met on time and experiencing a little rain on the way to the deflation point our hearts were racing with what was in store for us. Upon reaching the deflation point we were briefed well by @Emmanuel and started towards the start of a fantastic day ahead. Sorry, after being put in second lead after a long time I was waiting for everybody to move before I did and someone had to tell me to move behind Emmanuel. As we started it was like a Veloceraptor was released from its cage. We had a good mix of some really fast paced drive through some gorgeous dunes and some really big dunes we could play on. Somehow we finished the first session on time to head out for Friday prayers and grab a quick bite. If the first round was an appetizer, round two was the main course and desserts combined. It was even more quicker in pace even after 2 pop outs and a few stucks we were able to cover so much more and loved every moment. As the sun coming down we were trying to find a suitable stop to camp for the night. We finally found a reasonable bowl in which we settled. As we settled we found two challenges, the wind due to which we couldn't set our tents and the passing drizzle which made it difficult to get the BBQ going. But @Javier M and Ramon didn't let the spirits dampenand got the BBQ going. Great preparations for both food and drinks along with music. Had to sleep in the car, but the best sleep ever with a great wake up call. After a quick brush of the teeth it was the wonderful breakfast provided by @Emmanuel and @Gaurav. In conclusion have to admit didn't feel like going home after the brilliant day out with such wonderful people in some amazing dunes.

Prado is my favorite and I have a soft corner for it. They are reliable and if your heart desires the Prado and price difference is not an issue for AED 85k you can get a brand new Pajero with one year free petrol, service and Salik. As the oils degrade over time I think the Prado needs a service every 10k kilometers or 6 months whichever comes first. So if major service is due in 20k kilometers you'll have to do that service within a year. I have had bad experience buying from the dealers their second hand cars as once bought they start giving you huge bills during your service, if you point out that the car is under warranty they just tell you that warranty is for major parts like engine and gearbox while these are only wear and tear items. Plus they are overpriced compared to the market. It's your choice, I like @Gaurav bhai advise of having one car for road and another for off road if your budget is AED 90k. My wife's car is still available and you can view and try it out any time. Wish you luck with your decision.

Perfect use of the Multipla for its intended customers

If your car needed an oil change, you jacked it up outside your house, drained the oil, screwed the old filter off, screwed the new one on and filled the engine with oil. If the car was running bad, you change the spark plugs, get the timing light out and make sure the distributor is on point. If you’re having starting problems, you make sure the points are set correctly. Making an engine run is easy. Every petrol engine needs 4 things to run. Spark, timing, fuel, compression. When did we reach the stage that people lost all knowledge and started to depend on overpriced dealerships? I know so many people who call themselves petrol heads but they couldn’t even point out a spark plug. Where did it all go wrong?

Well depends on what your definition of the good old days is? Do you like the ability to dismantle and then reassemble an entire car with a 10mm spanner and a flat screw driver but then ride in a donkey cart with leaf spring suspension, moody carb that wont start on cold mornings and when it does start only a few people can actually make it work right so its not running too rich or too lean and when its working you are getting horrible gas mileage due to its inefficient design or having the stopping distance of a ocean liner with those horrible drum brakes or having massive 8 liter V8 engines that only produce 130hp and struggle to even pull themselves up a hill. Sorry I think, I'll give those old days a miss! In this country is a different situation. Majority of the people live in apartments and have no place to work on their cars, second of all its too hot most times of the years to be out for more than 10 minutes and that pace of life is very busy here, most people leave for work early in the morning and don't return until late in the day and whatever free time they do have they would rather spend with family, friends or doing something they love rather than wrenching on their cars out on a busy street side out in the sun. Not anymore in fact more people getting into DIY because of it. Now even manufacturer specific diagnostic scanners are very affordable and anyone can plug one in and give it a go. I rather not get too oily and undo two nuts and swap out a specific coil pack or CKP sensor without any guesswork which my scanner told were busted then having to fiddle with a distributor and a timing strobe light that is after I have spent hours trying to pinpoint the issue in the first place.

Absolutely

Good topic Barry. I think many of our generation grew up on the street messing with scooters, bikes, motorcycles because there was nothing else to do to spent those long summers. Video games were coming up but watching 2 pixels going left to right wasn’t that much interesting. younger generation people now grow up with internet and a massive amount of information at their fingertips but I think it makes them less focused and they can’t decide if they want to be the next youtuber, DJ, Pro-Gamer, or anything else. I am sure there are still so many young people who are genuinely interested in technology although we might get the impression that this is not the case.

I am a legal advisor for the UAE Armed Forces... my job consists on telling them what not to do as per some international laws...