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Hi Carnity Family Looks like we will have a lot of fun tomorrow inspiring pink sands & rocks... Very excited for it.. Since I started driving with you guys I can't miss any drive till today Be ready for Manakesh for breakfast after our drive..

Dear All just a reminder to be on time as we will be moving from the meeting point to the deflation point where the briefing will take place. Please consider and respect everybodies time and effort.

Yes with 3 newbie convoys, Im sure one of the convoy will drive at newbie+ or fewbie level.

And if you are late, simply go back instead of calling Marshals, as they aren't going to answer phone while driving.

@andersonlorente looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, absolute mandatory to carry your sense of adventure on such trips. Just to add a bit of patience to the whole exercise and you will make an awesome offroader. @Chaitanya D we will still be close to Awir desert, but let's see how we can excite you tomorrow. @Jamy B. sorry you had to miss your hat on your trip to Africa, it will be back to you tomorrow with some added Liwa sand for luck.

I have FJ cruiser extreme, i do have prior experience...

Can’t go to Liwa, will join you guys 😊

I am waiting for any roster changes, will be confirmed at 18:00. If it is a day off, I will head towards Zayed city, take a hotel, need proper sleep to relax and meet you guys tomorrow morning. (Had a short night) Will not stay for camping, because of unconfirmed duty on Saturday.

@Shamil get well soon, see you next week. Everyone, who are preparing for liwa please pack the bare essentials items and not luxury camping items, as in liwa extra weight will be a concern. For food, please pack for yourself and tiny little bit extra as this is not a newbie drive. Carry ready food, ready to cook food, dry snacks, nuts, fruits, crackers to keep you awake on the way back drive.

Congrats with the ride, see you on Friday !

@Ale Vallecchi always a pleasure having you on board and great to hear you're recovering well. Catch you on Friday. @Jamy B. great to see you're finally back to get your hat from my car.

Fj cruiser extreme all the prerequisites been met. Thank u

Im reaching on Thursday night too by 11 PM - 12 AM, means before 2 AM ill reach and sleep, lol. For people sensitive to sleeping in light (like myself). Take 50 meter detour just before adnoc meeting point and drive on sandy patch to park car just outside Adnoc facing the highway. We did this last time and I had nice 4 hrs sleep without any disturbance. For Friday evening, I was 50/50 initially to stay or leave but recently got the new schedule from ministry of interior, so I will be leaving by 5-6 PM in evening. Guys who ever have extra radio and its charger, please bring it on as in full day drive, radio needs bit of boost.

Sadly, I need to be back at work Saturday and am travelling the whole week from Sunday ... so no option to stay.

I meant on Friday night after the drive

@Jeepie and myself plan on arriving Thursday around 10pm (work permitting we will leave around 7pm). Or were you thiking about Friday night? Don't really fancy a 3 hour blast from Dubia and then a full day in the Dunes - better the other way round (hahaha)

Who is planning to stay the night?

Thx you for your reply 🙏

Hello, everyone i would like to ask if any possibility to so fewbie level drive this weekend ? 🙏

You can check in Liwa tilal hotel with zero expectations and you will be fine with just basic necessities.

Hello all, Tomorrow will be my first ride , and I am excited !! Car I drive- Nissan Patrol (y62). Prior experience - about once in a month in Awir desert while camping, but very basic off roading. Tow hooks yes.

due to some personal reasons, i will be cancelling participation for this drive and ill join the newbie drive instead

Congratulations @Jeepie

Congratulations!!

Hello all! Newbie in offroad, bringing a Grand Cherokee with the required tow hooks and lots of enthusiasm and adventure spirit. See you all!

congrats @Jamy B.. good to have an addition to the x-men team besides myself and @Emmanuel. Your offroad version is more powerful than our X's since you have the higher 3.54 gear ratios and also with the diff lock, you can get out more easily from stuck situations as well.

Congrats on the great car ! See you soon in the sand !

Which radio do you exactly have? Do you have windows and a sd-slot in your computer? Are you handy with conputers/ installing software? Maybe I can help you to save the money, but at own risk!

Hi, please find my comments below. Please share your vehicle details below - FJ cruiser Prior off-road experience (Yes/No) Yes but Not expert. Confirm front and rear tow hooks- Yes confirmed. Regards Nizam

Congratulations!

Nope, but still better to check with your insurance IMO. Nope, for warranty too, but still better to check with dealers. Why Im saying this is with ever changing tight economies your insurance and car dealer might start rejecting hefty claims based on wrong air freshner used.....! If it's metal bumper then it need two rubber bump stops in front and RTA is absolutely fine with that mod.

CONGRATULATIONS @Jamy B., very nice choice you made and seems like real good deal you got there with low km Xterra offroad. Looking forward to see you soon in action.

Well, finally the search has ended! I’ve gathered so much information, gained significant knowledge and above all, made friends in the process. Special thanks to @Rahimdad for his patience, assistance, continuous Support and valuable advice. To @Gaurav for asking the right questions to put me on the right search path and, more importantly, answering mine in such analytical way. And special thanks to @Emmanuel who tirelessly gave advice whenever I needed, and made sure I knew what I was getting myself into with every option I considered. Last but not least, thanks to @sertac, @desertdude, @Shamil and the rest of participants for sharing their opinions and personal experiences, as well as the comparative analysis between different makes and models they shared here. So, without further ado, I went for an Xterra Off-road model, 2014, 70.000 km. Looking forward to taking it to the desert!

See you guys on Friday! I won't have the necessary gear yet but I hope it won't be too much of an inconvenient and that someone can share 😊 Can't wait to be on the sand again!

Thanks for the introduction, see you on Friday !

Of course Alessandro, glad to see you're recovering ! See you Friday !

Thursday night sleeping area without Adnoc bright light.

My haaaat!!! Totally forgot about it! I missed it in Africa

Hi Rahim. Can I join in? Getting better from the operation, but don't feel like driving to Liwa. Will be happy to be of support. Thanks

that is the end of story.

dont worry you can park the second car next year.. 😁

Just like the FJ I'm not a big fan of the visibility problem for both of them from inside. High hip line and low roof make them look cool on the outside but impede visibility inside out hence decreasing situational and terrain awareness. Other than that. Once you learn to how drive in the dunes you can pretty much drive anything without too much hassle. Unless your only metric for measuring performance is how high your car will climb faya

Told you, Toyota especially Prado is a piece of gold with an insane resale value. Good luck and good if you are patient enough to find a clean deal. It always takes me a 1-3 month to buy a car and sell within a week.

I'll write it all down and make sure I follow it step by step! I really appreciate your help, guys! Can't thank you enough

Hi again, Okay so I'm now actively looking at buying a Prado. I have seen this one for sale on dubizzle https://dubai.dubizzle.com/motors/used-cars/toyota/prado/2018/12/8/toyota-prado-2008-v6-40-ltr-vx-limited-edi-2/?back=L3NlYXJjaC8%2Fa2V5d29yZHM9dG95b3RhK3ByYWRvJmlzX2Jhc2ljX3NlYXJjaF93aWRnZXQ9MSZpc19zZWFyY2g9MQ%3D%3D&pos=1 I know I can't go by an advert alone and will def go and view it etc... but this one looks decent to me. What should I be looking for to ensure it is "clean"?

FJC started production from 2008 and not 2004, I am suggesting as latest as she can afford in 50k range - maybe 2014-2015 Prado shares everything of LC except the boat size length and weight, which is a BIG BUMMER in wadi, mountains, and desert. I had LC100 for 2 years and use to skip all tall dunes as it never use to climb up. For mountain steep climb and sharp steering, I need to reverse 4-5 times to articulate that beast uphill due to its length. It's just not fun how bad turning angle Toyota has designed fo full size 4x4. Prado she can get the older shape or even newer shape, both are built great although older version will be a tad lighter and less bloated to keep it nimble for offroad.

being back to the initial thing was that the car would run in mena region should not be a fuss to maintain as far as i know the pajero would not fall in it nicely as the african market is much more interested in the 4 cyl diesel pajero then the 6 cyl pajero i guess @treks could shed some light in that statement and almost all the united nations missions there maintain usually the lc, and the lc pick up which is also basically the same things internally you wont have to think twice for comparing the lc vs the pajero in this market i am sure

Thank you all so much for your advice, it has been invaluable. I'm considering the Prado, however what option should I consider in terms of year, model etc? V6 4l LTR? It's a minefield out there haha Also would you recommend that I buy direct from the owner or via a dealer? I'm wary of both options to be honest.

I would go with Nissan Xterra with that budget. For sleeping inside i think @EmVarlet can answer if it is possible. It is powerful, easy to maintain and as i see from Emmanuel it is extreme reliable. Land Cruiser very good option but finding clean one is hard.