Srikumar

Congrats @amir.rophail

Congrats @G.huz

Congrats @Frederic

It's mostly likely a leaking compressor and you will have to replace it. The leaks are so small that it would take a few months for the gas level to reduce and these leaks are hard to detect.

Carnity forum has shown in the past on how some of these so called professional garages are the biggest rip off. They offer all the bling but no honesty in their work. So more than mentioning a professional or a back street garage, it's better to try and find a honest mechanic even if he works in a big workshop or is a one man show. Also, some of the back street garages exist for a reason, the fact that many people in this country can't afford to pay AED 3500 for a timing belt change, which is me included.

I am not aware in Abu Dhabi. I get my work done in Ajman. The guy might pickup and drop your car for a bit extra.

It's because of the rain. I think there is some condensation happening. But for the past few months this issue was not there for me. Even today I got the same error. Ask your wife to run the car for 10 mins and then restart. The issue gets resolved

It does seem high. Without the water pump it would cost in the region of AED 1500 - 1800. I got mine done recently. If you need to change some of the seals then it would cost a bit more.

@Frederic I think by the end of the drive you were head to toe in sand 😂

Gulf Oil was originally an American company before it was bought over by the Hinduja group. It is more than a 100 year old company, probably older than Total as well. They are a reputable company and they have one of the better QC labs here in the Middle East.

It's 9 now...

The issue is mainly with the 3.8 litre version as they have bigger disc brakes on the front wheel, and the smallest size that you can fit for them is 17 inch rim. However, on the 3.5 version, the basic version does come with 16 inch rims. So there should not be a problem if Fuad decideds to reduce his rim size from 17 inch to 16 inch.

Firstly, apologies for the delayed trip report, as was away from my laptop for many days.So here it goes: After the newbie drive in the morning, some of us joined for the afternoon fewbie drive as well.. We all reached on time and after a quick brief, we headed out in the attempt to make it to the long range dunes at the other end by sunset. @Rahimdad was in second lead with @Gaurav in center forward position, and @Emmanuel covering the sweep duties. The entry point had some technical dunes that resulted in a few stucks in the beginning of the drive. As we had repeated stucks within a short span, it was decided to reshuffle the convoy numbering and that helped in a much smoother drive thereafter. We encountered some nice challenging dunes along the way, but it still was not the playable long range dunes for which Faqa was famous. On one such dune, @Frederic discovered the perfect way to get crested, right down the middle with all 4 tyres being free. I have never seen such a beautiful crest in the past 2 years of offroading. Recovering him from this position safely was a challenge, but @Gaurav ensured that Frederic was recovered with minimum amount of fuss. By then we had about one hour before sunset and we increased the pace, but unfortunately had a couple of pop-outs and one misaligned steering wheel for @Melvin Martin. Since, we were close to the road Gaurav helped Melvin till the road and bid him farewell. By then the sun had set and we settled down in a nice area for some hard earned meal and drinks. We didn't make it to the long range dunes yet again. This is the fourth time, that I have drive in Faqa had have not made it. Really hope to make it the next time Thank you to everyone who attended the drive @WiLfY, @Jocreative, @Brette, @G.huz, @Frederic, @amir.rophail, @Melvin Martin and offcourse to the Marshals @Rahimdad, @Gaurav, and @Emmanuel

@Jennykiat24 please share the cost. For maintenance, I suggest you to change the transmission oil and filter regularly within the period specified by manufacturer.

@Fuad this doesn't seem so bad. Did the tyre pop out from the back side of the rim as well? Then you might have had a bigger issue

Congrats @Fuad

Congrats @amir.rophail. well done.

Well done @edouard

It's actually 5 days or 120 hours till you get fined.

Welcome back @Jocreative. See you tomorrow.

I have done an auto recharge with a debit card. This is done through Salik website

@Faiz khan the afternoon drive is a Fewbie level drive and would be reasonably fast paced. I suggest you join tomorrow's morning drive which is a Newbie Level Drive

I don't carry it, but I would add a box of MSeal. Very useful from past experience

I have New India Insurance, and for recovery they will only cover within the city limits. So if you have a breakdown in Dubai they will tow your vehicle only till Dubai which for me is frankly of no use.