Desert Dweller

Thank you! Choosing took a while but I'm happy with the final result

Trip report, It was very nice to drive again, after having been a passenger for a while (which had offered great learning opportunities). I got to test my car on the dunes and get used to one another. I would like to thank @Emmanuel and @Shamil for welcoming me into the Xterra club and being of assistance explaining the first mandatory modifications my car needs to undergo. @Rahimdad has been, once again, a patient lead, assisting everyone who needed some help when facing a refusal. I cannot express how thankful and lucky I feel to have him by our side at this starting point. A teacher and mentor by nature 😉. Once again, I met very nice people, with many new drivers joining today's expedition. It's nice to see the off-roading club growing in number! See you all next Friday!

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

Thank you. At first, I doubted the mileage as it seemed low for this kind of car. But got it tested twice in addition to checking the service history which showed consistency.

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!

Congratulations @Xaf. It’s an impressive rhythm of improvement!

I’m afraid I haven’t been good this year (my last name is, literally, Baadi)!! If I do ask him for that, he might bring me a Picanto, or whatever the equivalent of coal in cars is 😁

I’ve just finished Christmas shopping and trip preparation, nonstop since the morning. If I’m not there in time that means Mr. Sandman dictated I stay in and therefore see you all next year! (Unless you organize an afternoon or evening drive before Thursday 😁)

In...shalah. Hitchhiking again... Shotgun with whoever isn’t leading 😁

That’s why I was impressed and proud of @Mohammed Yaasir who drove his own wrecked car back to the road and kept calm at all times! He didn’t even get stuck while driving up and down Maliha dunes 😁

I have to add that the info and instructions given during the briefing couldn’t be more useful and accurate to avoid mishaps like this one. Rahim and Sri’s words recommending drivers not to fight gravity when the car is fishtailing were stuck in my head after the incident, as I saw what might happen if drivers don’t do so. The driver bought the car with the mods already done. Which can be an inconvenient such in this case...

No one got hurt, and that helped us all get over it and still enjoy the day and have some laughs