Halit Mert Issever

Got my issue solved! After benchmarking my shop with the one that @sertac gave, I managed to get a discount on both parts and labor costs. I also discovered that main reason of my throttle response problem was the 2 kg of sand sitting on top of my air filters After cleaning the sand, changing the spark plugs and bushes, driving feeling is much better than before! Thanks all for your help! Find me an extra parking spot, then I will

@desertdude I definitely do not mind going to Sharjah. I can actually do it on Sunday.

Hello all, I own a 2011 V8 Land Rover LR4. I take her off the road two/three times a month and push her to "my" limits I have been having some issues with my acceleration, throttle response and steering since the last off-road drive I went. I took the car to a shop closer to DXB Terminal 3 and they found that my lower and fore arm bushes were cracked/ torn. They could not find any issues related to my acceleration/ throttle response problem. They also told me that my transmission has no issues and my timing belt was doing okay. I asked them to take a look at the spark plugs. Because since the start of my throttle response problem, I have a feeling that my spark plugs are not working well. Since the V8 under the hood does not leave much space in LR4s, taking a look at the spark plugs is no easy job. That's why the shop that I am dealing with decided to give me a price for changing them without even checking their condition. Car is still at the shop and I have just had a phone conversation with them about the cost of the repair. Please find the breakdown below: Spark plugs - 60 AED each (8x60=480AED) Lower arm bushes - 250 AED for each wheel (250x2=500AED) Fore arm bushes - 225 AED for each wheel (225x2=450AED) Labor cost - they were pretty shady while giving this number but they asked for 1700AED Even though the addition of all would be 3,150 AED, they asked 3,500 AED from me. I made a quick search over the web on the material costs and found out that they are overcharging me for the bushes (the first aliexpress link that I found was asking 11USD + shipping for each) I am writing here to hear from you on what you think about: The cause of my throttle response/ acceleration problem The cause of my poor steering issues The material/ labor prices that I received from the shop The proper course of action that I have to take (keeping in mind that I want to get the car fixed before next Carnity drive ) I would also be glad if you could share any shop names here, if you think that they might fix my problems for a better price. Cheers, M

Hello all, I just got the chance to look at the forum and see the news with all your comments. They all made me get a big smile on my face. First of all, thank you for all the great wishes. But most importantly thank you for your support, feedback and guidance. I really feel that I am continuously learning in a family-like environment and I am really enjoying it. I also appreciate your recognition of my growth and efforts. You guys make me feel like I am welcomed in the Carnity family. If I start tagging people, the list would go forever, so I will just say special thanks to all the marshals, crew and all the regulars. Cheers, Mert

I am looking forward to it! I will bring Divya along as my co-pilot! @Thomas J, welcome mate! @Gaurav, there will be a lot of sand throwing! Cheers!

I’m back after my short disappearance! I look forward to see you all on Friday! 🤘

They did not keep a safe distance between two cars. Basically the second car entered the dune before the first one clears. I think the whole incident is tied to it; after the first car got stuck, second car did not have time and distance to slowdown and avoid the accident.

or*

Anybody bringing their wives/ girlfriends? I have a pending request from mine 😁.

I will have the first stab at it. Is it because of accelerating uncontrollably and too much steering?

It was a really good experience. You guys helped us a lot to grow confidence by pacing the ride so well. I look forward to joining the next rides. I tried to upload a small clip on the gallery, however the file size was bigger than the 50mb limit. I am sharing its youtube link below. Just a small 30 second edit from yesterdays ride. Hope you guys like it

Hi Gaurav, I drive a 2011 Land Rover Discovery 4, recently gone through full maintenance. I also ust upgraded my road tires to Cooper LTZs for better traction and installed a 2.5 inch lift kit. I do have some desert driving and rock crawling experience. I have been on the sand 2-3 times since I moved to Dubai in June. I will take the plastic covers off before our ride on Friday to make sure that front and back hooks are easy to reach. I will complete all the required gear in upcoming weeks before the start of my 10 day Oman trip on 25th of October. So for the next drives, I will have all of them. Cheers

I am looking something similar too but I could not find it. I think the only way to have something like that is to find a person who can cut and weld stuff. Since I was able to find something like that I came up with another idea for the flag. I bought a suction cup (attached) and I duck taped my flag to the suction cup. I have not tested it yet but it looks pretty rugged. We will see it on Friday

I'm bringing my own shovel and offroad flag. But I have not gotten my radio and air compressor yet, I will need some help with those. I'm glad that you are bringing them. See you there at 5 am

Hi all, I'm coming on Friday too. Do we have to bring anything technical with us? (e.g. air compressor, radio)