Looper

Every weekend after all your drives are over bring your car to your trusted carwash and have a full wash. The place I go charge AED 45 for full wash + vacuum - they wash the under carriage and engine bay. I don't go to the fuel station anymore - but at the fuel station too if you ask, they will wash the under carriage. But sometimes they end up charging for a special steam wash - either way they cost more. I avoid cleaning the car at home or at malls etc., as they tend to leave swirl marks on the paint (not that all the sand bashing helps - but still) and it is economical for me to go weekly wash. For 200 bucks a month I have a car that I can pass it of as lady driven on any weekday. PS: once I was sold an undercarriage waterproof treatment - anyone else got it? Got it because of my inability to say no. But I am glad I did it because the undercarriage does get drenched every week.

Congratulations @Rashid Alseeni on your promotion - enjoy your new level.

Congratulations @James Lovell on your promotion - enjoy your new level.

Congratulations @MohamedSherif on your promotion - enjoy your new level.

Congratulations @rohit kumar on your promotion - enjoy your new level.

Congratulations @Benjamin on your promotion - enjoy your new level.

Will recommend you check https://www.crutchfield.com/ they normally will have car specific combinations that can choose from. After that you need to get someone dependable to install, depending on availability of the parts here as per your budget. I upgraded my head unit from a 7-inch Jeep OEM to a 10-inch Stinger Off-road and had a person install it for the cheap towards Al Nadha or Al Qusais area, they took a few jabs at it & could finally manage it. It was a difficult install because we don't do such things here in Dubai and you know instructions are for pussies.

It could be a good option for Timelapse or Starburst where you wound need good stable base

Congratulations @fayaz on your promotion. Enjoy your new level

Wonderful advices from all and very informative and will act as a guide. I would add that join some drives and see what others are doing with their cars. You will eventually get all your answers. each of us have our own way of doing things that suit us best, and you can pick and choose what you want to do with yours.

Sand does nothing to jeeps... i don't even have an air dam, which was there only for aerodynamics.

The only issue you will ever face with stock suspension in my opinion is while ridge riding, car will rub the sand on the top of the ridge. In the initial days you will have a few refusals, but as you master it, you will not face any issues nor feel the requirement to upgrade.

My suggestion would be for you to reach till Intermediate Level before you ponder over the subject once again. Guys with long wheelbase Jeeps; when they reach intermediate level - they fall to "not to lift" side of the decision ridge and the short wheelbase guys tend to go for the "lift" side due to its departure angle. At Intermediate level I took the plunge and lifted my Jeep, and it is the most appropriate time for you to decide, as you are well versed in the capabilities of the car as well as suiting your aptitude & driving style.

The X-pert entered the scene. Thanks @Thomas Varghese for your invaluable insights. I rotate all my five tires every 10k with almost clockwork precision - they get cleaned from inside and re-balanced. I do the rearward crossing as depicted in the chart below.

Insta 360 X2 had a premium lens guard which was removeable (USD 44) but they have not come out for X3 - so it would be interesting to see how it works. Will wait for user reviews of other uses before going in for this one. The lens guard is most important for all the sand that keeps hitting the camera. I always mount the screen side facing back so that it won't get scratched. There is a scratch on my lens guard already and you will be able to notice in a few of the videos.

L I have one spare battery. First battery lasts about an hour or so with intermittent use. I can usually charge the first battery to the brim while the 2nd one is being used. I sometimes think I should have had just one more just to be safe, but it has always worked. last I checked batteries were not available on Amazon and needed to get at least 3 for free delivery from insta360 as I can’t add other accessories plus batteries in one order. (They have a minimum order of USD 126 to qualify for free shipping). May be we can bulk order if needed together. I have seen that insta360 is coming up with a new GPS remote. The previous remotes did not have good reviews - will wait a bit to see if it’s worth buying. In my last drive I drained my phone listening to songs the night before and couldn’t record much. (Al Qu’aa - Find My Phone drive) felt the need of a remote. I don’t use the GPS location data for my videos anyways. It’s a extra step and for the 10-15 min video the way I like to process the results are not appealing. But it would be useful for shorts. Unlike Go Pro where the editing software layers the telemetry on the video- you need to use 3rd party apps. Done that but did not use.

Dubai has different systems for immigration i.e. GDFRA vs ICA. This is the same here as well I suppose.

Congratulations @Bravoecho on your promotion. Enjoy your new level.

Congratulations @Stan on your promotion. Enjoy your new level.

Congratulations @Ishak on your promotion. Enjoy your new level.

A great post @Frederic. Thanks a lot. It will definitely help everyone to check the status for cars when they look to buy one. My old Santa Fe had a parking lot accident where it was hit by a delivery van while it was parked - literally a fender bender. Checked but did not find any report on the MOI. Perhaps it only reports larger accidents or accidents other than in Dubai.

Congratulations @Marco B. on your promotion. Enjoy your new level.

Congratulations @Nadeem Ansari well done to be promoted - enjoy your new level.

Not there else I would have loved to join you guys. Drove topless a couple of years ago. It was an IM drive with @Srikumar and I was in a sandstorm. Just make sure after the drive you use your compressor to dust off the dashboard, especially all the nooks and corners of the buttons. @Kailas has a cover to protect the switch board panel which is a better idea.

Not completely sure of other colours though, like what yellow refers to. What is your thoughts on this ?