Selling Used Cars in the UAE

I was invited by Faysel to go with him to the office of a shipping agency, located in Dubai. The conversation was in Urdu, but, apparently, he gave them permission to hand four cars over to a licensed importer. The cars had been shipped to Faysel, and could only be released to him or to his designated representative. Faysel has no license to import cars into the UAE, so he uses an importer. Hence the release.

A copy of the release in hand, we drove to Sharjah, where we met the importer. The importer required that Faysel pre-pay the import and shipping fees. Faysel was short of cash, and asked me for a loan: ‘It’s only for a couple of days. I can only withdraw $300 a day from my bank in the US, but I need to get the cars today or I’ll have to pay extra charges. Within two days, I’ll give you your money back.’

I’d seen Faysel withdraw the US$300 earlier that day, and had also seen that his account had been drawn down to zero, but a) Faysel was a friend; so b) I felt too obligated to heed what Polonius said about loans to friends.

The importer said he could use all four cars if Faysel would give him a good price, so it appeared that Faysel would have no trouble paying me back, since he said he could sell the cars for at least €12,500, perhaps more. And I could see that he had a buyer ready to take all four cars.

As it turned out, the cars were all more than 15 years old, and none of them actually ran. The importer decided, after seeing them, that he didn’t want them. Faysel took all four to a shop in Sharjah, not one of his own this time, where the cars were to be restored to running condition, repainted, and detailed so they look almost new. I was at the shop, and most of the cars needed body work, engine work, and transmission work. Just for starters.

Today, I saw an ad in the newspaper for the cars, asking €2,500 each, ONO. I called, and Faysel’s wife answered. Faysel, who is nowhere to be found, had asked her to try to sell the cars, but she told me that no one has called so far. She said Faysel has been importing cars, having them fixed up cheaply, and then selling them, for more than a year now, and, every other time, there were lots of calls and the cars sold quickly. At first she said she doesn’t understand why no one is calling this time, but then she decided it was just the summer slump, and demand would pick up as people return from vacation.

Meanwhile, she’s pregnant and desperate to leave the UAE so she can have her baby at home, but she doesn’t have any idea when (or if) that will happen.