Sold the Car = Grey Hair

Geez!  I have been itching to share the adventure of selling our car.  I will try my best to make it short and sweet and help you understand what it takes to sell a car or do anything here.

So, our car was posted on Qatarliving.com, Qatarauto.com and at the Lulu Hypermarket, a grocery store.  We had a few low ball offers and on the night that I was about to accept one of them, a Syrian guy called and I agreed to meet with him that night.  So I got in the car, braved the local traffic and heat, met with him and his buddy and settled on 45000QR.  We originally paid 59000QR for the car, a loss of 14000QR.  We bought the car in November, so it works out to about 2000QR a month.  Not bad, considering our other option was a rental at anywhere from 2000QR to 3500QR per month, and no return in the end.

Old Traffic Department

New Traffic Department

We agreed to meet at the traffic department the next night at 5:30pm.  The new office closes at 7pm and I was all in a panic.  I showed up and the police officer told me to leave because I had shorts on.  I made a slight, yet respectful stink about the fact that I had worn shorts to the traffic department before.  When I challenged him on why, he didn't have a reply.  So I got back in the car and headed for the nearest sports store to buy a pair of pants.  At this point it is 6:30pm and based on past experiences with customer service here, the deal was not going to happen.

So I get back to the traffic department and I am waiting for my guy.  I phone him...turns out that he is at the other traffic department...the old one!!!  WHAT!  Now I have pants on, it is 40C outside, I am on the wrong side of the highway and I am started to get a little fired up.  I got in the car and let out a big loud blast of choice words and hit the road.

The fastest fingers in the East!

After getting directions from a couple of people who don't speak english, I found the old traffic department.  I ring my guy up, we meet, get the transfer of ownership paper work typed up on a typewriter and and wait.  Seriously, the guy typed our paperwork up.

We exchanged keys for money and he gave me a lift home.  Nice guy.

That's the most money I have ever put in my backpack.

The next day I began the process of finding a rental car.  Again, it is the most frustrating thing trying to do business with the migrant workers here.  A) they don't speak clearly because it is not their first language and B) more often than not, they want to do a decent job but incompetence prevails.  After several texts and phone calls, I find a place and agree to pay 2500QR for a Mitsubishi Lancer.  What a beauty!

After school, our neighbour gave us a lift to Landmark Mall and an Indian fella dropped the car off.

Long story short, if you buy and sell a car in Qatar, good luck!