Buying a Car In The Land of Sand

This past month we decided to sell our really nice Chevy Traverse and buy something that could easily take us off the paved road.  We sadly know we may never again own a car with all the plush options of that car:  cooling seats (which is needed when temps get above 100 degrees), DVD player, 7 seats with ample room, low road noise, electric everything, storage everywhere, and the list can go on and on.

Bryan's recent hire to the Kaust school had us sign a 2 year contract, so with 2 (or more) years here we decided that we must buy something that is a 4x4.  We have been stuck a few times and just staying on pavement is not the Johnson style.  This country has so much to explore and we have been held back a few times because of the rocky or sandy terrain.  Not anymore!

Buying a car in Saudi at a car lot is quite a different experience.  You can walk around the car lot and it feels like it is closed.  No one will come out and greet you in the lot.  In fact, you have to go in and sit at a desk and ask to see a specific car.  You will then be escorted to the car and are able to turn it on.  You are not always allowed to test drive the car, which is really hard to spend that much money without a drive around the block.

Our first stop was the Ford dealership, which made us feel like we were back in the States. Well, almost back in the States.  There are a lot of rules for expats in this country when it comes to owning a car and one rule is that we cannot own a pick up truck and the other is that our family cannot own a vehicle over 5 seats.  This ruled out most of the cars at this lot. The rule seems to be in place for fear that an expat might start a business hauling materials or becoming an Uber taxi! 

 Now, this Ford dealership only had brand new cars/trucks and we were looking for a used car.  So, we sat down at the desk and the salesman called the warehouse asking about used Fords.  When he found a match he hung up the phone and asked if we would like to buy the used Explorer from the warehouse.  He was a little surprised that we would like to see it first before buying and told us we would need to come back tomorrow if we would like to see the car.  It isn't very easy for us to come back the following day, since the drive is over an hour away.  We decided to leave, and if it was meant to be we would return the following day.  

At the next place no one ever came out and greeted us in the car lot.  We walked around and looked at many vehicles but could not find anyone that was available to sell us a car. However, we could have saved some money if we bought the ambulance!  (Yes, I had to wear my abaya because I was outside of the compound.) 

Shopping for a new car can be exhausting and Bryan was determined that we would find something, so he drove the family to Southern Jeddah to an area that I don't think sees very many Western expats. We found an indoor car lot called "International Cars." It was a hot and smelly place but it was full of used Fords.  This place caught our attention so we decided to take a stroll around.   

Carter loved exploring all the cars in the lot.  He was hoping we would buy the Hummer!

Right away an older Ford Explorer (2010) caught our attention so we approached the salesman and asked if he could open the car.  He did not speak English so we had to work around the language barrier with the few Arabic words that we know and the few English words he knew.  We couldn't believe the great shape of this car inside and out and knew that this was what we needed to buy.  Bryan communicated with his hands that we wanted to test drive the car, which caught the man by surprise.  He had to move many of the cars out of the way in order to get the car out of the building but he allowed a quick test drive down the road and back.  Everything checked out so now it was time to make a deal.  

Now, in this country you pay the price shown and you do not offer a lower price.  It is actually a nice way to buy a car and it saves a lot of hassle.  Our only problem was that women cannot drive in this country and we had our old car with us.  How could we get both cars home?  Bryan had to communicate that we would need to come back tomorrow and buy the car, which required us to find a translator whom was working in a garage down the road.  It was difficult to tell if the salesman was pleased with our plan to come back the next day and he became quite grumpy.  

Bryan working on making a next day deal with the salesman and translator.  Women are not involved in this conversation.

In the lovely waiting room.

We were not fully sure when we left if the car would be there the next day.  We took a chance leaving but we didn't have a choice since I could not drive and they didn't take bank cards either.  This was a cash only purchase! 

However, our story has a good ending because the next day the car was still there, Bryan had cash, and  a driver.  We are now the proud owners of a little Ford Explorer and we can't wait to take it out in the desert.  They also let us buy a 7 seater without too many questions.  It was our lucky day! Our new car even has a few great options and one of them is heated seats!  I am so sad I will never need a heated seat in this country! Well, maybe if it drops below 70 degrees. 

 Usually it takes people weeks to buy a new car and we did it in 24 hours. We are glad to have this experience in the Land of Sand since many cannot say they bought a car in Saudi.  We can now check that off of our list of experiences while we live here.  

Our new car.