Job Discussion Forums

titanicman · Joined: 17 Feb 2003 Posts: 71 Location: Qatar

I'm thinking of buying a 1995 Ford Taurus for SR 14,000. It looks to be in good condition. Is this reasonable? What might the resale value be for this car in 3-5 years time?

Thanks. Titanicman

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Lots of used car salesmen in Riyadh ! Be careful !

Driving in Riyadh would scare the ***** out of me !

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Don't buy it! Old Fords are disaster in Saudi; a mate of mine bought one for SR9000 spent about SR12000 more on it, and left it by the side of the motorway after two months when it burst into flames on the way back from Khobar. Another mate of mine ignored my advice and bought it for SR2000 and then lost three times that trying to repair it before he left it by the side of the road.

There were serious problems with the transmission overheating; and this was in hundreds of cases.

Second hand good American cars (nearly always GMs) are overpriced because they are what the Saudi likes. Until a few years back you never saw a Saudi in a Japanese car.

MacMahon · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 39

Toyota are the ones with the most dealers scattered about it seems and come with cheap parts too! Whatever car you do buy get the seller to meet you at a garage and put 50-100sr down to have it checked over.
Pref. not a local garage as they might be friends?!?

If it's a dealer get some tight paperwork on warranties and before signing, perform a backflip and smash 2 bricks with your head, i'm sure they won't play about thereafter.

GMC's or "Jimsis" have a good name here and you see enough old battle horses chugging about to see why. Fords are a waste of time. I was offered a Taurus estate by a Saudi neighbour but when I became familiar with his father he withdrew the offer saying it was a heap of ####.
I said erm... I figured that from the off.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Someone I knowin Eastern province has a Ford Taurus. He recently had to wait ONE MONTH for a spare part.

Do yourself a favour and get a car made in Nippon. They have an extensive spares network here.

titanicman · Joined: 17 Feb 2003 Posts: 71 Location: Qatar

I bought it -- no problems yet! I put down that SR 14,000 for a 1995 Ford Taurus. The pick up is slow but I never seem to drive that fast anyway in the city.

I've been driving for about a month and haven't had any break-downs. The radio signal from the US Army station is weak.
How can we improve the reception?

Thanks. Titanicman

Orange U? · Joined: 23 Dec 2003 Posts: 13 Location: Middle East

The best way I can think of to improve reception would be to sell the Ford and buy an old GMC Blazer. Better yet, buy an old GMC Blazer and then sell the Ford (at leisure). Then shop around for a new receiver to get the better reception in the GMC.

You'll spend more on fuel, but won't have to put up with people threatening you in traffic with their cars. Driving an old Blazer here in the kingdom, I find folks give me a fairly wide berth.

Of course, AC will be a problem with both the Blazer and the Ford: their cooling is under-engineered for the Saudi climate.

Safe driving!

Orange U?