Tired of driving that Ferrari? Dump it in Dubai and buy a Lambo instead
For South Africans who are getting used to paying more for a new car than they would fork out for a reasonably sized house, a place like Dubai is enough to send collective shivers down spines. The stories about abandoned luxury cars lying around because owners are bored with them is now the stuff of legends.
As usual, digging around places more perspective on these stories, but the bottom line is that cars that would have the average Safrican drooling do sit around gathering dust. The causes for this criminal behaviour (in local terms) goes far beyond boredom.
Owners bolt for different reasons
Often people flee the country from creditors and decide that the prospects of a court appearance and hefty sentences outweigh the value of that Ferrari or Lamborghini. Then there are the traffic fines. As one local site explains:
“The UAE government makes ends meet by imposing various fines and regulations that can easily send you bankrupt. One wrong move and it is curtains for your Ferrari dream.
“At times, the fine for breaking a traffic law is as high as the cost of another car. This results in people abandoning their old cars and moving on to new ones.”
Of course, the definition of old has different meetings in different countries. The most recent found for South Africa indicates the average car age now exceeds 10 years.
Then there are the cars driven by wealthy individuals that managed to get hammered. Whether they smash into herds of racing camels or roll down sand dunes doesn’t matter.
Seeing rollers, G-wagons and Ferraris missing vital parts or reduced to a mass of twisted metal is enough to make the hardened car lover weep.
Then there are the ones that are hard to explain; a Ferrari being abandoned because it suffered flood damage? In Dubai? Go figure.
Try police sales for prime pickings
So if you are adventurous, you could buy a Bentley that has been shunted in the back, another that has a camel embedded in its radiator and then do some judicious welding to come up with a unique vehicle.
The good news is that often abandoned exotic cars with little more damage than a liberal dusting of sand find their way to police sales every six months or so.
Think about a list of exotics, then place abandoned ticks against these recent finds — Koenigsegg, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti. I warned you about those tears.
Thinking about buying one that is covered with dust and is otherwise whole, well it’s bargain time (if you are from SA, not so much) with cars costing about $100,000 going for about $ 40,000 on auction.
Huge savings on luxury rides
When you consider that even this reduced sticker price is about R642,153 and you still have to get it home, the attraction wanes somewhat.
To be added to this is the potential pain of finding that what appeared to be an intact car was tossed out because of a major engine or electronic problem. It’s probably more enjoyable to fly to Dubai, spend some time admiring the supercars that are still being driven — even the cops have some — and then come home.
What is more amazing is that when cars are left to rot, the considerate ex-owner often leaves the keys in the ignition.
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