Everything tends to happen for a reason in life and it generally isn’t until after the fact that we come to understand just what that or those reasons are exactly.
Back in May, I bought my ‘new’ LR2 and put my beloved Daihatsu up for sale. I put it on the market for a fairly high price due to the fact that I had taken good care of it with very low mileage. Here, though, nearly everyone is looking to get the biggest bargain ever. Something that I will never get used to is people calling and asking me my last price as their opening line even though I’ve put an initial starting price on my advertisements. As a Westerner, usually the caller starts off the negotiating by making a counteroffer – not asking for an immediate discount.
Of course, I knew that the car was listed far too high starting at 20,000AED. It’s value is about 13,000AED and will go for a trade-in value of about 8,000AED. So, it is natural that everyone would think I was crazy! π
However, as I’m an idealist and believe in the power of the universe to work things out according to my wishes, I stuck to my guns. Also, because M was saving money from renting a car by driving it, I was not in a rush to just pass it off to someone for a bargain.
Summer came and went without a concern. We parked it while on holiday, but it was still listed for sale. I got a few contacts, but figured that it would go in the fall. When we got back, I started to get a few more calls, but it was always the same story. So, I decided to write down the type of buyer I wanted to contact me and what would be the lowest price I would accept. As the time for the registration and insurance renewal got closer, I thought about what would happen if it wasn’t sold. I went to a place called SellAnyCar to see how much they would give and got the expected 8,000AED.
So, I decided that I didn’t want less than 13,000AED from a buyer and preferably a proper white expat. Yes, that is a bit racist, but that’s what this place can do to you after a while….
Then, I got a contact. I responded. I got a call. They came to see it, but the car was not available due to M being out of town and parking it somewhere unknown to me. So, they agreed to come the following week (last Saturday). Saturday came and I got in touch. They came to see the car and decided to buy it. As luck would have it, a half Japanese-Emirati girl just got her license and they had had a Daihatsu Materia before. Her father is a local with expat experience and knowledge.
Two days later, after a bit of minor hoops to jump through, the car is sold and I met a lovely Emirati man and his half-Japanese Emirati daughter! Yay all around!
It was sad to see my little-first-car-I-bought-on-my-own drive away with a new owner, but it’s nice to know it’s going to a good home. <3
-T π
