Dealerships criticism part 1: MHD

New Series. (I always start a series but then stop posting about it).

I decided to be like any other frustrated Omani in the Sabla and start bitching about the crappy cars dealerships here in Oman. I used to take it because I didn't face big problems but it reached a limit where I have to speak about it. I will mention my own experience with the dealerships and the bad things I've been through.

I will start the series with an average post about Mohsin Haidar Darweesh (MHD), which is the dealership for Land Rover, Volvo and Jaguar. (God I thought this was going to be a short post. It's not!)







Encounter one: Volvo S40 accident.





My sister got into a small accident in her Volvo S40. So I took it to MHD get an estimate of the total damage and a quotation of the needed parts/labor for the job.

- I went twice without the ability to meet the concerned person. One time because I went at 5.25 PM and they close at 5.30. The other time because he had a meeting and nobody knew when he was gonna finish.

- After I met the concerned person, I had to wait for around a week to get the quotation. And that is with me pushing them to finish it. They never called to update me. I had to call every single time to check whether it was done or not.

- Once I got the quotation, it was so high I didn't even want to bargain about the price, even though the omani employee wanted to set me a meeting with the body shop manager to discuss the quotation.

- Parts were expensive as hell. and I thought BMW parts were expensive. A really tiny piece of plastic (the hook cover, 5x5 cm) costs around 16 rials.

- They told me it will take 2 days to get the part. it took them 2 weeks to get it (and I'm not exaggerating).

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Encounter 2: Jaguar XF test drive.



- Simply put: I took the XF for a test drive and I couldn't start it in the morning because it had a gear fault. The salesman was so cold and after the dealer truck took the car, I never heard from him again.

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Encounter 3: Land Rover LR3 technical issues.



- Any person with a good amount of general cars knowledge knows that Land Rovers (including the Range Rover) are cars that suffer from technical problems.They would be the most amazing SUVs if it wasn't for these problems because everything else is great about them.




I won't write every single problem we had with MHD regarding the LR3 because they are endless. The staff there know us well but still the treatment wasn't good. They are always late, the car goes in for the same problem several times, and only 2 out of the thousand times our LR3 went there, we got a courtesy car.


The MHD staff we know are very helpful. I really don't know who to blame for all of these problems.

End of Blog Entry...

Infiniti EX35 Review

All car reviews are sponsored by: Omanternity.com



When the 1st official pictures of the EX35 were published, we all got the same idea: it’s the product of an Infiniti FX sleeping with a G35 (or was that only me??). I really didn’t understand where this car fits into the market. The closest cars I could think of are the BMW X3, the Mercedes GLK, and the X6 (which way more expensive, but still a crossover SUV). As many people (including me) thought that this was a mini-FX35, it clearly turned out more of a large G35 after testing it. Final line is: it seems like the EX35 has its own place that works fine for it.


Looks:


Mentioned above, the car had a weird combination of the FX and the G. when you see it in front of you, you feel like it’s a slightly larger G35 with no trunk. I wouldn’t call it Infiniti’s best moment in the design area.


Interior:


Now THIS is something to look at. The car is really high-tech inside. It’s the 1st Infiniti to feature the new 360 degrees cameras system; which I think is very creative and innovative compared to the competition (yah that one is for you Lexus). The EX35 interior features a contemporary, high-quality material and design; which flows around the driver in soft effect. 6-CD changer, Navigation screen, and AUX socket are also nice things to have in your EX35. The thing with high-tech cars is that you really can’t figure out every technology used in a test drive. I spent couple of minutes checking the trivial stuff, while my friend was messing around with the rest of the air-craft-like tech. The real obvious downside of the interior is the small space in the rear seats; which was rather a disappointment to me.


Driving:


Call me a car newbie, but driving the EX35 was almost exactly like driving the G35. There are however some obvious differences. The EX Uses an AWD instead of the FWD in the G. There is somehow a sportier feel in the G35. The EX35 is missing the paddle shifters (why? Why? WHY didn’t they include them?). In the straight-line performance, the EX35 was neck to neck with the G35, except for a slow launch (and believe me that came out of experience, just don’t ask how). The car has a weird way of launching from a stop (can’t explain it but a proper launch was almost impossible). Now that we are finished with the downside, let me just say: the car offers energetic handling with brilliant dynamics. And being close in size to the G35, the ride quality is rigid but comfy.


Specifications:

• Engine Type: 3.5L V6
• Horsepower @ RPM: 297 @ 5850
• Torque @ RPM: 253 lb-ft @ 4,800 rpm
• Drivetrain: All Wheel Drive
• Transmission Type: 5-speed auto
• 0-100: 6.3 seconds (est)
• Average Fuel Consumption: 13L/ 100 km
• Weight: 1,829 kg


Pros:
• G35 engine and G35 weight, so it’s fast.
• Very advanced 360 degrees cameras system.
• G35 interior.

Cons:
• No paddle shifters.
• Ugly design.
• High price


Price:
Around 16,000 Rials.


Verdict:
A 16,000 Rials, high-tech, fast Hatchback.

Abala Cafe review

All Restaurant reviews are sponsored by Omanternity.com

A new Omani café that got a lot of attention. Owned by a young Omani and located in Bareeq Alshatti, the new hot spot in Shatti Al Qurum. I got some good feedback and some bad feedback about people who have been there, so it came to a time where we should give it a try.
Mohammed Al Raisi asked us to have an OT team meeting and suggested we try it.

Atmosphere:

The atmosphere is ……… well I don’t know how to describe it. Maybe it’s a mix of modern style and with some Omani touches (the paintings on the wall). It’s not my cup of tea but I guess some people like it.

Food:

We ordered a variety of meals. The order didn’t take that long to be served (unlike the last time I have been there). I personally had the Hareera soup and the Swiss burger. I liked the Hareera but hated the Burger big time. Ali Ordered Arabiatta Pasta which he liked but said it was too spicy. Mohammed tried out the “Faris Burger” which was some sort of a competition. Abala Café challenges its costumers to finish up this burger. If a customer was able to do that, he/she would get it for free. Mohammed was able to finish up the burger but turns out there was a hidden rule: you must finish it in 20 minutes or the deal is off. Basically what they are saying is that you need to treat your body as a trash can and just throw the burger inside. Our friend ordered an Italian burger and he liked it. Their Shawarma and Pasta are good overall. I never heard anyone complaining about that and I have tried both myself.

Italian Burger

Chicken Burger

Swiss Burger

The famous "Faris" burger

Arabiatta pasta

Spaghetti Bolognese

Drinks:

I had cherry coke which was ok but nothing special. Ali had the worst experience when he ordered a fresh watermelon juice which he returned to the kitchen twice. Their Lemon and mint drink was better though. My other friend ordered a cherry temple (7-up + cherry syrup if I'm not mistaken) and said it was great.

Cherry Coke

Cherry temple

The horror Ali went through, Fresh Watermelon juice

In conclusion:

Abala has a variety of good meals but can be found elsewhere. I would go to B+F if I wanted a burger. I would go to Pizza Express or Pane Caldo if I wanted Pasta. To be fair: I don’t think we should judge Abala as a restaurant, but as a café. The positive feedback I got was from people who went there to have dessert and drinks, not from the people who had a meal there.

Location

Bareeq Al Shatti

Type of food:


Arabic/continental

Average price for a person:


5-6 Rials.

Is it the Evil eye??

Yes i do believe in 7asad (the Envy/Evil eye) but i'm not the kind that would relate anything bad happening to me to the envy eye. (Some people do)



here is what happened to me in the past 2 weeks: I got pretty good comments on my baby Roxy couple of times in those 2 weeks.


but what happened right after these comments? here it goes:
1. I hit another car's rim slightly, which resulted in a small dent in my front bumper =(

2. For some reason, my car started hitting every road bump i go over (and I'm sure it's not the lowering springs since my car was going through those bumps smoothly a month ago. Something is wrong under the car)

3. I hit a small side walk and my rear left rim got a scratch.

4. friday morning, the construction workers on our house roof spilled some LIQUID CEMENT on my Roxy!!!!!! WTH??!!!! :@ :@


I cant believe all of that happened in such a short period, I'm sooo pissed off right now, will take Roxy to get poilished tomorrow, then dropping her at the service center to check what's wrong under.

Is it the Envy eye? maybe yes, maybe no, but i hate all of this ...


End of Blog Entry.

Weekend in Sohar

Thanks Ayz For arranging the Trip =D

having an extra day off 2 weeks ago, My Brother booked us 3 rooms in Crowne Plaza hotel, Sohar.

I like these trips we have with our cousins when there are only guys, and we make our own schedual and activities plan ;)

The hotel is really nice, it's new and have many facilities.

most of the time we were in the swimming pool and at the ping pong tables :P

bowling, softball and Sona were also nice to experience ;)

the only problem was that the hotel is isolated from the city, we have to drive around 40 km just to be in the center of Sohar.


it was an unforgetable, enjoyable weekend ;)

here are some pics taken there:















































End of blog entry . . .

Eid Mubarak =D

Damn im late!!!!

kil 3am oo el jamee3 b5air, Eid Mubarak to all =D

i've been speaking to many of my friends before Eid, and to most of them, it's boring or it's good as few days off xD

Eid spirit has dropped over the years, but im glad my family still keep the same tridtions from the old days, Eid is still the "Day of the year" to us =D

we spend the 1st day at our Grani house, and people visit us, then we have lunch.

at night it's Cuzn's night out, this is when 12+ of us gather and decide to have dinner at some place (which is difficult always, hard to find a table for 12 guys xD)

2nd day is picnic/BBQ day, we pick a place to have our lunch with our families, sometimes it's my Uncle's farm, and sometimes it's in a mountain/valley.

3rd Day is Nizwa Day!! or more likely, Shwa Day!!! we all LOVE the lunch made in Nizwa, that's the main reason to go there, we usually visit relatives, have lunch, go to the Suq, then head Back to Muscat.

That's our usuall Eid schedual, we've been doing the same thing for more than 15 yrs now =)

(BTW, the images displayed show: 3rd day, 2nd, and finally 1st xD)

end of blog entry