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Post by tfcfan on Oct 7, 2012 5:50:28 GMT
texas786, thank you so much for sharing your experience. How was the customer service with regards to test driving the cars and taking the VIN information down to check the history on the website?
also could texas786, or anyone else with some experience please comment on the financing/leasing option in Saudi Arabia. I can't seem to find much information regarding financing/leasing and the dealer websites dont seem to be to helpful.
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Post by Hadia on Oct 7, 2012 9:58:24 GMT
TFCfan, I recommend you investigate Islamic financing lease-to-own via the major banks' web sites. For instance, here is info from NCB Bank: www.alahli.com/en-US/Personal%20 ... lease.aspx And this is ANB Bank: www.anb.com.sa/car_leasing_finance.aspOur experience is that it was easy to get set up. We had to show iqama, driver's license, letter as proof of employment, provide local references, and show bank statements for 3 months with direct deposits (note, we don't have all pay deposited locally, just a portion). Down payment was required, with understanding of monthly payment terms and balloon payment at end of term. All arrangements were initiated by the car dealership on our behalf when we bought our car. We could have financed through the dealership, but the bank had a better deal. Note: If you're not Arabic-speaking, you would likely benefit from bringing a bilingual colleague with you through the finance application and car-buying process. When we first arrived, numerous western expats told us that the only way to buy a car was to pay for the whole thing up front, in cash. Don't believe that. Islamic financing is easy to set up once you are here and have all the necessary items the bank will request. Until we were ready to buy a new car, we purchased a used camp car and also rented a car. In retrospect, we wish we hadn't purchased the used car at all. With the amount we've now sunken into it for maintenance and repairs, we could have bought a tiny yet new car for getting around camp, in addition to the larger family vehicle. Now, had our cars in the US been new enough to ship, that would have been the absolute first choice. Live and learn. |
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Post by tfcfan on Oct 7, 2012 18:29:18 GMT
Hadia, thank you for sharing your experience - that was very helpful! did you buy your used car from the Aramco Classified? LIke you - i am hesitant to buy used. What were rental rates like from Majestic?
Thanks again!
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Post by soverydeb on Oct 9, 2012 5:44:03 GMT
We bought my car used from the Classifieds----runs like a champ! Just be sure to do a thorough check on the car, and you should be fine.
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Post by Hadia on Oct 9, 2012 6:53:20 GMT
Yes, we bought our car from the Aramco classifieds. If we'd had a better understanding of the new car purchase situation for expats when we arrived, we definitely would have just kept renting until we'd had our local bank account for three months and could apply for Islamic financing through the bank. Admittedly, the used car was a hasty purchase since we learned very quickly that we needed two cars in our household. LOL Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Even if a car supposedly was "just used inside the camp," be sure to get it checked extensively before purchase. In fact, if it's been maintained in any way at the AAA gae, I'd even go as far as asking the mechanics there if they've worked on it before or remember it having any major work or problems. Turns out, ours was a regular visitor before, and has been ever since we got it. :?
Regarding car rental from Majestic -- we were paying $600US/month for a bare bones Toyota Yaris, which I think is their standard car they offer new arrivals. TIGHT squeeze for a family of five, but beats the heck out of grocery shopping by shopper's bus. (And believe me, we've been there and done THAT, ain't goin' back!!). If you're going to rent long term, maybe you can work out a rate. We didn't try, since we really didn't know how long we'd want a rental for. Ended up being longer than we anticipated. Keep in mind that there are rules about how many times you can get a camp parking sticker renewed with the same license plate. My poor husband was constantly at the sticker office dealing with that, and we had to trade out our Yaris for a different one a couple of times. Just annoying errands, but part of the settling in and understanding the process of life here.
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Post by tfcfan on Oct 9, 2012 20:16:18 GMT
Hadia,
Thank you again for a detailed response. That is interesting about the AAA gae - is that on the camp? Do most people take their cars there for service or into town? Do you see a lot of German cars around town? I am a big german car fan but hesitant about how the high heat will affect the AC and other parts - from what I hear, the Japanese and American cars fare the best in terms of reliability in that part of the world?
Those rental rates sound quite steep - are outsider rental providers any cheaper?
Thank you again - you have been super helpful!
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MABM
Member
Posts: 40
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Post by MABM on Oct 9, 2012 22:06:04 GMT
UniTrans-Budget has special rates for Saudi Aramco employees, i dont know if they have branch in Dhahran Camp.
Using my existing MNC connection, i have rented Toyota Corolla XLi Exec. for 2488 SAR per month without Comprehensive insurance. With full insurance another 400 SAR will be topped up. I think the rental rates for Aramco are same.
In Saudi Arabia(Outside Aramco), preferred car rentals are as follows:
Budget
Avis
Hertz
Hanco
Key
Best
Abu Diyaab
.....................
You can find them on Dhahran-Khobar Highway after Mobily Showroom
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Post by tfcfan on Oct 10, 2012 4:36:39 GMT
MABM,
Thank you for your response. Is there any benefit to going to majestic on camp? do the cars come with the required stickers or is that a non issue when renting from outside?
Cheers
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Post by Hadia on Oct 10, 2012 5:21:04 GMT
Getting a sticker from Security is your responsibility, not the rental car company's. You need the sticker to get in and out of the camp. You won't get through the gates without proper credentials for your vehicle. The issue of parking stickers is tied to your employment record. You'll want to be very careful to mind expiration and renewal dates, and ensure proper cancellation of the parking sticker when you return your rental car eventually. Again, all your responsibility entirely.
The obvious advantage of going to Majestic in camp is that they are in camp. If you need to have anything addressed with the car after you begin renting it, it's easy to drop by their office behind the Al Mounirah commissary and take care of it. They are also pretty easy going as far as just needing some basic info from the renter -- uncomplicated. Some people rent from outside, and I understand that with the volume of new arrivals recently, Majestic has had to wait list some people (please comment if you're one of those people), so they've been going outside. If you rent from outside, of course you'll need transportation to get to the car rental location, and you'll want to make sure of their operating hours, what with prayer times, some businesses closed mid-day and all. Maybe someone who has rented from outside could describe what was needed in terms of paperwork, and what price range they're paying.
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Post by Hadia on Oct 10, 2012 5:33:06 GMT
tfcfan,
Once you're here, you'll talk with colleagues and neighbors and get a sense of what maintenance or special work you'll be comfortable having done at the AAA gae inside the camp vs. what you might want to take to a gae outside or to a dealership. What we've found the most irritating is that we're used to the husband-wife follow each other/drop off the car/give a ride home thing when it comes to car maintenance. Not easy here, since the wives can't drive outside the camp. Some residents have a houseboy deal with it for them, or sometimes mechanics will do it, too. Those are the sorts of relationships you'll establish once you're here.
I can't comment so much on the reliability of cars made in one country vs. another and how they fare here. Rather, I'd take into consideration which parts and mechanic experience seem to be most prevalent, as well as the size and features of the vehicle your family needs. Overall, I'd say that Toyota has the biggest presence here, but you see all sorts of vehicles. In terms of A/C, you might want to do a search online and see if there are any comparisons about which makes/models fare better over 110 F than others.
With regard to car rental rates, we found $600US/month with no additional fees to be very reasonable when compared to what monthly rentals have been for us on vacation in the States. We were not dissatisfied with the price, knowing it was a temporary arrangement. We didn't research outside prices. We weren't interested in the hassle of having to get to and deal with an outside location in the heat, but that's just us.
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Post by Bosentang on Jan 27, 2013 10:19:38 GMT
New non-Aramco website started about a month or so ago to fill the void left by the Aramco Classifieds. dhahranclassifieds.com/Also, it can be accessed from Aramco network. |
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Post by cocorico on Feb 2, 2013 15:45:09 GMT
Hi all, I am a new hire from Europe. Been there a month now and been trying to get some info on the different options to get a car. I am in particular very interested to know more about car leasing here in Saudi Arabia. I see that Hadia had an experience with it and I would appreciate if you would share it with me. I indeed have a lot of unanswered questions since my arabic is kind of limited as of now  - : which bank to contact, what rate do they offer, what does the insurance cover, what kind of servicing is included in the package, ... Thank you very much in advance for the help ! |
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Post by Hadia on Feb 3, 2013 4:50:20 GMT
I've shared all the details about our vehicle purchase in this forum twice previously. You go to a dealership, and ask them what finance deals they're offering. Some will be financing through the dealership, and some through a bank that they have a relationship with. You could also go to a bank directly, but we didn't do it that way. The dealership can work with the bank for you if you want. You have to go to the dealerships and talk with them. It helps if you narrow down the types of vehicles you're interested in ahead of time, so you can find the right dealership and then get down to the point with them. We have a 48-month loan with balloon payment at end. Down payment was required. Insurance is included in the monthly payment. I prefer not to discuss financial beyond that.
Note: Until you pay off the loan and hold the clear le, you can't just drive your car to Bahrain. You have to get a letter from the owner of the vehicle, be it a bank or the car dealership. The letter may cost money, and may be good only for a certain period of time. Important to remember if you plan on driving outside the Kingdom before the vehicle is paid off. You'll need to arrange for a current letter before your trip.
Speaking Arabic to purchase a car or set up the Islamic financing is not required, but the point I was making previously is that it helps if you have someone with you who does speak Arabic. I suspect that many non-Arabic speaking expats have not investigated financing because of these reasons: (1) a persistent rumor among expats that you have to buy cars up front, in cash, (2) language barrier issues in setting up financing and filling out the forms, and (3) they've "heard" that you have to have all of your paycheck deposited locally in order to get financing.
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Post by MANTARAY on Mar 29, 2013 10:30:11 GMT
Ship your car less headaches and safer 8)
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Post by GroveWanderer on Mar 29, 2013 11:45:56 GMT
For anyone who's interested, the Aramco classifieds site is back up and running. Lots of cars listed there already.
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- : which bank to contact, what rate do they offer, what does the insurance cover, what kind of servicing is included in the package, ...