So in Dubai, the number of Abandoned Luxury Cars lying around is kind of a Problem

[Cutlass]

http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/...d-is-kind-of-a-problem/?ModPagespeed=noscript

Some cities have a litter problem, some suffer from high crime rates and others might have a lack of affordable housing. And then you have Dubai, which for the last several years has been facing the unusual problem of high end sports cars being abandoned and left to gather thick layers of dust at airport car parks and on the roadside across the city

If you’ve ever been to Dubai or anywhere in the United Arab Emirates, you will have noticed they have a serious car culture out there, with a particular preference for the latest and greatest in high-end super cars. But like the rest of the world, Dubai has fallen on hard times. Once the hub of the oil economy and the centre of a booming property market, foreigners, mostly British, invested in the red hot market. Newly wealthy ex-pats bought the lastest Italian and German sports cars to compliment their millionaire lifestyles– and then the global economic crisis came along and burst everybody’s bubble.

Thousands of the finest automobiles ever made are now being abandoned every year since Dubai’s financial meltdown, left by expatriates and locals alike who flee in a hurry because they face crippling debts. With big loans to repay to the banks (unpaid debt or even bouncing a cheque is a criminal offence in Dubai), the panicked car owners make their way to the airport at top speeds and leave their vehicles in the car park, hopping on the next flight out of there, never to return.

Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes are regularly abandoned at the car park of Dubai International Airport, some with loan documents and apology notes simply left on the windscreen and in some cases with the keys still in the ignition.

Last year, a Ferrari Enzo, one of only four hundred manufactured, was seized by police having spent several months in a car park collecting dust. The million dollar motor went on sale at auction alongside other Ferraris, Porsches, Range Rovers and Mercedes plucked from the roadside.

Residents complain about the unsightly vehicles hogging parking spaces at the airport and sitting slumped outside their fancy yacht clubs– it’s like, so not a good look. On the plus side, discount Ferraris for everyone!

Sigh.

:::

 

[warpus]

Dubai’s financial meltdown

Is Dubai really such in a decline? I thought they were doing alright

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The other emirate with the oil is ok, dubai is hurting

 

[Antilogic]

#firstworldproblems

 

[Quintillus]

Residents complain about the unsightly vehicles

If they're considered so unsightly, I'd be glad to take a couple off their hands. Just ship them over and I'll be happy to wash the dust off myself!

 

[Silurian]

An outfit I was working for in Bahrain many years ago went bust.
Everybody flew out that night.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Who sells these cars to them? Local branches or do they import them from abroad?

 

[emzie]

I just spent 90 minutes link hopping on that site. Nice find.

 

[woody60707]

This is so sad.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Gut em, sell em for scrap.

 

[civ_king]

I just spent 90 minutes link hopping on that site. Nice find.

I saw this and I'm finally getting back to this page four hours later

 

[GinandTonic]

About ninety here...

 

[Quackers]

There strict insolvency laws seem to be counterproductive

 

[Silurian]

I did not look at the link as i have seen the story before a few times.

From the Khaleejtimes

Abandoned Cars a Sign of the Times?

Amira Agarib / 31 December 2008

DUBAI - More than 80 vehicles found abandoned at the Dubai International Airport recently may have been left by people fleeing the country, apparently because they couldn’t repay loans after losing their jobs, according to police officials.

The Director of the General Department of Airport Security, Mohammed bin Thani, said 60 cars were seized recently

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Display...ecember/theuae_December566.xml&section=theuae

 

[Yeekim]

#firstworldproblems

Not sure that is even adequate description.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I just spent 90 minutes link hopping on that site. Nice find.

I'm at work, so I dragged me away, but not before I saw these ...

Spoiler :

That is just art.

 

[classical_hero]

You could make a lot of money re-selling those cars.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

You could make a lot of money re-selling those cars.

That's hard to do when people are still listed on the title (or Dubai equivalent) and the bank has massive liens against them. The banks would probably try and fight any prospective buyers in hopes they can still go after the original owners who are more lucrative target (as they legally owe more money than the banks could get out of a resale). That coupled with the fact that Dubai has some really strict (and probably complex) laws on debt and there probably aren't many people with the resources to go into Dubai, deal with all the legal and financial hassles, buy the cars and then move them to another country with a large market for them and try and sell them. I suspect there just isn't much money (if any) money to be made doing that given the uniqueness of this situation - though in most other places there would be.

 

[Silurian]

You could make a lot of money re-selling those cars.

Depends what the second hand market is like in Dubai

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Psh. Hotwire them, hire a locksmith with loose morals to forge the keys, and there are buyers.