ABU DHABI // Vehicle owners are ignoring municipal warnings and the threat of fines to illegally sell their cars at a roundabout on the outskirts of the capital.
Some are refusing to use Motor World, a purpose-built hub for the sale of used cars, and instead leave their vehicles with “for sale” notices at the nearby Al Shamkha roundabout.
This week there were 12 cars for sale at the roundabout.
Abu Dhabi Municipality has towed vehicles left at the roundabout and fined their owners, a practice it said it would continue.
“So far this year, Abu Dhabi Municipality fined 10 car owners who were found violating municipal rules and selling their cars,” it said.
“Abu Dhabi already has a designated place for buying and selling [used] cars in Al Shamkha region – Motor World.”
It said abandoned cars harmed the appearance of the city and “occupied parking and government spaces”.
Saleh Abu Talha, an Emirati car owner who tried to sell his vehicle at Al Shamka, said he did so because he was not satisfied with the deal Motor World offered him.
“Motor World is nearby but they don’t give us a real price. Any car you take to them they will give you a price similar to scrap. That’s not good,” he said.
“We can’t do anything. They pay huge rents, so [they] exploit us. That’s why we sell here,” he said.
Mr Abu Talha said the municipality would give a car owner a three-day warning to remove their vehicle, so they would drive off and go back later.
Another seller, Rajab Khan, a Pakistani, said he was selling his car at Al Shamkha because “Motor World’s professional buyers reduce the amount up to 60 per cent”.
According to the municipality rules, owners of abandoned cars were warned to remove them within three days. If they did not comply their vehicles were impounded.
There was a Dh3,000 fine for abandoning the vehicle and Dh250 for its release.
Traders at Motor World said they were losing business because of the illicit car sales at Al Shamkha roundabout.
One employee of a dealership said: “The business is already poor and rents are too much. It’s hard for us to even pay our rents from the trade we do here.”
“On the other hand, these roundabout sellers add to our problems,” he said.
He said he hoped the municipality would do more to stop illegal trade.
anwar@thenational.ae