Fadl Abdel Hamid from Cairo - Egypt wrote:
Subject: My advise for Mitsubishi (Go to article)
My advise for Mitsubishi:
I am working in the field of Automobile in Egypt since 14 years, and my advise for Mitsubishi is to appoint new distributor who already has a wide experience and history in this sector and who already has enough infrastructure for sales and after sales.
The best choice is to appoint one capable distributor for limited period as a test for both market and distributor and should use the efficiency reports for evaluating the distributor until the end of the first stage. I believe by this way, Mitsubishi will re-brand its brand name in the market again and will lead the segment shortly.
I wish all the best for this BRAND

Fadl Abdel Hamid





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Amr from Maadi - Egypt wrote:
Subject: I agree (Go to article)
I just relocated from Southern California. I am an owner of the famous R1150R 2003 "non-ABS". I always wanted to do the stretch from "El Agami" to "Matrouh" on a bike. From my point of view this the longest stretch of a beach road without interruption.
To my dismay there is no dealer to service my BMW bike here. so, the bike stays in Burbank, CA until I go back for my fall ride(s).

Thanks


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Ahmed A.Maksoud from Dubai - UAE wrote:
Subject: To the Editor (Go to article)
Well this may be too much late, but late better than never.

Although that you thankfully commented on my post, I want to tell you that I sent an earlier post that you didn't show, about my positive 5 years experience with EIM, and this is your right to publish what do you want but you will lose credibility.

My question now to you, why didn't you report them to the police or the CPA (Customer Protection Authority )?????

Editors response:
Dear Ahmed, we usually publish all reader's letter even if they do not agree with our opinion, as we believe in the importance of absolute transparency. Please send us your post again. You asked why we did not report them to the police? Well, actually we called the police (nagda) when the problems occurred when we went to pick up the car. Why we did not report them to the Egyptian Consumer Protection AGENCY? Well, we sent our complaint directly to Renault headquarter in France as we believe it is much better to inform the mother-companies directly about the mismanagement of their dealers, so they can take action and change their dealers in Egypt if necessary. Renault France understood the serious situation and sent the 'Service Manager Africa' immediately to Cairo to investigate the business-harming behavior of Renault Egypt. And the story is not over yet. Stay tuned for more development on this issue.

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noha from cairo - egypt wrote:
Subject: Renault Serive / another thing (Go to article)
I want to add that the way they deal with customers are nice .. they smile and talk in a good manner .. thats a nice touch .. although i was angry at first, but still i cannot deny they were nice in dealing with customers. maybe they need some improvments, but that should be done by R&D department . I felt glad they cared and called asking me if the service was good or bad.
I just want to be fair.
Thank you so much.


Editors response:
You are more than welcome. We are glad we could help you.

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noha from Cairo - Egypt wrote:
Subject: Renault Service (Go to article)
I went back today... they were nice .. and helped me.
They even will check some things I didnt notice before.
And they called me back to say what do I think about their service.
Maybe things improved since this article.

Editors response:
Car companies always change the way they treat their customers, when they send their complaints to the media. We are glad that publishing your reader's letter improved their customer service with you.

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Noha from Cairo - Egypt wrote:
Subject: Renault Logan 2010 (Go to article)
Dear Sir ,
I had an accident with my new Renault Logan.
There was some sand on the road while I was turning left.
I could not control the steering wheel and the car become out of control.
Anyway, I was feeling the car was pulling a bit to the left. I mean before the accident the front wheels were always drifting to the left side.

I took the car to the Renault service station after the accident.
The left part of the car was destroyed, in specific the front suspension (ma2as, in Arabic) and the driving wheel bar and something else. Anyway, I paid almost LE 1600 Egyptian pounds.

But now the car is still pulling left specially when using the brakes to slow down.

Still i will try to call them tomorrow and ask for a re-check, as I have picked it from the EIM / EIT service station 3 days ago .

I feel this whole thing was a technical failure (3eeb sena3a), but I can't prove it and I feel sad about it :S
It is a waste of money.

I will see what they will do tomorrow. May be they will take an action regarding the service I had and it is not not good as I described before.





Editors response:
Dear Noha,
we strongly recommend and advice you to file an official complaint at the Consumer Protection Agency in Cairo (www.cpa.gov.eg). We receive a lot of complaint from Renault Egypt / KIA Egypt (EIM / EIT), which is part of the Alkan group. We ourselves at Auto Arabia had serious problems with the service of Renault Egypt / KIA Egypt, and our impression is that EIM / EIT is one of the worst car dealerships and service stations in Egypt, if not the worst. Their service is totally unprofessional and is a total rip-off. The prices are much too high, and they make you come to the service every 5.000 km whereas the first service according to the Renault mother-company should be at 30.000 km. So, they make you bring the car six times just to rip you off without any reason, especially that the Egyptian climate conditions are ideal for cars, even much better than in Europe or in the Gulf region. Keep us update with your problem with EIM / EIT and we will definitely help you in forwarding your complaint to the Renault headquarter in France.

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Caroline McGarr from Cairo - Egypt wrote:
Subject: Dates (Go to article)
Good reports on this site but it would be helpful if your reports had dates. Otherwise it is hard to find what is relevant and what is not in the current time.


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Mohanad El Alfi from Cairo - Egypt wrote:
Subject: My Jeep Cherokee caught fire and burnt out (Readers letter)
Dear Editor,
I would like to share the following experience with you and your readers, in order to show you my negative experience with the Jeep Cherokee and Chrysler Egypt. As a a matter of fact, it did jeopardize my life, which was very close to death.^

I bought my Jeep Cherokee in 2001 as a brand new car. It was the second Jeep Cherokee I purchased after the one I bought in the nineties. Regular service and maintenance were always done as scheduled at the official dealership service.

On Wednesday March 3rd, 2010, I was driving my Jeep Cherokee on a busy street in Cairo around 3 p.m., when bystanders on the road where shouting that my car was on fire.

I had a look at the dashboard and did not find any illuminated warning lights or change in the parameters indicating any kind of defect. That is when I started to smell and see smoke.

I immediately stopped my car and desperately tried to open the hood of it but the hood cable had already melted and I could not open it.

Then I stepped out of the car to get the fire extinguisher which is located below the back seat. Meanwhile I found the roof of the cockpit burning. Afterwards I noted that the spot of the fire inside the cockpit was exactly above the driver’s seat. (Pictures of the burned cockpit roof and the papers inside the sunshade are available).

The fire did not stop and continued in addition to fireballs below the car with a locked engine bonnet.
There was a terrible fear and panic of a possible explosion in this busy and crowded street as the car was just in front of a supermarket and in the very close vicinity of a church. One of the bystanders opened the engine hood by force with a metal rod so that we could extinguish the fire in the engine before it reached the gas tank as well as the other cars parked in the street.

After the fire was put off, I made sure that nobody got hurt and no damages occurred to any of the parked cars in the area. However, I started thinking how this could possibly have happened, without prior signs or warning lights illuminating in the dashboard, indicating any defect.

I emailed pictures of my damaged car to several car experts and magazines. Some of them advised me to check for recalls for this specific model. I then googled and searched your website, and found out that there was a defect present in the Jeep Cherokee model 2001, which led to an official recall in addition to many other Jeep and Chrysler recalls for other models which were also suffering the same ‘fire’-problems.
Unfortunately Jeep & Chrysler Egypt NEVER announced or communicated any recalls here in Egypt.

I am very surprised that the Egyptian government is allowing such hazardous cars to be assembled in Egypt, and I am even more surprised that the Jeep & Chrysler Egypt did not inform the Consumer Protection Agency (CAP) in Egypt about this and the other serious recalls.

I know that the local Jeep assembly factory, AAV, is partially owned by the government but I think it is very negligent to use such low-quality cars by the government and different ministries.

Considering that my car covered less than 140’000 km, which is a relatively low mileage count for this type of cars here in Egypt, I would like to ask you three questions:

1.
Why was the official recall of this car model delayed by the official Jeep / Chrysler importer in Egypt as well as the Jeep / Chrysler mother-company although it was issued back in 2002 and could have killed me and maybe other people as well. Toyota acted quite differently and much more professionally to its recall problem worldwide and I wonder if the Jeep/Chrysler headquarter in the United States of America is happy with how the safety of Jeep drivers and passengers in Egypt is being take care of?

2.
Is there a possibility that similar accidents took place and neither the injured persons nor their inheritors raised an alarm about this issue while the company treated the issue with sincere discreetness and regarded these accidents as inevitable fate? Do you have reports or reader’s letters about similar accidents?

3.
If I do not hear anything from the Jeep/Chrysler dealer in Egypt or the headquarter in Detroit, would you recommend me to file a law-suit against Jeep/Chrysler here in Egypt or shall I file it in the USA?

Thank you for you help and advice

Mohanad Elalfi
Cairo-Egypt


Editors response:
Dear Mr. El-Alfi,

Thank you for sharing your 'hot' and extremely dangerous Jeep Cherokee experience with us. We are very glad that you survived this fire incident with only minor injuries.

We have indeed received many complaints about similar problems with locally-assembled Jeep Cherokees.

Some had 'fire' problems, others had severe suspension and steering problems, which according to the official Jeep/Chrysler recall statement could cause severe accidents. You will find some of those recalls on our website, other recalls can be found here:

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2001/jeep/cherokee/recalls/index.html
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/results.cfm

Regarding your questions, please note the following:
1) Jeep/Chrysler Egypt has, according to our information, never published or communicated any recalls in Egypt. Why? Well, my personal opinion is that they do not pay much attention to the safety of their customers and prefer to keep the Jeep/Chrysler owners in the dark. Besides, they have a PR Agency called Rada Research, which apparently never advised them to publish such recalls. Rada Research succeeded in giving us the most unprofessional impression of any PR agency here in Egypt.

2) Similar accidents, and even worse accident, happened with several Jeep Cherokee models in Egypt before, and we have received many complaints and reader's letter with picture about those incidents.

3.) We recommend you report this incident to the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency CPA, which had been very active and supportive to many Egyptian consumers over the past few year. The CPA was very successful and managed to win many law-suits against car companies such as BMW Egypt (Bavarian Auto) and other car and motor-cycle manufacturers.

4.) If you do not receive a quick and satisfying reply from Jeep / Chrysler then we recommend you file a law-suit against the Jeep / Chrysler in the USA, as you will get a much higher and quicker compensation than in Egypt.

Good luck and drive safe with you future car, which I hope will not catch fire like your old Jeep Cherokee.




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Tarek Al Sabbah from Kuwait - Kuwait wrote:
Subject: AMG Driving Training (Go to article)
How expensive is the training?
and how can i book it from kuwait?


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A from Cairo - Egypt wrote:
Subject: Hyundai iX35 in Egypt (Go to article)
it sounds too good to be true. Are there any expectations as to when it would hit the Egyptian market, and at what price?

If they were able to provide with a 1.6 L or 1.4 T engine they could price it right.

If you do know who can import/sell in Egypt soon, please publish it as I am seriously intersted.

A

Editors response:
Both the new 2010 Hyundai Sonata and the 2010 Hyundai iX35 shall be offered soon in Egypt with a 1.6 litre engine. We will publish soon here on our website when they will be available . Check out our website soo.

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steve from dubai - uae wrote:
Subject: 2010 F1 Coverage (Go to article)
Thought I would let you know who is broadcasting F1 in the Middle east in 2010. Abu Dhabi Sports.
http://blogs.thenational.ae/mixed_media/2010/02/admc-wins-regional-f1-broadcast-rights.html

Editors response:
Thanks for the info, Steve!

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Alaa Shinnawi from Alexandria - Egypt wrote:
Subject: Comment (Go to article)
Dear editor,
I'm the first one in Egypt who bought this car ( 1.4 TSI ). I picked it from the free zone. All what Mr. Shafik Gabr said was very nice and really encourage for anyone to have this car.
But the price for this car is very high. Specially for the 1.8 TSI. If I have this money ( 450 000 EGP) i will buy a BMW 5 Series OR Mercedes E 250. We need from Mr. Gabr to review the cost of 1.8 TSI. I doubt that it will succeed in the Egyptian market with this pricing.
Finally, how can you compare this car with Mercedes & BMW? It's too hard to imagine this comparison.
I hope to see this car No 1 in Egypt, because I liked it very much.
Thanks to every mind and hand helped to produce this car, And of course many thanks to Mr. Gabr to give us the chance to own it.
Thank you.


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Ian Monastyrski from Dubai - UAE wrote:
Subject: F1 2010 TV Coverage (Go to article)
Hi all Mid-East F1 fans!
After last years constant searching for any coverage of F1 I finally found it on Bahrain Sports Channels on Arabsat service.(I had to get another dish specially for Arabsat as a conflict existed on the equivalent Nilesat frequencies)... According to the F1 "world feeds" it looks like our trusted friends at Bahrain Sports TV are going to show both Arabic and English coverage of the seasons action. Many thanks to Bahrain Sports TV for their coverage of the 2010 season.
Ian Monastyrski - Dubai (source was from Wikipedia 2010 "world feeds for F1 Tv")


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Hani from Amman - Jordan wrote:
Subject: F1 2010 (Go to article)
Hi, if Bahrain will broadcast F1 2010.. will it show on NileSat this time or only ArabSat like last year? If on NileSat, which frequecy details?

Thanks,


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Hani from Amman - Jordan wrote:
Subject: F1 2010 (Go to article)
Hi, who will broadcast F1 2010 in middle east; Bahrain, Aljazeera, Abu Dhabi, or ...?

Thanks,


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PK from Kuwait - Kuwait wrote:
Subject: F1 2010 (Go to article)
Which channel in the middle east is going to broadcast the 2010 season? Thanks


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Stephen Foot from dubai - United Arab Emirates wrote:
Subject: F1 2010 TV coverage in Middle east (Go to article)
Any news on who will be covering the F1 season in 2010 for the Middle East? Bahrain TV was for 1 year only.


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elie from beorut - lebanon wrote:
Subject: f1 2010 (Go to article)
hi, please tell me if bahrain sport is going to broadcast the 2010 season. We need a TV channel that broadcasts it in the Middle East and North Africa. Please Respond.

Regards


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MOHAMED BESHR from alexandria - egypt wrote:
Subject: over all (Go to article)
I have 2 renault cars. One is Optima & the other is clio & the cost of service is not high if compared with other brands as I took my father car to service to toyota center & it is more expensive (corolla), & all the service centres are working in the same cost field but it differs from one center to the other for its worker experiences.
And every period we here a recall for certain models from big company like ford & this does not mean that the company is bad but this means that the company care for its customers & care for its brand name.


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Rami from beirut - lebanon wrote:
Subject: F1 presenters on Abu Dhabi TV (Go to article)
i am very disappointed at the boring and incompetent coverage on abu dhabi tv. i thought it would be much better than bahrain tv and aljazeera sports. but it wasnt. please tell your presenters haitham sheruki and nezar hamid to stop those racist comments about a khalijji championship, khalijji races, khalijji drivers, khalijji engineers, khalijji tv presenters ... F1 is an INTERNATIONAL sport! and not a local sport! ferrari is an italian team, but had a german & brazilian driver, a french team principal, a british race engineer and lots of international mechanics and teram staff. go home & do your homework first and understand the principal of F1 and motorsport before talking to tv audience again#####


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Tamer from Cairo - Egypt wrote:
Subject: F1 in Abu Dhabi (Go to article)
AMAZING RACING CIRCUIT ! go Abu Dhabi !!! You Rock


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Amit from Kalyan - India wrote:
Subject: Brake Failure (Go to article)
I Jus survived an accident which caused due to brake failure. The car was Suzuki Swift Dzire and was jus six months old. Luckily no one was hurt even in the car into which I rammed as all the three occupants of that Omni were belted. I was the only person in my car. I have contacted several time to Maruti Suzuki(manufacturer of the car) but they just said that they will check the car when it gets reparied and becomes roadworthy. and after that reply they did not even bother to reply.
Please let me know if anybody can advice me in this regards.


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elias from beirut - lebanon wrote:
Subject: F1 2009 (Go to article)
Dear Bahrain TV

Thank you for the information you gave it to me.I was very happy to hear that there will be an arabic free air to air satellite channel that will broadcast f1 session for 2010.

I want to know if this channel will be on nilesat or not?

Regards


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elias from beirut - lebanon wrote:
Subject: 2010 session (Go to article)
dear bahrain TV

I just want to thank you for broadcasting F1 session 2009 in middle east and north africa. i want to know if you are going to broadcast the 2010 session also. Please i want to know

Regards


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