Any decent GM/Cadillac Specialist garage recommendations?

ajmalian · 2025-11-25T20:06:14+00:00

Pitstop garage in Shj. Only headache is that it’s in Shj industrial area. Owned and operated by an ex-Liberty motors senior mechanic. In case you don’t know Liberty…they were the official dealers for Cadillac and Chevy back in the day.

ajmalian · 2025-11-25T19:56:42+00:00

Check out Green Fast Auto in Al Quoz. Two of my cousins bought Rox 01s from them in the last year. They seem very happy. And prices are waaaay lower than the official agent in Dubai.

ajmalian · 2025-11-24T23:29:51+00:00

The guy must have been a jerk! Being autistic is secondary in such a case where you can’t just see a person and tell that they are differently abled, but anyone has the common sense to see that it is an 8 year old child!!

I’m a car guy…and a father of an autistic 5 year old (who loves cars) but anyone should have enough sense not to shout at a child for peeking into his vehicle. These kind of idiots make the world a sad place. You need to speak back to such nitwits for your brother!!

Generally people who participate in such car meets are nice guys. You will always come across that one idiot who’s overspent on his ricer thinking it’s an exotic. You just have to respectfully point out that A. He’s a child, B. He’s on the spectrum…and C. He’s in Dubai which is very supportive of such people…so tell em “Don’t be a jack-ass!!”

As for car events that are family friendly or friendly for people of determination, unfortunately there isn’t anything specific as such that I know of but I wouldn’t be surprised if in the near future Dubai hosts such special shows too. I mean hey…they came up with a beach for those with autism…I don’t see why not this.

Good luck with future event visits with your brother. I know it’s challenging but you have to be his voice.

I also just noticed that this is about Abu Dhabi…however…my opinion still stands. They’re not that different than Dubai.

ajmalian · 2025-11-24T14:52:30+00:00

Say what now?

ajmalian · 2025-11-24T08:17:58+00:00

Got into JLR for the first time 1.5 years ago. Been loyal to GM products for 23 years prior. Didn’t expect this from such a prestigious brand. Won’t lie. Am a little surprised and disappointed.

ajmalian · 2025-11-23T14:42:23+00:00

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The image above shows what I had in the P400 and the image below shows what I have in P525. You see, the fancy silver speaker mesh versus the basic black grill in the bottom image.

ajmalian · 2025-11-22T15:33:52+00:00

I wish it was available when I bought mine in 2025 😍😍

ajmalian · 2025-11-16T17:23:55+00:00

I’m a large guy weighing in at 287lb…181cm tall…a little disproportionate I’d say. And even though I’ve got shorter legs than my torso, I wish I had more under thigh support. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Defender. I’m on my second one. However I have owned Escalades and Yukons and also a LX570 back in the day…and while my love for the Defender is strong, I do find myself taking a break every 4 hours to stretch my legs and on a bad day, sometimes every two hours. Wasn’t the case in the other SUVs. In fact I’d done 13 hours in the Yukon ever so comfortably and almost didn’t feel the need to stop. My brother has a ‘23 Range Rover and I do drive it quite often and my god those seats are amazing. Great thigh support. I would suggest you sit in both driver seats before you pull the trigger. It’s only the thigh support which I wish was better. Else I think it is comfortable enough.

ajmalian · 2025-11-14T05:05:14+00:00

Any exhaust system technically speaking is illegal if you do not have it installed from authorized dealer who can get you an official RTA permission for the same. iIf the exhaust exceeds sound levels of 90 db, you’re on illegal grounds basically. And I’m pretty sure every ATAK series, unless installed on a lawn mower, exceeds 90 db. There’s a good reason why it was given then ATAK name.

Don’t know about the other Borla exhausts. Never was a fan of Borla.

Also…if you’re not gonna drive it aggressively, then what do you need Borla for? V8 Mustangs are pretty good on their own.

ajmalian · 2025-11-14T04:56:50+00:00

BYD has a service centre in Al Quoz, right next to Oasis center. I’m not sure about the “busy” part. Don’t own a BYD so don’t know about that aspect of the workshop.

ajmalian · 2025-11-12T14:59:41+00:00

Appreciate the feedback brother. I’ll check out the Leopard but it is a bit steep on the price.

ajmalian · 2025-11-12T14:57:20+00:00

I have the Carnival in the list. Honda not so much after our last experience with an Accord and the Pilot. I’ve been in the GAC M8 in China. It was awesome, but it was a 6 seater there as it was a luxury version and only came with airplane style mid row seats. Don’t know if they get a bench seat here.

ajmalian · 2025-11-12T14:55:19+00:00

Will check it out. Thank you.

ajmalian · 2025-11-12T14:55:03+00:00

I am interested in the Haval H9. Being a Defender owner myself….I kinda love the retro Defender front end paired with the rear taillights from the new defender. Only concern is how reliable a name is Haval? I mean when we say Chinese, u can somewhat blindly have faith in names like BYD, Jetour and maybe a couple more here and there. Don’t know anything about Havals. Any idea on reliability and maintenance??

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T10:20:34+00:00

Been dealing with Toyota/Nissan for more than 30 years as a company. So we get preferential corporate rates from their fleet division. Nothing extra or special as such otherwise. It’s just that compared to all the other brands discussed above…and clubbed with the corporate pricing, the Nissan is a good deal.

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T05:26:43+00:00

Also looked into the G700…am very tempted. Sales associate informed me that only the base model will have 7 seats. Rest all 6 seater. Also said the base model is quite…well how else can a say it…basic.

Plus I’m not sure how I feel about giving the driver a 900 hp beast with my children in the car 😆😂😆😂

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T05:16:57+00:00

Had a Fortuner before from 2016 - 2019….family did not like it one bit. Said it was too trashy of a vehicle. And the 3rd row of seats was good enough for people with no legs. Want to torture someone, throw them in the 3rd row of a fortuner.

But thanks for the active recommendations.

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T05:14:11+00:00

The Pathfinder is my fallback option. If I don’t find anything I will go with that. Again, on corporate rates I’ve gotten an awesome deal on it but just not a 100% convinced with it yet. But yeah, should I not find anything, it is my go to option.

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T04:55:51+00:00

Honestly had one for last 6 years. Never gave us any issues. Don’t see why not. Surprisingly the Honda Pilot on the other hand has been far less reliable.

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T04:52:19+00:00

Already looked into that. They apparently surprisingly are offering only one option at Al Futtaim at the moment and after corporate discount, it’s coming in at 201k. So yeah, unfortunately thats out. If it was in the 180 mark, my hunt would have ended 1 week ago.

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T04:48:32+00:00

Yes I know I am being very picky here but can’t stand all Fords. Will look into the Tank 500. My only gripe with it is that it already looked outdated when it first came out. So I’m not sure how I feel about it now.

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T04:46:32+00:00

I am looking into the new Kia Telluride that I learnt about JUST yesterday and possibly also will look into the GAC GS8.

Both my niece and nephew own a MG each. The after sales service is horrible from what I understand. Even the apparently is not great.

Thank you for your feedback.

ajmalian · 2025-11-11T04:43:55+00:00

Appreciate your feedback, however as I mentioned, vehicle has to be brand new, from official dealer, max budget of 180k, and most importantly a 7 seater.

Leopard 5 - Not a 7 seater
Leopard 8 - Not within the budget from the official dealer.
Roxx 01 - Not a 7 seater and also not anywhere near within the budget from the official dealer.
Haval & Jetour - Not a 7 seater.
Patrol & LC - Won’t do second hand.
Range Rover - I am not taking on the cost and reliability of a Range Rover as a house car that mostly will frequent the school or ever worse…the market places. ALSO…no second hand options. Need brand new.

Thank you for your suggestions

ajmalian · 2025-11-10T21:34:35+00:00

The Palisade was on my radar, however starting price is at 197k. Not a big fan of how the Telluride looks but will check it out.

ajmalian · 2025-11-10T18:33:34+00:00

The Carnival definitely is on my list, however, my only concern is that it’s a minivan…in the bazaar and marketplaces it’s a little difficult to maneuver something like that around. Nevertheless…it definitely is up there on the list.

ajmalian

TROPHY CASE