Maintenance for Milady; we need patience.

We met Rolf and Mark earlier, at Khalifa’s “Land Rover Heaven”. We stayed there for several nights, earlier this year and also when we recently arrived in the Emirates.

We have the necessary maintenance done to Milady, but our patience is being tested.

Rolf told us recently, when we were staying with him and Mona, that he and Mark have started a garage, specialising in Land Rovers, a sort of hobby of his that has grown out of it. Mark is in charge of the day-to-day management and Rolf mainly does the financial management. Most of the work is done by local, well, Indian, Bengali and Pakistani, staff.

We arrive, as agreed with Mark, on Wednesday. The garage is full of cars and Mark advises us to come back tomorrow, Thursday, so they can spend the whole day servicing Milady. He will also be there around half past eight.

We spoil ourselves, we book a hotel with breakfast in Sharjah, get up early tomorrow to be in the garage around half past eight.

After a good night, under the covers again, in the air conditioning, and a good breakfast, we drive away on time and end up in the morning rush hour of Sharjah and Dubai. Around 9 o’clock we arrive at the garage, Mark is not there yet, but the bridge is free and the mechanics immediately start inspecting the underside.

They find some oil leaks and advise me to have the car thoroughly cleaned first so they can discover the location of the leak. The thorough cleaning costs a good hour and a half and 70 riyals (€17.50).

Mark is not there yet when we return to the garage, he has problems with his own Range Rover. When he arrives he immediately starts working on the lock of the back door. I have dismantled it because it no longer works. I also want a key for the lock so that we can lock the door from the outside. Mark sets off, he thinks he can find a new lock at Khalifa. Unfortunately that does not work, Khalifa only has locks for Series Land Rovers. The local locksmith also appears not to be able to supply a new cylinder for the lock.

In the meantime Milady is back on the bridge and all the oils are replaced. The leak at the steering pump is also fixed, a loose coupling had to be fixed.

Then it turns out that the bridge no longer wants to go down, a mechanic has to come first to repair it. In the meantime our mechanics start working on other cars and Milady hangs there…

At the end of the day the bridge is repaired, but the maintenance on Milady is not yet finished. Tomorrow at 9 o’clock they continue. Mark, who has not returned in the meantime, promises to be there early again tomorrow.

We sleep one night at Khalifa’s yard and the next morning we stand in front of a closed door at the garage, it is Friday, the Muslim day of rest.

We dribble back to Khalifa’s Land Rover Heaven and spend the rest of the day reading and making a YouTube video. Mark doesn’t show up, Rolf does, I express a bit of frustration to him, this maintenance is not going as I expected. He takes the lock with him again, determines that there is nothing wrong with it, only the cylinder needs to be replaced for a cylinder with a key. He is going to try to fix that.

Saturday the garage is open again and we are there at 9 o’clock, after an hour it turns out that the grease gun is not working, so they cannot finish the lubrication. The lock is also not fixed yet. The car wash across the street can do the lubrication, says the mechanic. Mark is not yet in sight and communicating with the mechanics is difficult, especially because my frustration is also increasing. We decide to go back to Khalifa and see that Mark is walking around there with a group of safari customers. They are also very interested in our travel story, know our Milady from the internet and have plans to travel with their 130 converted into a camper.

Before Mark leaves for a ride with his customers I let him know my displeasure about the progress and course of events. He apologizes time and again and promises that everything will be checked and fixed tomorrow. In the meantime I mount the lock back in the back door and we decide that we will lock this door with a padlock.

On Sunday morning, no day off here, we are at the garage at 9 o’clock. Milady is immediately taken care of, the wheels are taken off and the brakes, the brake discs and the bearings are checked, now the car is given serious attention.

Mark is on his way to find a new grease gun and is therefore also genuinely concerned with our car.

In consultation with Mark and the mechanic, we decide to replace the brake discs and brake pads. Mark is in Sharjah in the meantime and can find the parts there, including a new lock with cylinder for the rear door.

As if this repair was surrounded by bad luck, Mark gets a flat tire on the way back and his engine temperature rises into the red. He comes back, with our brake pads, brake discs, lock and a new grease gun, on a tow truck.

After the lunch break, it is now 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the mechanics get to work on the brakes. The front is the biggest job, but it is done very well. In the meantime, we, Mark and I, have installed the new lock, which fits perfectly and also locks well. Only, when I close the door, the lock no longer works. No matter what we try, the key does not turn far enough to lock the door. In the end, we reinstalled the old lock.

Then the mechanics continue at the back with the brake discs, everything fits perfectly, but there still seems to be a problem. Together with Rolf and Mark, the situation is assessed and it turns out that the discs are wrong. Rolf and Mark get in the car, back to Sharjah (65km), to look for new brake discs during the evening rush hour. After hours they return, around 9 pm, with the good discs. It turns out that this car has non-ventilated brake discs that are normally used at the front, mounted at the back. It is still a Land Rover, always surprises.

The mechanics and Rolf and Mark go to sleep and we open the roof and crawl into bed too, in the garage.

The next morning at 8 am the mechanics are ready again and 2 hours later I can drive away for a test drive. Everything works as usual again and we can go on our way again.

In the end we are satisfied with the quality of the work, nevertheless the time spent.

As compensation for the long wait, Mark offers us a unique desert safari.

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