Renting a Car in Qatar

This is the second article that addresses our experience in Doha Qatar during a 6 months visit as a Fulbright scholar.  For the first few days I had a driver that would drive me to the university and back to my apartment. The drive takes only 30 minutes. I tried to familiarize myself with the road by following on a map, but it was hard to find road names. I later came to know that street names were not used in Doha that extensively. People will use land marks to describe the road to a place rather than names of roads. There were many roads that have no names or signs including the one where our apartment complex lies. 

One more thing I noticed is the great number of roundabouts. It looks like a mess. Drivers compete to get into the roundabout and any hesitation will be punished by few honks to encourage you to jump in. I was surprised that I was not really that anxious about driving, I guess it will be like going back to Cairo. I later came to enjoy driving in the roundabouts. It offers some sort of entertainment in the quiet city of Doha!!! 

I have to find a permanent method of transportation around the city to regain my freedom. Doha is not a city with a great public transportation system. I have seen buses going around sparsely, but it seems to be mainly for the non professionals. So the other options for transportation in Doha are Karwa taxis and renting or buying a car. I wanted to weigh my options so I started making few calls to rental companies from the phonebook. I was in for a surprise. I wanted to rent a car for 6 months and hence felt I could a good deal, but the least expensive rental car I could find was the most basic Mitsubishi Lancer. The lease was for little over $500 per month for the 6 months period. “Maybe I should consider buying a used car and selling it in 6 months”, I thought. One of the instructors at QU offered to help me look for a used car and I gladly accepted his offer. 

We started our search for a used car. He drove me around the city in his personal car. I am still not sure of the direction we are moving. These roundabouts can really mess up the sense of direction for new comers to Doha. We visited few dealerships, but the prices are not cheap. A decent car was in the range of 20-30K. I am not ready to spend that much on a car to sell in 6 months. Let us go home I asked Mohamed and he makes a sudden U-turn to go back to the complex, but mid way through the turn, we are shaken by the impact from another car; my first accident in Qatar within 48 hours of arrival. 

A quick check and the humans are OK, so we focus our attention on the property damage. The damage is moderate, but the drivers have to wait for the police. No car can be fixed in Doha without a police report. In less than two hours a policeman arrives, asks few questions of the drivers and fills in paperwork and leaves within 10 minutes. The drivers will have to go later to the police station to collect the report and find out whose fault it is. My colleague insists it is the other driver’s fault; he should have avoided him while making the U-turn. I secretly smile to myself, but say nothing. I decide to call Avis and rent the car, at least I will have some control over my fate while on the streets of Doha. Next day, I am the proud renter of a white Mitsubishi Lancer. A color that proves popular enough in Doha to make finding the car a challenge each time I park it at the University parking lot.