By MOHAMMAD SHOEB
DOHA: Vehicle inspection centres along the Salwa Road have latest equipment but lack qualified staff to prepare test reports in English, claim motorists.
The services of these centres are availed mainly by those who buy used cars. They make purchase decisions based on these reports.
“The equipment at these centres are latest, but the reports they prepare are not easily understandable. First, they are full of technical jargons which require an expert to understand,” said Shahid Khan, an Indian who took about four to five tests before buying a car.
Although the results of an inspection are given either in English or Arabic (as per the request of buyers), they have a fixed format to make reports which is only in Arabic.
“The results are ambiguous, lack clarity and carry a lot of silly mistakes. Most staff at these centres do not understand English. As a result, neither they understand queries of English-speaking customers nor they are able to explain the results satisfactorily,” he said.
“Just see this report, ‘BUMBBERS PAINT’. When I asked them to explain it, one staffer said bumpers repainted, no original paint’,” added Shahid.
“For a buyer, this is an important information, because repainted bumpers may tell a lot about a vehicle. It might have met with an accident and that is why the owner got it repainted before selling it,” added a friend of Shahid.
The fee for inspection is not uniform. There are many test centres along the Salwa Road, but all do not charge a uniform fee. Test fees vary between QR350 and QR200 per vehicle, depending on the bargaining skills of the owner.
“Initially they asked for QR350 for one vehicle. But when I told them that we have three vehicles to be tested, a senior staff at a test centre, named after a Western European country, agreed to do it at QR200 each,” said Abu Nafe, another motorist who could not find an accident-free vehicle even after three technical tests.
Not all vehicles sold along the Salwa Road are accident-free. Therefore, every customer coming to buy a used vehicle is required to conduct at least two to three tests until he finds an accident-free car or at least a car with minimum faults.
Dealers usually do not tell anything about the history of the vehicles they sell.
Many motorists believe that there can be a tacit understanding for revenue sharing (fixed commission) between test centres and agents who deal in used vehicles. They suggest that instead of every customer taking the same vehicle for tests repeatedly, dealers can get the tests done and keep the report in their record to be used by other customers. This will not only be economical, but would also save a lot of time and legwork.
However, agents have their limitations. Most say that if inspections are done in absence of buyers, they may not rely on them and can go for another test.
“If we get tests done in advance, I am sure no body is going to rely on reports. Customers will always have doubts in their minds about the authenticity of such tests,” said Mohammed, who manages a showroom of used cars along the Salwa Road.
The Peninsula
