Time to replace my trusty car

Every time I think about Diego Che, I get blue. He was always there when I needed him, took me to places I have never been and made sure I got home on time. As we cruised the Dubai highways, he took control of the music, only playing the best beats. When the air was cool, the windows came down, letting the winter breeze take over while I tried to pretend my hair was not bothered one bit.

Yet as with all things, this relationship had sadly to come to an end when I left the UAE - a development I thought would be permanent.

My car, my trusty Diego Che, would have to go. I sold it to a friend to keep it in the family. I doubt I'm the only one to give my car a name. Another friend of mine had given hers a very girly name - Angel, maybe. Strange, I thought, why would she make her car a female? Anyway, that's a different story altogether.

Circumstances brought me back to the UAE, and now, having been back for more than a year and two rental cars later, I've decided it is time to officially replace Diego, my light-brown Mitsubishi Pajero. And yes, my choice has a little to do with the feeling of being taken advantage of by enormous cars. Well, with my teeny tiny rental, anything else can easily be classified as "enormous", really.

Still, I squeeze in when I can and know when I've been defeated. Sun Tzu said it best in The Art of War: "He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious." Granted, he was dealing with much more dangerous tasks than that of defending his traffic lane.

In my search I've followed a few leads but reached dead ends. Some dealers paint the prettiest of pictures of great prices, warranty included and all that jazz, but the mileage would be way too high. There was one that sounded fantastic and driving an hour to see it didn't even bother me, but the car was sold before I could even blink. Back to square one it is.

I have about one week left on the rental - or let's just call it the "loner" - and the thought of paying for another month seems ludicrous, and not in a cool hip-hop type of way. Now, I'm addicted to sites such as Dubizzle, fo' shizzle, but what is up with the no-picture ads? What do they have to hide?

So, I am appealing to anyone who knows someone who knows someone else selling a car, preferably another Pajero.

You can have the privilege of naming the vehicle, since no one really appreciated the creativity of the last name I came up with, and apparently, there is a rule that says you cannot give your cars the same name. Who knew?