Why You Can Find Abandoned Luxury Cars In Dubai And What Happens To Them

Junkyards are often filled with cars you’d have trouble giving away, even before they’re eventually turned into cubes. They’re typically old and worn and missing doors, and look like they managed to get into another accident at the junkyard after the initial one that brought them there. So it must be an odd feeling to walk into a random impound yard in Dubai and see a line of luxury cars just sitting there, the only damage being a little dust on them.

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We sometimes associate Dubai with elaborate skyscrapers and the archipelago of small artificial islands shaped like a world map. Perhaps it’s not entirely surprising that the country houses some of the largest luxury vehicle scrapyards in the world, where you’ll find supercars like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens, Porsches, Bentleys, and so on. It’s safe to assume a luxury car would only be abandoned under duress, and that’s exactly what happened. A combination of specific criminal and financial conditions led to it, especially as serious criminal penalties for defaulted car loans meant many were abandoned, which is where scrapyards came in.

Until somewhat recently, failing to pay a car loan in Dubai could result in jail time, and so many who couldn’t afford the payments on their luxury cars would simply abandon them and/or flee the country, with notices for impounding clearly unheeded. The global financial crisis between 2008 and 2010 exacerbated this scenario, as defaulting on car loans, credit card bills, and even bouncing a check, meant the risk of jail time and caused many to so-called “dump and run.” The laws have since relaxed a little, with offenders more able to negotiate terms through the courts to avoid jail.

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But these weren’t the only reasons luxury junkyards became a thing, and they’re still plenty stocked up these days with supercars. Though hard to imagine, there are instances of ex-pats abandoning such cars instead of going through the process of selling them. Dubai also will impound or levy a heavy fine for certain driving offenses, like running a red, going 45 km/h over the speed limit, and driving on the hard shoulder. And so the combination of all of the above saw many luxury vehicles long-used to fancy driveways being relegated to dusty scrapyards, where they tend to go unclaimed and are sold at auction for much cheaper.

It’s a bit of a fascinating sight, since many yearn to own such cars and the knowledge that they’re just sitting there unappreciated is galling. While tempting to think you could just sweet talk the junkyard manager to take one off his hands, considering how they got there, that’s probably not the case.

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