Abandoned By Their Owners, Hundreds Of Luxury Cars Are Threatened By Auction: There Are Porsches, Range Rovers To Cadillacs

Illustration of luxury vehicle in United Arab Emirates. (Wikimedia Commons/SB/UAE)

JAKARTA - Hundreds of luxury cars from various well-known brands that have been abandoned by their owners are in danger of being auctioned this weekend, with owners still being given the opportunity to claim their vehicles.

The Sharjah City Authority, United Arab Emirates plans to sell hundreds of confiscated cars at a public auction, after they were abandoned by their owners for a long period of time.

According to The National News, April 27, vehicle owners are given four days to claim their cars, before being sent for auction on April 30.

On Tuesday, the municipality of the emirate urged owners of more than 440 vehicles to visit the inspection and control department in industrial park 5, to be able to pick up their vehicles.

The cars had been in the complex for more than six months. In the past, luxury vehicles were abandoned by heavily indebted people who fled the country to avoid paying their dues.

"They have four days to visit the inspection and control department to fix the reason for the detention," the city government said in an Instagram post.

The city government says it is cracking down on owners of dirty and neglected cars to improve the appearance of the streets. Most of the unclaimed cars were recalled in the last two years with license plates from Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi to Saudi Arabia.

The list of cars is dazzling, ranging from Range Rover, Lexus, Porsche, Jeep, Cadillac to Mercedes. Some of these were seized between 2016 and 2019.

Last month authorities in Abu Dhabi said they would sell abandoned cars, as well as those parked illegally in multi-storey car parks and the M18 Mussaffah area.

As for Dubai, motorists who leave their cars parked in the same place for extended periods of time receive a warning text message from the city government before they are moved. Cars are sold at auction if not claimed within six months.