REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, CAIRO -- "I am here to sell my old car and get a bigger one for my family. As an employee, I cannot afford a brand new car especially amid the ongoing price hikes," said Sayyid Dahed, a 38-year-old employee at a state-run water company, while displaying his orange 1972 Volkswagen Beetles for sale in Egypt's massive used car marketplace.
At the outskirts of Nasr City in the capital Cairo, thousands of car owners, sellers, buyers and dealers gather on Fridays and Sundays at the huge second-hand car marketplace with hundreds of cars parked on the two sides of the main Ahmed al-Zomor Street before reaching the main yard that contains around a thousand used cars for sale.
Most of them complained recession in the market due to the recent price hikes resulting from the government's latest energy subsidy cuts that raised the prices of fuel, natural gas, electricity and others, arguing the country's economic reform plans affected the second-hand marketplace.
"I bought an old blue Hyundai Accent for 41,000 Egyptian pounds (5,600 U.S. dollars) while it is worth no more than 38,000 Egyptian pounds," said Ahmed al-Safti, who came from Suez Canal province of Ismailia to Cairo to visit the marketplace, referring the reason for the price hike of brand new cars by 3,000 Egyptian pounds that reflected on used cars.
"There is more car display but limited sales because of rising prices and people's limited financial abilities," Safti told Xinhua, noting he preferred to come to Cairo's second-hand car market.
Egypt is currently working on a national project of digging a new Suez Canal as an extension of the original one to revive the country's deteriorating economy. To fund the project, the government gathered over eight billion U.S. dollars from the people who were enthusiastic to buy investment certificate in the national project that represented a dream for a better future.
Mohamed Haggag, manager of Dana Motors automobile agency near the used car marketplace, said that the current recession in used car market is related to short of cash after the canal's investment certificates got the lion's share of liquidity.
"A lot of people are now short of cash after buying investment certificates in the new project and also applying for a new housing project announced by the government," Haggag told Xinhua, lamenting that the market used to flourish in November and December except for this year.
By taking a tour in the marketplace, it is easy to notice that Egyptians prefer Korean and Japanese cars over European, American, Russian and Chinese ones due to the former's cheaper spare parts, easier maintenance and better resale opportunities.
Although his car is Korean, 36-year-old Ashraf Seba'ei, owner of a silver 2003 Daewoo Leganza, told Xinhua that he had been displaying his car in the marketplace all day for several Fridays but he was unable to sell it.
"I am suffering a financial trouble and the price hikes added fuel to the fire, especially that it coincided with the expenses of the past holy month of Ramadan and the following Muslim Feasts and recently the beginning of the school year," he said, still hoping to find a customer for his car before the day was over.
After bargaining with a customer over an old white German Opel Vectra car, Abu Abdel-Rahman, a second-hand car dealer in his 40's, told Xinhua that used car buyers in the marketplace have to be very careful not to be subjected to fraud.
"Some dishonest dealers sell renewed crashed cars without telling buyers the truth. Therefore, whoever buys a car here should carefully check it at a specialized workshop or get a technician with him to check it before buying," the man advised.
Residents of nearby buildings and passers-by are usually troubled by the nonstop traffic congestion in the marketplace area, particularly on Fridays, as Ahmed al-Zomor main street is also used, illegally, as extension for the marketplace.
"Besides the traffic jam, we residents don't like the used car marketplace due to the large amount of garbage left behind after the market is over," high school student Omar complained.
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