Car battery replacement in Buhaira Corniche

Buhaira Corniche is the narrow band of land along the shore of Khalid Lagoon, facing Al Noor Island and Al Noor Mosque. Tall residential and office towers such as Al Buhaira Tower stand shoulder to shoulder with hotels, among them the Corniche Hotel Sharjah, 72 Hotel and Marbella Resort. Residents are a mix of long-term families and company tenants, and the hotels bring a steady flow of guests in hire cars and visiting business drivers who do not know the area.

Lagoon humidity and heat work on batteries here as they do all round the water, but the particular Buhaira problem is the car that stays put. Hotel guests leave a rental in the basement for days. Residents who walk the Corniche for everything start the car once a week. Valet-parked cars are shuffled a few metres at a time with the lights and AC on. Each habit leaves the battery a little emptier, until one humid morning it cannot turn the engine.

Parking is the Corniche's weak point. Tower basements are for residents, visitor bays are few, and street spaces are shared between shops, residents with more than one car and weekend visitors. Tell the building guard or the hotel concierge that a battery technician is coming so he is waved into the basement or the valet area. Where the ramp clearance is too low, the battery, tester and tools go down by hand or in the service lift.

The technician follows Al Khan Street and then Corniche Street round the lagoon through Al Majaz. Weekend evening traffic along the water and drivers hunting for a space slow the last stretch.