I live in Doha in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, and I have been wondering is there any kind of “Desert Life” maintenance list that I should be following beyond the usual change the oil every 5000k and take it in for regular maintenance as the owner’s guide suggests. I ask because it seems like nearly every month this truck has some kind of issue that costs me cash and time.
I worked in Saudi Arabia nd Kuwait. The contractors there were very concious of the cooling systems and wear caused by heat. They changed all external belts and hoses every 2 years. They also made sure the cooling system was sqeaky clean and blew the bugs out of the radiators regularly.
I would use a heavier oil such as 10W40 dino or 5W50 synthetic. The oil recommeded in your manual such as 5W20 won’t cut it.
Cover the dasboard when parking in the sun; it will save the padding from cracking. If your vehicle runs on the hot side, try a cooler thermostat. All the fuel economy regs. on an American vehicle don’t really apply here.
The only other suggestion that comes to mind is if you’re in a dusty or sandy environment you might want to change your engine’s air filter and your cabin air filter more often than recommended. When I drive around the desert areas in the US, they seem to plug up way faster than other areas.
Perhaps you are just being seen as a “cash cow” by the garage you are using. I thought that in Qatar when cars needed more than the tank to be refilled it was sold and a new one bought.
I thought that was here in the US. 
All joking aside, if you park your car outside, it might not be a bad idea to put a tight cover on it. One that won’t blow all over the place if it gets too windy. One look at the damage that sand does when it’s blown all over the place, one can only imagine what happens to a car’s paint, or metal work for that matter.