Buying a car in Dubai can be a great or terrible experience, we’ve been in Dubai many years and seen and heard both ends of the spectrum. For what it’s worth here are some of our experiences and those we have heard from others:
To 4x4 or saloon…. So many people have 4x4’s. On the plus side they have a good high driving position, are safe in the event of a crash, enable you to get to your friend in Barsha even though the road is still a sand trap, and well hey they are a 4x4 so you can go camping in the desert if that floats your boat. On the down side they are big, awkward to park, use a ton of petrol, are slow to stop, and the high driving position can mean you have to be very careful in the school car park.
If you’re going for a regular car and have a bit of extra cash should you go for the WILD option. Let’s face it petrol is crazily cheap and insurance is not too bad so whilst it is not the green option you can use the opportunity to get the type of car you could never get at home…. The oh so cool Ford Mustang, or that little Mercedes two seater, a Corvette the list is endless.
When buying consider the reputation of the make of car here in Dubai. This will drastically affect the re-sale value of the car. Cheap but lesser known Korean type cars may look cheap but their reputation is not great and so they depreciate very fast. Some European cars such as Renault, Lancia etc also depreciate very quickly.
The big main companies such as Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Ford, Porsche, tend to hold their value well.
So where to buy? New or secondhand? This is up to you I never buy new but loads of people do – going for the end of the model year may give you a good discount, but cars in Dubai are often sold by model year so this is a factor in the value of the car secondhand.
If you do go for secondhand beware of cars which have been imported from abroad – have they been stolen, are they the correct specification for our roads, can the dealer maintain it. Unless you are an expert go for a car which was originally sold by the original manufacturer in Dubai. So that you know it is the correct specification and has not been stolen.
Lastly should you go private or from a dealer…. Have a look at the certified used cars from the big dealers they give a guarantee and generally give you the remainder of the warranty. If you go for other dealers make sure you personally check the car. Finally if you go private, this is the cheapest option but be very careful or take along a “car savvy” person with you.
Selling a car in Dubai
When selling your car in Dubai one of the most important pieces of advice is not to accept a personal cheque as payment for your car as there has been a number of cases where cheques have bounced and the writer could not be traced.
Other things to note when selling your car:
