CarsToo many dealers in Dubai to mention. Most people find cars in Dubai cheaper than "at home" (see Country Comparisons section). "Gulf News" on most days carries many advertisements and on Thursdays there are usually page type advertisements of new and second hand cars from the dealers. I suggest you start looking here. New Toyota cars are featured at http://www.alfuttaimmotors.com and http://www.toyotauae.com. To get an idea re second hand cars you can also look at . Al Futtaim, the Toyota dealer has recently opened a Used Car Division - details available at http://www.automalluae.com . The service www.dubaimoto.com is a Dubai based internet site for vehicles where you can look or place some adverts. Dubai Muncipality has established in the last few months the "Dubai Municipality Used Car Complex" at Al Aweer Dubai . There are 130 showrooms in the market and they are all licenced by the Dubai municipality and all cars are able to be mechanically checked on the site. To get there either drive via the "Emirates Road" and take the the marked turn off to the "Used Car Complex" or from Shk Zayeed Rd turn at the "Defence" roundabout (Interchange 1) and drive towards Hatta and Al Aweer, it is signposted. Korean cars from Hyundai, Kia and Daewoo etc and many smaller American cars have a lower resale value than cars from other countries in Dubai. This is just a fact of life. Despite the fact that they are reliable and go well, when you go to sell them their price is lower than would be paid for a comparable Japanese or European car. If you buy one new, expect depreciation to be around 30% annually. A good second hand one can be a bargain, especially after someone else has taken the initial depreciation hit. There are always cars for sale in the staff "Staff-For Sale" section of the HCT email site Set it up by going to Newsgroups on the HCT email page. It will then be a folder on your email list permanently. Most supermarkets, Union Coop, Lals and Choithrams and especially Spinneys supermarket have had "For Sale" advertisements posted on notice boards by customers in their entrance foyers. On their web site they now Spinneys have a "Notice board" section for cars, furniture, hiring of maids etc. Have a look at http://spinneys.com/Index.htm. If you buy a car from an Emirate other than Dubai it must be "exported" from that Emirate and "imported" into Dubai. It can be done, but it is more hassle. Once you decide on what to buy follow the steps listed in the Car Registrations page of this site. NOTE: Dubai drives on the right hand side of the road. The same as in the USA, Europe or Canada opposite to the UK, Australia, Sth Africa and NZ. Comments from a staff members Buying Cars I brought my car through an excellent company and have been really helpful in getting my car serviced ever since. I would like to share this with any new comers that need a car or any staff really. Can I put their name up somewhere so when anyone needs a new car they can go there. Another staff member also brought her car through them and she was also very impressed.
Reem Automobile Showroom
Importing CarsMy husband and I imported two cars from Canada to Dubai 11 years ago. We put one car in a container with our furniture and the other car came on
a "roll on, roll off" basis where they drive the car on to a boat and then drive it off again. It cost about $2000 Canadian per car for the
shipping. We had no problems with the shipping or at customs on this end. We did have to pay an import duty of 4% of a negotiated market
price on one of the cars. We managed to talk our way out of paying on
the other car so I'm not sure what the official rule about this is. One of our cars had darkish tinting on the windows which we removed before
shipping as this is not allowed for expatriates here though many Emiratis have
tinted windows. We did not have any real problems getting the cars registered here although we had to wait until our
residence visas were processed. (about 1 month) You do need to be sure that the
paperwork is correct - small inconsistencies in details like color etc can cause delays. Car DetailingShahid Abdullah Staff comments:
2 If you're in need of a good car detailer with reasonable prices, contact
Shahid Abdullah with Details Plus. They are located just on the Sharjah
side of the border, very close to Dubai Women's. They have all American This small garage in Karama is highly recommended. They are honest and do a good job. Houston Auto Electrical Repairing, PO Box 23988, Tel 3365073. It is just near the Al Raha Building.
Mechanic Al Nouras Auto Garage This small garage in Rashida is highly recommended. They are honest and do a good job, but you would never go there if you saw the place. However I've used them for years now and can't fault them......Leigh Travelling towards Sharjah, turn off immediately after Gahoud Bridge towards Rashida, turn left at the first lights and right at the second set of lights ( you can't turn at the first set) turn left at the 5th street (No 22 Street) it is two thirds of the way along the street on the right at the back of the yard. They will also pick up your car or arrange towing, if necessary . Tel: 050 6587348 ask for Nazar
2 from a DBM staff member If you have ever thought of going to the "car repair souk" behind the
lagoon at the end of the Dubai creek, but were intimidated by the jumble
of shops, try giving "Nawaz" a call mob 650-6735.
A warning about ‘used car’ warrantees. One of the benefits a perspective buyer finds out when inquiring about a used vehicle from the large used vehicle showrooms around Dubai, is the piece of mind one gets with the inclusion of a ‘5 Star’ used vehicle warrantee for the first year (or 80 000 or so kms). During the first month of ownership, these companies will provide service themselves to the new owner. They will tell you that they have examined the vehicles, but the exam given seems to be a cursory multi-point check and not a road stress test. For example, the owner is expected to discover for themselves the broken automatic seat buttons or malfunctioning cruise control. The new owner is told to ‘just bring it back to the service center’ and everything will be looked after. This is true, but what they do not tell you, is that this is also part of the game they play to reduce the number of claims put through to the insurance company on the behalf of their sales unit – to keep their premiums down on these policies (given for free to the owner in our case).
The second part of the story is, READ THE FINE PRINT in your policy! We were not told that if we changed our oil at ANY other place than a certified garage, that the warrantee would become void. As well, we were not told that the oil had to be changed every 5000 km or it would be void. We have our oil changed regularly, but since an oil change alone, still means one day without a car (while it is picked up and dropped off – or you drop it off and pick it up), we had ours changed at a nearby lube place. Nothing wrong with the service, but no ‘certified’ stamp in our service book. When disaster hit and the warrantee would have been used, we found out that we were not covered because the following: we were not using a certified garage to change the oil or, we had not had out oil changed every 5000 km or less. Are the warrantees worth what they say they are? Yes. But take care to follow all the fine print!
This page was last updated by Leigh Butler on December 15, 2008
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