Dubai Forums Dubai Tech Discussions Dubai Auto

hi, firstly is a car a necessity in dubai? i will be in town only on the weekends. i will be out of town on work during the week.
if so, then what is a good car to buy. i would prefer a second hand one as i hear the market is great because you can get a really good deal here. my budget is around USD 30000. would it be cheaper to buy a car in the US (if shipping was not a cost to be considered?). i was thinking of a bmw 330/m3. what would you guys recommend?
thanks

I would say its a definite necessity! Everything is very spread out in Dubai and because of all the construction you cant really walk anywhere (no paths!).

Unless you want a very old one you wont find a 330/M3 for 30k, more like 110k+ for a decent M3 that's a few years old. Saying that, cars are very cheap here and I doubt it would be more cost affective to ship one over from the US. German and American cars are great second hand, they dont hold their value quite as well as the Japanese cars here so I wouldnt buy a brand new German or American car, you just lose too much money in the first couple of years you own it!

Ive done a lot of research recently for a decent SUV that can do more than just go on the beach and wont set you back more than 40k. The ones Ive found so far are: Landrover Freelander, Chevy Trailblazer and Jeep Cherokee. All around the 2003 model.

30000 USD will be around 110000 AED, which means you can find good 330's, im not sure about M3's though as many people complain about its SMG gearbox and i dont think that you can find a manual one..

Good luck..

thanks guys. also any rough idea of what insurance and fuel costs will run me per month for a 330 (assume i get one within 110000 AED). also, if i have an indian drivers license as well as an international driving permit (issued from india) and i have an indian passport, how long will it take me to get a dubai driving license? (do i have to take classes all over again? how easy is the process?) i have a US driving license as well but i know that holds no value since I am not a US citizen.

also, what are good sites/dealers to look for used cars at good prices? i assume that private party sales are obviously cheaper than dealer ones. so where can i find those private sellers?

thanks again.. you guys are really helpful..

nidnani wrote:thanks guys. also any rough idea of what insurance and fuel costs will run me per month for a 330 (assume i get one within 110000 AED). also, if i have an indian drivers license as well as an international driving permit (issued from india) and i have an indian passport, how long will it take me to get a dubai driving license? (do i have to take classes all over again? how easy is the process?) i have a US driving license as well but i know that holds no value since I am not a US citizen.

also, what are good sites/dealers to look for used cars at good prices? i assume that private party sales are obviously cheaper than dealer ones. so where can i find those private sellers?

thanks again.. you guys are really helpful..

Whoops! Sorry man, thought you said 30k dirhams!

To try and answer your questions:
Insurance is usually around 5% of the car value.

Fuel - No one gives a crap about fuel costs here because its so cheap so I wouldnt worry about a 3.0 litre!

Not sure about the driving license thing. I had a UK one when I came here and all they did was make me do an eye test and then take my pic......thats was it; along with a few dirhams of course. Think it was 200.

There are quite a few used cars sites. I'd leave that until you get here though, they are easy to find on the UAE Google.

You'll have to take lessons and pass the test. Indian licensees don't get the same privileges as UK licensees (although I happen to agree with the authorities in this case).

I think with the US driving license, you wouldnt have to take classes all over again, but double check just in case..

For used cars, here are a couple of sites that might help:
www.dubizzle.com
www.autodealer.ae