Help choosing my first car in Dubai!

[Gaurav]

9 minutes ago, Bhaskar said:

Thank you @Gaurav & @Frederic for the well-rounded perspectives! Having a quick look at Dubizzle, I see some good options for Prado but mostly from used cars dealers. And some are even retro-fitted with touch screen navigation systems. Ok to consider those? 

Private owner/sellers are always recommended against the dealers, as most car dealers always have some extra cooking behind the scene to hide or eliminate bad traces or incomplete service history.

For buying vehicle, you should have little bit of patience and test out few cars to really compare apple to apple, but for surely this little efforts will pay you off multi-fold in the future.

If you are in super rush, buy from reputed dealers (which will be tad expensive) and make sure to insist to see the service history photos first before visiting them. As dealers will always nod head for service history but only 10% cars will have "GENUINE" service history. So don't waste your time with 90% dealers who just say yes to service history and unable to show you the proof.

For service history, if they can show you the breakdown, then that's highly preferable, but usually dealer stamp on service book is more than enough for initial visit. If you are serious in buying then you can ask them to fetch a detailed report from dealer to verify the actual past of that car.

And run away from cars that has Enoc / Emarat / Adnoc service stickers as oil change is not a service history. And if owner was cutting corner for such expense then many other aspects must have been ignored too. And that defer maintenance will be very expensive and potentially unsafe for you as a new buyer.

[Bhaskar]

Thanks again @Gaurav! This is super helpful!

[topgear]

Based on your needs, if you are not too fussed with something that is more than 3 years old and more mileage, it is worth while to go for FJ, Prado or Fortuner. They would have 5 years warranty from Al Futtaim so it is still possible to get something with some residual warranty period remaining. 

If you want something newer and correspondingly lower mileage, I would personally go for Pajero or Montero.

It is currently the buyer's market. So please test drive the cars that you have shortlisted and decide. Happy car hunting!

[desertdude]

Being a totally new driver I would suggest get a beater car for 5-10k and get used to driving in UAE first even if you kerb your wheels get a few dings and Dangs it won't be on your new expensive ride.

After a few months when you are all set, confident and used to driving here then dispose of your beater and go for your proper main ride.

I would never suggest a fresh out of the oven driver to get a new-ish expensive powerful SUV

 

 

[Rahimdad]

Sorry to confuse you @Bhaskar. But I would rather go for a brand new SWB Pajero. Tried and tested for over plenty years. It's not going to cost you over AED 85k and will come with lot of freebies like first year insurance, Salik tag, free services and lots more. Go for brand new SWB Pajero. Great resale value as off-roaders are always searching for it. Another brand new car you can go for is Suzuki Vitara with 8 years unlimited warranty or the famous Jimny if that tickles your fancy.

Sorry once again, but go for new.

[topgear]

This is a certainly another perspective of looking at things and it is certainly a viable option as well.

[Bhaskar]

Hello guys!

So, finally I've got my first car - a Mitsubishi Montero Sport (2019). Happy & excited to start my off-road journey. 

Thank you all for your valuable inputs, it did help me a lot in making up my mind. 

Looking forward to my first off -road drive, hopefully next Friday! 

[Frederic]

12 minutes ago, Bhaskar said:

Hello guys!

So, finally I've got my first car - a Mitsubishi Montero Sport (2019). Happy & excited to start my off-road journey. 

Thank you all for your valuable inputs, it did help me a lot in making up my mind. 

Looking forward to my first off -road drive, hopefully next Friday! 

Congrats with the Montero Sport ! Looking forward to see you entering the sand !

[topgear]

Congratulations with your new ride. 

[Rahimdad]

Congratulations @Bhaskar on your new ride. I said SWB Pajero not Montero Sport. Looking forward to seeing you soon on the sands.