Leaderboard

8 Most important steps before buying any car in Dubai and UAE Buying New or Used cars in Dubai and UAE is one of the most important and very valuable decisions that any individual or household makes. It is very difficult to find a good car from the hundreds of new cars and thousands of Used Cars for sale in UAE. That’s why many times I have been asked for car buying tips and tricks in choosing the right car model for my friends and family. So I thought of laying down my 15 years of car owning, buying and selling experience in words and try to help everyone here. It’s quite detailed and comprehensive so that it can clear many doubts, but don’t worry I made sure that I keep it to the point and very interesting to read. I am sure that after reading this you will realize that there are much more choices exists for Cars for sale in UAE other than just Toyota’s and Nissan in Dubai. Lol. Nothing in life comes for free, so the first and the foremost part are to allocate a budget that many people think is not very important at initial stage. But, trust me when I say its number one then there is a fair reason as changing your budget every week you will make your car buying experience more difficult. About 75% of car buyers in the UAE like to compare cars and hence for a fair car comparison you need to set a fix budget. You can read more here on “3 Key factors for assigning next car budget?” If you are not sure what all factors you need to consider while allocating the Car budget. Second step is to identify your Car need, which should be balanced between your emotional need and practical needs. My heart want’s cool looking 2 door sports car but with a family of 5 or 7, how do I practically enjoy that car with my family or will it be my second car for the weekend drives? All these questions you need to ask yourself honestly and decide accordingly and lock that choice to make rest of the process effective. You can read more here on “7 Car types that you should know before buying a car” Third step is to identify which Car brand or brands you like to buy or consider and why, as every car brand in today’s world is very different in behaving after couple of years of use. Some stay strong for over 10 years and some fall apart soon after the warranty. However every car brand has something special to offer, like some gives you most modern tech and gizmos than any other brand. Some offer extreme reliability, other specializes in the cheapest maintenance and so on. Sadly you can’t mix all good in one brand as every good has associated bad with it. If you fond of new tech and gizmos then slash out the reliability as no one has yet fully tested those technologies and if you like reliability then you should be happy to use the few year old proven technology that has been already perfected. You can read more here on “Top 5 best car brand types to buy” Remember that all this information is an indicative and based of several years of past experience, which may or may not co-relate after few years. Fourth step is to identify which year car year model you should choose or you can afford. If you are a new car buyer, then omit this point. Otherwise it is very important while you are in the market of used car for sale in UAE. Striking a balance between a model years vs. odometer reading is very important and as a car buyer you need to understand its importance thoroughly. This point alone is a very big game changer in identifying the right price for any used car for sale in Dubai or in UAE. Apart from year you also need to decide on full options vs. base option and entry models vs. flagship models and why? All three points are explained here “3 Secrets to choose perfect car model” Fifth step is to find the clean used cars in UAE, and this alone is havoc these days as due to quick internet education every seller and buyer is becoming very cautious and over smart. The most effective and single trusted method for finding used clean cars in UAE is to ask a single golden question: “Do you have full service history”. This question alone will filter more than 75% of the used cars and then you can focus on your mission more effectively. Off course if you know the cars in and out then you can take a bet at your own risk, but for normal average person who knows only 10% -20% basic car knowledge it’s better to rely on the service history records. This is fully explained here "One and only way to find trouble free used car" If you still need some convincing. Sixth step, relatively easy but important to know from where and how to buy the clean used cars for sale in UAE? As overtime this place has grown so much that people think that whatever legacy methods they have been using is still applicable, but it’s actually not. Just like anything else, this has also gone pass it’s saturation point few years back and now every used car buyer and seller need to know this: "5 Best places to buy clean used car at good price in Dubai & UAE" This point alone can save you so much time and money, that you will realize it only after the bad experience with the wrong guys. Seventh step is to put the reality to test and find out if all the above efforts have been followed properly or not. Once you are totally convinced with the model, odometer, condition, options etc. next is to test the car thoroughly by yourself as much as you can before you finalize or take it for further inspection with specialize technician. You should know the basic points to check the car as you don’t want to spend the technician fees for testing 5-10 vehicles, so knowing basic testing points will help you eliminate at least 75% - 80% of your car choices and only 1 or 2 will make it to professional technical test: "5 Things to check in used car before buying?" Eighth and the final step are to decide the final hand-shake price of the car. As true gentlemen you should always stick to your words while doing the negotiation. And never ever give your final offer if you are not serious to buy, or have some doubt before the final testing. Keep the seller in clear picture that you suggest an “indicative price” depending on the final inspection. I have seen major drama stories happening at the testing center when both buyer and seller are right and still deal fall apart because of the lack of clarity in communication. For putting the genuinely right price of any car if you spend 10 – 15 minutes with basic math you can do it yourself and don’t require any price comparison website. I have laid out the best practice that is been followed by insurance companies for over a decade to put a fair value price on any used cars here "4 Most important factors impacting used car price" Remember if you buy it right, you will enjoy it and not lose an arm and a leg while selling it. This is kind of must-read of all the above eight points. Disclaimer: I have written this and all linked articles to help my friends and family and other car enthusiast’s like you. This is purely based on my own experience. If you know anything more than this I am happy to edit these articles any time. Please leave me a comment and I will accept your changes and improvise these as soon as I can. If you like reading these articles and it helped you in anyways, please pass on the knowledge to others and use below red like to show your appreciations.

Top 3 off-road mistakes that driver makes in the UAE People assume driving off-road is a lot easier due to no rules and restrictions as compared to driving on the road. That may be true to a certain extent, but after a while it might get messy if certain rules aren’t followed. Off-road freedom is awesome, but you should always remember these three MAJOR off-road mistakes that every experienced and in-experienced off-road drivers come across in the UAE. By the way, all these 3 rules apply for desert, mountain, small drive - overnight drive, beach sand & sand dunes. So by remembering these 3 golden rules you will save yourself from 75% of the off-road threat that may spoil your enjoyment or cost you some expensive repairs. It's always good to read little bit more on how to drive off-road before you embark with your most capable 4x4 vehicle. If you are new to off-road then you should listen to people advice, see what others are doing and learn how to negotiate with various off-road obstacles. Deflate, deflate and deflate: No car in the world is capable of driving off-road without deflating. You might get away with few 100 meters without deflating, but eventually you will get stuck. Yes you need to deflate in sand and on rocks as well. For sand, ideal is to deflate to 15-18 PSI as per terrain difficulty and also as per the temperature (deflate more in summer, when sand is loose). Maximum you can deflate to 12 PSI (not lower) if you are in very challenging terrain like Liwa, Sweihan or Al Wagan sand dunes. For wadi's and rock crawling you need to deflate lesser up to 22-25 PSI as compare to sand. In wadi and rocks little deflation help in better traction by increasing the footprints while crawling and absorb LOT of shocks on loose gravel or rocky terrain, while driving. Plan your stop: About 90% of off-road stuck happen due to stopping in wrong places. Always choose the safe spot to stop, and stop slowly. People driving in sand dunes while climbing up and down the dune, get tempted to stop in amazing scenic spot, but when they start again they get stuck. Don't stop on uphill, sideways and on loose sand which will make it difficult for you to move the vehicle again. When in motion, use that momentum to choose the flat, hard spot (as much as possible) so that moving again is easy. Stopping hard with harsh brake will dig you in the sand and moving again will be even more difficult. In the inevitable situation if you brake hard, then go backwards few meter and gain momentum to drive further. As you advance more in desert driving in sand you will see it is very simple physics that needs common sense more than an ego of being an owner of "most powerful car" and "most expensive car". Take it easy and be ready to go back little bit and start again if you are stuck in a difficult spot, try to find work-around than forcing your way in because mother nature is sometimes more stubborn than you are. For rock climbing, crawling and wadi passage plan your stop carefully so that you can start back safely and avoid any excessive wheel-spin or slippage of your vehicle. In rocks while negotiating with big boulder (stones) you need more of patience and external help than too much gas and distractions. External help means to have your friend or family person outside the car who can guide your exact tire movement (very slowly) and help you step on safe spot and pass through. Don't panic when you are stuck: The beauty of off-road driving is EVERYONE will get stuck, whether you are a super sales achiever, manager, leader, CEO or the VP. The idea is to stay calm and "DO NOT PANIC". Majority of off-road stuck are very minor and you can recover yourself in less than a minute if you are calm. If you panic and give too much acceleration it will dig you deep in sand and might dislocate your vehicle more in rocks. When vehicle is not moving, first attempt is to try reversing immediately and seeing what is blocking so that you can avoid it. If reverse is not possible, then step out and identify the situation, have few sips of water and you will get creative in thinking different ideas to get out. If you are stuck in wadi's and mountains, you can probably move few smaller rocks aside by hand and make your way or sometime you can place smaller rocks under your tire and use them as a stepping stone. In sand stuck, if vehicle is not moving engage your Lo-Gear (4WD lo-gear) and start with little aggressive acceleration up to 2500 RPM (ONLY) and that too in quick short intervals (no full gas for long stretch). See if it helps moving your vehicle few meters or even centimeters, then repeat the same in front and reverse several times and make little movable path and when you have a good stretch, then take off with more acceleration up to 5000 RPM (sometimes even full gas). Idea here is to avoid full gas in beginning as that will dig you down and once you have little movable path and vehicle is in motion for 5-10 meters and you give more or full acceleration, it will help you cross that climb, loose-sand or uneven spot more easily. If everything fails as per self-recovery, call for help and don't dig yourself deeper by too much excessive self-recovery, as that will make the situation worse for other car to pull you out.

7 Car types you should know before buying a car A second step after the 3 Key factors for assigning next car budget; you should be finalizing the type of car you actually require based on the present functionality and your needs. For ex: a bigger family opts for 7 seats, a small family with kids will choose a car with 5 seats, a family with grown-up kids need a car with ample boot space for teenager sports equipment, just a married couple might like a two-door or convertible, etc. While deciding your next car league you also need to think a little down the line as if it should be still practical for the next few years before you sell or else you might regret your buy within a few months, so think beyond today rationally and not only emotionally and factor all the possibilities for the future. Below is a quick run-down of all the major 7 different types of Car categories that exists in today’s world from the cheapest to the most expensive types with a few known names of the car models to give you an idea: Subcompact Cars: Audi A1, Chevrolet Aveo, Sonic, Spark, Ford Fiesta, Honda City, Nissan Tiida, Peugeot 208, VW Polo etc. Compact Cars: Audi A3, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Lancer, Nissan Sunny, Peugeot 308, Toyota Corolla, VW Golf. Mid-Size Cars: Chevrolet Epica, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda 6, Mitsubishi Galant, Nissan Altima, Peugeot 508, Toyota Camry etc. Full-Size Cars: Audi A8, BMW 7-Series, Chevrolet Impala, Ford Taurus, Hyundai Genesis, Nissan Maxima, Toyota Avalon, VW Phaeton etc. Mini SUV / Compact Crossover: Audi Q3, BMW X3, Chevrolet Trax, Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda CX-3, Nissan Juke, Peugeot 2008, Toyota Rav4, Volkswagen Tiguan etc. Mid-Size SUV / Crossover: Audi Q5, BMW X5, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Ford Edge, Honda Pilot, Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota Prado, VW Touareg etc. Full-Size SUV: Audi Q7, BMW X6, Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Explorer, Mitsubishi Pajero, Nissan Patrol, Toyota Land Cruiser

3 Key factors for assigning next car budget in Dubai and UAE As everything in life revolves around money, so deciding the fixed budget for your car buy is the number one thing that you should be doing. It’s not only to let you stay in control, but making the rest of the process streamline based on the available budget be it 10,000 or 5 Million. You need to decide the cash amount in hand as a buying kitty and then decide on how big you want to invest or rather spend. Off course I said as big because you don’t buy car everyday unless you are a dealer and hence increasing the budget has its own advantage to get you the most perfect car you need and will enjoy for the next few years. So allocate generously but definitely within your affordability parameters. People who want to take the buying kitty as a down payment only, need to also decide on how big car loan they can comfortably afford as an initial spend and for every month car loan EMI. If you are a cash buyer, then planning is lot easier in assigning the next car buying budget is equals to whatever you saved or whatever you can afford to spend for certain number of years after the residual value of car resale value. Example: You saved 100,000 for your next car buy and plan to drive the car for 5 years. Assuming your car resale value after five years will be 40,000 (4 Most important factors impacting used car price). So if you can afford comfortably spending the 100,000 – 40,000 = 60,000 over 5 years means 12,000 per year = 1,000 per month then go for it. Remember this amount is without Car maintenance, Car Insurance, Fuel cost, registration, Salik etc. This section is bit more complex for the car buyer who is planning to take up a car loan. As he still need to consider the above depreciation affordability and also find viability for the monthly payments. As most bank loan offer up to 80% of car value, so you should be ready with 20% cash as a down-payment. For the remaining payment EMI as a general rule of thumb, you should not exceed the below percentage of your gross monthly income depending on where you fit yourself: For an average joe, for who Car is just an absolute necessity: 10% - 15% Car enthusiast’s, who love Cars and want to enjoy to the max: 15% - 25% Car Maniac, who is crazy about Cars and can’t live without it: 25% - 40% Below are the 3 key factors that you must be aware of and able to factor them while allocating an appropriate car buying budget: Insurance: 4-5% of car value generally for all cars and all drivers 5-7% of car value for sports or high performance car or new driver 7-10% of car value for sports or high performance car and new driver Car Registration, Plate Number, Salik etc: 500-600 AED Annual Maintenance: Approx. 3-5% of car value for Japanese, Korean and American Cars within 5 years of age. Approx. 5-7% of car value for Japanese, Korean and American Cars after 5 years of age. Approx. 7-10% of car value for European and UK Cars within 5 years of age. Approx. 10-12% of car value for European and UK Cars after 5 years of age.

3 Secrets to choose perfect car model in Dubai and UAEAge VS. Odometer Any car life and value is highly dependent on its age and how many kms or miles it has been driven. These two are the major component as everything in car ages with passage of time and other mechanical component wear down as per how much it is driven. On an average a car should have driven 20,000 kms a year as a benchmark value to decide its worthiness. Below example will help you understand that where the age will take precedence vs Kms. Car A: 3 years old car driven 60,000 kms for 85,000 AEDCar B: 2 years old car driven 90,000 kms for 85,000 AEDCar C: 5 years old car driven 60,000 kms for 65,000 AEDCar A is better than Car B. (Kms takes precedence) Car B is better than Car C. (Age takes precedence) Car C is better than Car A. (Kms takes precedence) Base VS Full Options While buying a car the price difference between Base and Full option is marginal and that difference becomes miniscule in used cars, especially in Asian and American cars. Hence most of the used car buyers always prefer the full option cars, which makes the Full option resale value better than Base option and also it sells faster due to more in demand. So if little money is not a constraint, always buy a full option car. Entry models VS Flagship models Every car manufacturer always cut so many corners in entry level cars in all classification, which tend to show its age faster than expected. Due to same they fetch even lower resale value as they require higher maintenance after few years of use. On the other hand all car companies take extra time, effort and research for putting together their premium flagship models as they carry special pride of their brand. Due to same they are highly reliable and fetch excellent resale value. If budget is a constraint then, stay away from entry models and go as close as possible to the flagship range. Disclaimer: I have written this and all linked articles to help my friends and family and other car enthusiast’s like you. This is purely based on my own experience. If you know anything more than this I am happy to edit these articles any time. Please leave me a comment and I will accept your changes and improvise these as soon as I can. If you like reading these articles and it helped you in anyways, please pass on the knowledge to others and use below red like to show your appreciation.

5 Best places to buy clean used car at good price in Dubai & UAECar buying is an absolute mix of art and science together if you want to buy a perfect car. Having said that, means it requires a lot of patience and tolerance toward the car sellers. About 90% of the car seller offer might not fit your requirement, but just raise your tolerance and simply move on than getting into any heated argument. It’s not that you cannot prove a point, but what is the use of picking an argument when you aren’t interested in their car, so save your energy for next car visit and keep yourself calm and positive to do the proper inspection for your next perfect car. No to car dealers I am not saying or claiming that all car dealers are bad, but my experience has been 75% bad with all of them, and I have dealt with 8-10 different type of car dealers from small to medium timers (big boys are usually very expensive) here in Dubai. Sometime they fail to show the complete truth about the vehicle history and when you ask 5-10 questions then you figure out the crap and ugly truth they were hiding. I have even witnessed that 5 year old Nissan Patrol shows 60,000 kms on the odometer and also carrying 180,000 kms Oil change sticker of ENOC fuel pump on the driver door sill (odometer reversed case). It’s very difficult and for novice buyer it’s impossible to figure out the crap they can get from car dealer, so your best bet is to stay clear and do not deal with them. If you are really stuck because of no option in private deal then ask the first golden question with any car dealer: “Do you have full service history”? If the answer is yes, then inspect the service record with your eyes first before wasting any single minute, as many times I have experienced that when you ask service record they start playing hide and seek, that it’s there but in another office or car and will come here tomorrow if you are really a serious buyer. I am like you get serious first to sell and display what you have than playing otherwise and waste my time. No to big car classified sites As majority of them are car dealers or private dealers who is posting their junk cars at dirt cheap price there and keeping the best cars in their showroom to get you their and use these big and overly successful classifieds sites as a bait for the car buyers. Always focus on private deals with the real car owners Search for online car forums with real people Off-road clubs member forumsFacebook groups & pagesLocal supermarket advertisement boards etc.Office intranet or bulletin boardIn all the above 5 options you are sure to deal with the real people and not the car dealers. Once you find a good car deal make a visit and see if the car registration is at least 6 months old and if it’s not, then it may be a of private dealer. In worst case scenario private dealer are much better than the car dealer as they are less hungry and markup only 5-10% but will get you a super clean car with full service records. It’s worth the time and effort they spend to scout a clean deals on wheels. Second point to pay attention is the service history records, check all the receipts and see the service booklet is timely stamped and not any service has been missed out. In some cases people get the minor service to get the stamp and skip the major service to save money or get it done from outside workshop. In case of any gaps, if owner has a record of carrying out the major service from any other reputable workshop, it’s still acceptable than completely skipping it out. Third thing is the quick exterior looks for seeing any noticeable damage from accident, broken bumpers, headlights etc. Fourth is to start the car and see if it starts fine and no warning lights have been displayed on the dashboard. Fifth and the last point is to drive around a car and see how engine and gearbox react to your throttle response, skip a few bumps at good speed to check the suspension, check the AC cooling is OK while car is parked and good when car starts moving, play the music system and check the clarity etc. If all above 5 points are positive then you can consider yourself almost on the way to find your perfect car and consider yourself to go further with testing in detail by yourself in less than 30 minutes: 5 Things to check in used car before buying. Disclaimer: I have written this and all linked articles to help my friends and family and other car enthusiast’s like you. This is purely based on my own experience. If you know anything more than this I am happy to edit these articles any time. Please leave me a comment and I will accept your changes and improvise these as soon as I can. If you like reading these articles and it helped you in anyways, please pass on the knowledge to others and use below red like to show your appreciation.

Every car in today’s world is literally trouble free, if you actually understand the definition of trouble. As we humans need special treat over the weekend, movie with a loved one or once in a month long drive, we don’t call these things as trouble and we name them routine leisure activities to keep us charged and motivated for rest of the week/month. Likewise if every car owner in the world follows 100% schedule maintenance then literally there won’t be any trouble in their car. It is proven that over 75% of trouble is because of failed / deferred maintenance. I have been working with so many mechanics in my life and I hear them a lot saying that owner’s complaint about the car when they have over-driven the basic oil change by double its recommended kms. Trust me, not all cars are that forgiving except Japanese. You as a future car buyer need to understand that everything in the car will require some maintenance at some point in future. Please plan and be prepare for that car budget if you want to enjoy a trouble free car. Worst is sometimes, that smallest things can trigger such a big expense, that without knowing we simply blame the car brand. Below are the few of disaster examples: In Land Rover Discovery, failing to grease a drive shaft nipple results in a death wobble and then failure of drive shaft completely.Honda Accord if gear oil is not changed in time, then it will ruin the gear shift and clutch.In Nissan Pathfinder torn axel boot result in front axle failure.Loosely close radiator cap (in Japanese cars) can actually over heat your engine.Loosely close fuel cap (in German cars) can throw check engine light in dashboard.In Range Rover weak battery can display “Transmission Failure” error message because it uses electronic gear oil.So the bottom line is that how to find a trouble free car means that car that comes with proven service history records is the “KING”. Rest everything else might be fake and simple load of lies to sell that car. Before making a purchase insist of seeing the records with regular interval with the dealer (or reputed workshop) in the form of service booklet stamps or with the receipts of amount paid on each service. Showing the sticker of fuel station service is meaningless that every fuel station does the basic engine oil and filter change service and nothing more than that. Just for the complete service history records even if you have to pay 5% -10% extra premium while buying a used car it’s absolutely worth it. Same premium you can also claim when you resell the car if you have been maintaining the car as per schedule maintenance. Disclaimer: I have written this and all linked articles to help my friends and family and other car enthusiast’s like you. This is purely based on my own experience. If you know anything more than this I am happy to edit these articles any time. Please leave me a comment and I will accept your changes and improvise these as soon as I can. If you like reading these articles and it helped you in anyways, please pass on the knowledge to others and use below red like to show your appreciation.

Top 5 best car brand types to buy in Dubai and UAEAlthough this area majorly depends on so many personal choices, but I will try to high grade the most important points to pick and choose the most appropriate and most successful 5 best car brand types for you next car. The basic attribute of the brand behavior is very closely related to the geographical location they come from. In UAE there are 5 major and best car brand types extremely famous and successful in delivering all sorts of Cars. Below is a quick run-down in very generic and not specific to any one brand from that region. Japanese Cars: Honda, Infiniti, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota. They are generally famous for extremely reliable and durable cars. Offer reasonable comfort with very high usable life of cars.Resale value: 10 out of 10.Korean Cars: Hyundai and Kia. Recently they are famous for great designs and new technology at competitive pricing. Offer reasonable reliability and acceptable performance.Resale value: 9 out of 10.American Cars: Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep. They are generally famous for larger than life, spacious and very competitively priced cars. Offer reasonable vehicle life with standard reliability and acceptable performance.Resale value: 8 out of 10.German Cars: Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Volkswagen. They are generally famous for high end luxury and extreme performance cars. Offer amazing creature comforts, new technology but with limited usable life of car.Resale value: 7 out of 10.UK Cars: Land Rover, Jaguar, Mini. They are generally famous for impeccable detailing and comfort in style. Offer reasonable vehicle usable life with excellent performance but with low reliability.Resale value: 6 out of 10.Having said the above quick pointers, they do not apply exactly same to all brands from same region. For example Toyota and Nissan is few notches above Mazda and Mitsubishi, although all 4 are from Japan, means each brand is slightly different in their core values, commitment and quality. Secondly the resale value is just a quick indicator of an average comparison as per each brand if compared to the same car classification (Explained earlier here: 7 Car types that you should know before buying a car). Each vehicle depreciation is majorly depended as per their origin and then as per their classification. Disclaimer: I have written this and all linked articles to help my friends and family and other car enthusiast’s like you. This is purely based on my own experience. If you know anything more than this I am happy to edit these articles any time. Please leave me a comment and I will accept your changes and improvise these as soon as I can. If you like reading these articles and it helped you in anyways, please pass on the knowledge to others and use below red like to show your appreciation.