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Hi..

One of my female relatives would like to buy a car as she earned her driving license a few weeks ago. She wants something that she can control. She had her driving lessons in A Nissan Sunny which she said not too fast and easy to handle on road. She'll buy a second hand car and her budget is Dhs. 35000. She thinks of many cars like Suzuki Alto, Mazda-6, Peugeot 307, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Tiida, Honda City. She still can't decide about it. The most imporatnt thing 4 her is to buy an economic and reliable car that she can use for 3 years. One more thing, if you have any idea about Western Auto second hand showroom, please let me know as I heard that they sell many good branded used cars.

Personally I wouldn't go for anything too small, as it's very easy to get intimidated on the roads here.

The Japanese cars are cheapest for parts and run very well and last forever.

Mazda 3 and 6 are both good cars, Peugeot also good but parts and maintenance can be pricey.

Nissan and Toyota very good, although the Toyota City is a little on the small side for my liking.

I'd head up to Al Awir the 2nd hand car lot, there are loads of dealers and the place is huge. But there are some dealers I wouldn't touch with a barge poll in this town.

Make her buy a small car. Buying a big car just to act tough is pure bull. I've been driving a compact since I got my license. A new driver in a big 4x4 is the most dangerous thing on the road.

A Camry-sized car doesn't help either, since they are even longer than 4x4s. But avoid stuff as small as the Suzuki Alto. That's just way too small and sway in the wind when a truck passes by. Stick to Sunny-sized cars for now.

Well yes a medium sized car would be best. Too small and you're going to get pushed about and too big she might not be able to handle it. Having said that I see drivers here all the time in big cars with zero spacial awareness, they think they're driving tanks.

Go for a test drive in a few and see how she feels.

Hal2006 wrote:The most imporatnt thing 4 her is to buy an economic and reliable car that she can use for 3 years.

imho:
- Made in Japan
- Most popular brands+models (Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sunny, etc.)
- Choose yourself 3-5 models and let her sit in all of them and decide.

I'd choose Nissan Tiida 1.6L (probably need to crank the budget up few more thousands, but worth it), good enough for acceleration/speed than 1.3L Sunny/Lancer/Yaris. Yet compact enough to be used in the city. And it's a European-Japanese breed.

I have to ask though, does what s.e.x you are determine what car you buy? Are there really gender specific cars out there?

^^ to tell you the truth there are some cars that only women drive, you can say its a "women's car". Im afraid of mentioning some coz i know im gonna get flamed for it

And I heard some are g@ys' cars, like Z3. I don't know why.

Bleakus wrote:^^ to tell you the truth there are some cars that only women drive, you can say its a "women's car". Im afraid of mentioning some coz i know im gonna get flamed for it

At the lowest price ranges, there are no "guy" or "girl" cars. It's only about what you can afford. A pink Beetle or Mini are obviously girly cars, but they are categorised as pricey lifestyle cars anyway.

This is quite a scary subject!

If anyone has passed their test, they should be confident enough to drive anything whether they are 'girl', 'guy' or g@y (whatever that is?)!

Dubai generally might be amongst the most intimidating coutries to drive in but it is by no means the worst: I have driven cars all over the world and it does not matter what size of car you drive, you can either do it or you can't. There is a difference between 'learning to pass a test' and learning to drive, and the latter is not even started until the former is completed.

My view is that a first car should be something that you can get insurance for and is preferably cheap and cheerful, whatever size it is. You will make mistakes in your first year and you will get scrapes and dents. Learn from these in something that it will not matter too much about and save up for something nice when your confidence is greater. Spend some of what you have saved on an advanced driving course and improve your skills and confidence.

The biggest cause of accidents in this part of the world is dithering and indecision. Get any car you like and learn some roadcraft!

autodrone, that is a great answer. props.

Thanks a lot for your contribution. I really appreciate your opinions.

Basically she should drive anything she feels comfortable in. When I passed my test, people said don't buy a new car because you will have lots of accidents. Bollocks! I drove really carefully and definsively. And the last thing I needed was an unreliable second hand car so I decided to go for new or nearly new.
She should go for something she would really like and take someone like you to help her to test drive it

Best cars for women?!

All of them