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So this will be my first car to own. Previously I just rented from rental company or borrowed from my office. I don't know much other than basics about car ( it's obvious as I've never had one ). What do you think of either purchasing new car or second hand?

Purpose: daily office trip, almost nightly family trip (in city), twice a month long trip out of town.

Rough budget: 35-60K (by short term financing)
New car choices: Nissan Tiida, Honda Jazz, Toyota Yaris. Others?
Used car choices: good small-medium SUV or sporty cars. any recommendation within the budget?

The SUV would be the first choice to have minimum depreciation hit and possibility to go off-road (not hardcore) ocassionally. But my limited knowledge about car is a problem.
How is the general condition of used cars in Dubai? Are they insured? How to check generally? Any recommended car dealers?

Thank you

xty wrote:So this will be my first car to own. Previously I just rented from rental company or borrowed from my office. I don't know much other than basics about car ( it's obvious as I've never had one ). What do you think of either purchasing new car or second hand?

Purpose: daily office trip, almost nightly family trip (in city), twice a month long trip out of town.

Rough budget: 35-60K (by short term financing)
New car choices: Nissan Tiida, Honda Jazz, Toyota Yaris. Others?
Used car choices: good small-medium SUV or sporty cars. any recommendation within the budget?

The SUV would be the first choice to have minimum depreciation hit and possibility to go off-road (not hardcore) ocassionally. But my limited knowledge about car is a problem.
How is the general condition of used cars in Dubai? Are they insured? How to check generally? Any recommended car dealers?

Thank you

To reduce depreciation and maintenance, you'd be best advised to stick to Japanese small cars. In your budget, you'll only get soft-roaders which, in my experience, can't even do light sand, but again, you'll be happy with something Japanese like the Toyota RAV4 or the Honda CRV. If you do not care about maintenance or fuel costs, the sky is the limit in the used car market, as you go older.

Thanks for the info.
After reading some reviews, including drivearabia you promoted (thanks), I've narrowed my choices on the SUV part (I take out RAV4 as I guess it's out of my budget):

2-4 years second hand: honda crv, nissan xtrail, hyundai tucson (I heard the engine is similar to Toyota's?)

What do you think?
Should I concern a lot about the quality of these second hand cars in Dubai? Any recommended dealers?

Ohhh please dont think about 2nd hand cars! not unless you want to have a pain on your toot toot every now and then...

zam wrote:Ohhh please dont think about 2nd hand cars! not unless you want to have a pain on your toot toot every now and then...

Is that bad? Hmm I guess I should stick to new compact/sedan cars (narrowed to Tiida or Mazda 3)? As I can't afford to buy new SUV

xty wrote:Thanks for the info.
After reading some reviews, including drivearabia you promoted (thanks), I've narrowed my choices on the SUV part (I take out RAV4 as I guess it's out of my budget):

2-4 years second hand: honda crv, nissan xtrail, hyundai tucson (I heard the engine is similar to Toyota's?)

What do you think?
Should I concern a lot about the quality of these second hand cars in Dubai? Any recommended dealers?

Regarding the Tucson, I've never heard of any engine-sharing between Toyota and Hyundai.

As for used car dealers, I really couldn't reliably recommend any of them (even the big ones), except for the certified used cars by the official dealers. If you are not used to spotting damaged cars, it is best to stick to these dealer-certified ones or a new car.