Dubai Forums Dubai Tech Discussions Dubai Auto

Hi,

I will move to Dubai in 2 weeks, and will serve quite a few years there as an IT specialist. I wont be leaving on a huge budget, but I will be able to afford more than I do now. Since I am a Porsche lover, I thought about getting one in Dubai.

Any Porsche fans here? I never had one, and since I will need to buy used, I would like to pick someone's brain on a few things.

My budget will be 100,000AED, which puts me in the 1998 Porsche 911 standard ballpark. That is fine by me, but I am wondering how much maintenance a car like this needs. I think the 1998 model is already water cooled, but how well does it handle the heat? Will the A/C work even in the hottest months?

Are parts available in Dubai?

Any information would be nice. Basically I just dont want to end up buying something for 100k and spend another 10k on it every 2 months.

Thanks,
Ben

i assume you are talking abt a 996?

Why not getting one over there (Germany well maintained cars to choose from and all in the range of 20KEuro if they were in private hands, not leased cars) and bring her with you, its cheaper anyways and for sure in far better condition! (Minimum requirement fully maintained from PORSCHE)

The Problem with the 996 is that there were build so many and most of them were those "NEW ECONOMY" cars, leased and ridden to death.

I had two in Germany (well still one is waiting for me) both were 993, far more relaible esp due to their stupid new crank casing design (996) where always are issues of oil leaks and damaged shaft seal which damages your clutch.

Yes the 996 are entirely watercooled (993 only the heads).
A/C shall work here properly as well, never had an issue with the A/C (in Europe)

My suggestion would be get one in Germany and try to get a 993 (better sound, better looking and more relaible)

Abt maintance here, well as bad as with all other brands, since here is no competition for the shops they just do what and when they want.

Cheers

Hi M!

Thanks a lot for your answers, I didnt think I will find a Porsche enthusiast such quickly.

To be honest, I dont know too much about Porsches, and I only had this dream of having one for a long time. Initially, while living in SCal, I thought of getting a 912, which is the California version, but I never got to it. Thats a classic and small car, and I somehow love the style.

Now since Dubai is hotter and the A/C is much necessary, I would opt for something newer.

You say that importing from Germany makes sense financially and I will also get a better car that way. Will that however handle the extreme heat of close to 50C and sitting in traffic, blowing cold air to the cockpit ?
As far as I know, Gulf cars are made with GCC specs to bear the extra heat. Will a European car deal with this?

The 993 or 996 are both "fairly" modern, but I am somehow concerned about the cooling abilities of the 993 since the Air/Oil cooled combination. I know it has a few gallons of oil in it for better cooling, but still, its not water.

The 996's I found them in Dubai around 100k AED for a 9-10 year old one. Are they mainly imported cars, or they are with the GCC specs? If they are imported anyways, I guess getting one from Germany would make sense.

Since we are talking about importing, what does it involve and how lenghty of a process is it?

I am only "importing" our dog so far, and its a hell of a task with 1000s of regulations, etc.

Thanks for any pointers,

About the parts etc, will they likely to cheat me with the price, or they will be fair?

Can I service an old car like that outside of the Porsche dealrship?

I had an exotic old Firebird in California, and I joined kind of a local club where people helped eachother, and knew excellent and honest mechanics. Does the Porsche community has something like this?

Thanks

Ben

Ben, to make a long story short pls visit the following website, there are a couple of Porsche
& Petrolheads for all of your questions.

i am currently travelling so access is very limited for me at the moment

http://www.dubaipetrolheads.com/index.php

Cheers
Martin

Hi

I just wanted to post back to say thanks for the tip, I did get a lot of things answered there.

http://www.dubaipetrolheads.com/index.php?topic=1838.0

The only outstanding issue / question I have is about financing.

If I am buying a 10 year old car, can I still get a car loan for it?
I will have to spend a lot of money moving to Dubai, and I dont want to eat up all of our reserves, so I would prefer financing it, even if it means I need to get a slightly worse interest rate as opposed to a new car.

Could you give me any information about car loans? Which company may I try? And if I buy from a private person, can I still apply for a car loan, or I need to get it from a dealer?

Thanks a lot,

Ben

Most welcome i just followed the thread..... but sorry not the slightest idea abt financing/ loans whatever here, never done, will never do

A lot of people say no-no to financing, and I wonder what is the reason. Is it a total rip off? Sometimes I find my money doing much more in a savings account or on the market than what I would save when buying a car straight up and not paying interest.

May the reason be that people are only thinking about Dubai as a temporary place?

Back to the Porsche topic, guys on the other forum suggested the 996 instead of the 993 you were talking about. Would you please comment on that?

What are the best places to look for a used Porsche? I so far checked dubizzle.

Will I have good deals at dealerships? I heard there is a large car market with packs and packs of used car dealers...

Thanks

Ben

hi

I am still on this topic, doing my research online for weeks now, but still have some questions.

How do I tell a Porsche from being built with GCC specs and one that is not?

Basically I would like a local Porsche, local that is to UAE, and not an import.

Thanks

Ben

bence8810 wrote:hi

I am still on this topic, doing my research online for weeks now, but still have some questions.

How do I tell a Porsche from being built with GCC specs and one that is not?

Basically I would like a local Porsche, local that is to UAE, and not an import.

Thanks

Ben

I guess one way to tell would be to ask for the early service history. If the Porsche dealer plays nice, maybe they might tell you based on VIN number. If shopping from Awir Used Car Market, more often than not, their cars are imported and have no records.

gtmash wrote:

I guess one way to tell would be to ask for the early service history. If shopping from Awir Used Car Market, more often than not, their cars are imported and have no records.

Thanks, so Awir Used Car Market is to be avoided?

I was more looking for things like "Double radiator" or "thicker water hose" etc. I have never seen a Boxter engine compartment, so I have no idea what the differences would be.

I had a classic firebird, and that had a larger radiator with double walls as it was sold for Arizona, as opposed to the Northern versions.

Ben

bence8810 wrote:

gtmash wrote:

I guess one way to tell would be to ask for the early service history. If shopping from Awir Used Car Market, more often than not, their cars are imported and have no records.

Thanks, so Awir Used Car Market is to be avoided?

I was more looking for things like "Double radiator" or "thicker water hose" etc. I have never seen a Boxter engine compartment, so I have no idea what the differences would be.

I had a classic firebird, and that had a larger radiator with double walls as it was sold for Arizona, as opposed to the Northern versions.

Ben

In all honesty, I think modern cars have fewer differences between regions nowadays (unless it is govenrment-mandated). But I really have no idea which parts could be different.

The main reason to avoid Aweer is because they regularly repair cancelled cars from USA and sell to unsuspecting buyers. I keep switching garages to get work done on my car, and half of those garages had hordes of foreign-spec cars (some even fire-damaged) being repaired for sale in showrooms. Aweer would've been fine if you get an amazingly good deal, but usually they sell repaired cars at above-average prices.

gtmash wrote:In all honesty, I think modern cars have fewer differences between regions nowadays (unless it is govenrment-mandated). But I really have no idea which parts could be different.

The main reason to avoid Aweer is because they regularly repair cancelled cars from USA and sell to unsuspecting buyers. I keep switching garages to get work done on my car, and half of those garages had hordes of foreign-spec cars (some even fire-damaged) being repaired for sale in showrooms. Aweer would've been fine if you get an amazingly good deal, but usually they sell repaired cars at above-average prices.

Thanks I will avoid that place then. Do you suggest buying from an owner directly rather than from a shop?

Ben

The 993 is the best porsche 911 built. Its a everyday car and very reliable. It is air cooled and will look very nice with the proper wheel setup and styling.

I would still like to have a 997 turbo, prob in the future.

The matience is not bad, the car is built well..its like any other euro car..bmw, mercedes on the matience level.

HeavyMental wrote:The 993 is the best porsche 911 built. Its a everyday car and very reliable. It is air cooled and will look very nice with the proper wheel setup and styling.

I would still like to have a 997 turbo, prob in the future.

The matience is not bad, the car is built well..its like any other euro car..bmw, mercedes on the matience level.

And you are using the 993 as a daily driver in Dubai or in the States?

Thanks

Ben