Suggestions when looking for a car to buy in Dubai

• Buy a light colored automobile - black cars get unbelievably hot in the summer. There's a good reason why there are so many white cars in Dubai.
• If you buy a leather interior and it's a dark colour, expect second-degree burns when it contacts bare flesh after sitting in the summer sun. Burns from pale colors shouldn't scar too much.
• Most driving in Dubai will involve frequent stopping and starting on flat roads in straight lines, except for intersections. Many will say there's little point in getting a manual car. An automatic is less irritating in the traffic jams you'll be bound to get stuck in.
• A large 4wd (often called "4-wheel" instead of a "4-wheel drive" in Dubai) guzzles petrol and doesn't stop. But it's true you'll feel less vulnerable, and there are times it is easier to take a short cut over a bit of sand, or park on a pile of dirt. Parking on curbs and pavements is also possible but you risk being charged 150 dhs by the parking wardens.
• Window tinting is allowed up to 30% for foreigners / expats resident in Dubai. It makes the interior noticeably cooler. Cost is 50 to 500 dhs depending on quality.
• Consider seriously a new or nearly new car (and a loan if you don't have cash). Otherwise go the other extreme and buy something very old and cheap - at least it won't surprise you if (or when) it falls apart although there are sometimes cheap reliable cars around. In order of likelihood of being reliable consider this list for old car purchases (top is most reliable), and remember that car parts for posh cars are still expensive even if the car is old.
  • Toyota
  • Other Japanese
  • Mercedes
  • Hyundai
  • Other Asian
  • Skoda/Volkswagen
  • The rest would rate as poor to very poor in this order: American/other German, British/French/Italian, anything else.