How to Sell a Used Car in Dubai, UAE
A step-by-step guide for selling your car for the best price
Step 1: How to value your car
Before you are ready to put your car on sale, you have to determine the market value first. There are a number of ways to do this.
Blue Book Value and Dealer Valuations
There is no such thing as ‘blue book value when selling your car in Dubai. There are a few businesses and websites that will propose to buy your car for cash. Don’t expect to get fair market value from them. For the most part, these businesses will squeeze you and give you the lowest possible price for your car. They have to make money afterall.
The same thing applies to dealers who are are a poor option if you want to get the best valuation for your car. They will offer you a ridiculous price and depress you! Authorized dealers are no better, they are just a bit politer and smarter in getting you to resell your lovely car to them. In some cases, authorized dealers will even make you pay for a valuation (up to 300 dhs) before they give you an estimated price on your car. The good news is, if you accept their offer, the valuation fee is waived.
Online Car Valuation
The other option for determining the value of your car are online valuation sites such as:
www.vehiclecheck.ae – they give you an online valuation of your car in few minutes
uae.sellanycar.com – they seem to be giving very low prices for cars
http://dubaicarprices.com/ – they seem to be accurate…following a 20-15-15 depreciation model
These sites should give you some idea of the ballpark value for your car. Their price range reflects what you should expect when dealing with potential buyers and accounts for the kilometerage you have on your car. However, these sites would require a vehicle inspection before they give you a final price. This estimate also assumes that the vehicle has GCC specifications and is not purchased outside and imported to Dubai.
The DIY approach to valuing your car
I recommend the Do-It-Yourself valuation. A simple way to value your car is the 20-15-15 model (20-10-10 model for Japanese cars).
Let’s say you bought your car for 100,000 dhs. Expect a hefty 20-25% depreciation the first year depending on the model and condition of the car. The second year would be 10-15%, again depending on the condition of the car. Be aware that good agency maintenance increases the resale value of your car. It is, in fact, an investment for future resale. Do not neglect this.
Valuation Example: 2011 Mercedes C200
Original purchase price = 100,000 dhs
First year depreciation 20% = 20,000 dhs
Resale price in 2012 = 80,000 dhs
Second year depreciation 10%
Resale price in 2013 = 72,000 dhs
Third year depreciation 10%
Resale price in 2014 = 64,800 dhs
Another way to value your car is to look at dealer showroom prices of current year models and pre-owned models and going prices on classified websites, such as cars.com, autotrader.com, or dubizzle etc. Of course, my recommendation is that you use our app, Melltoo, for iOS and Android to research the going price and to post your car for sale.
Please be careful when doing price research to compare apples with apples. Many cars in Dubai are used cars imported from other countries and have very little documentation. In many cases, these cars have a “salvage” title in their own country. Don’t be fooled.
Determining the correct valuation for your car is important when putting your car up for sale. If you don’t know how much the market value for your car is, it is much harder for you to negotiate a sale and you are likely to sell for less than what your car is worth (or not sell because you are asking for too much).
Once you’ve figured out how much to sell your car for, download Melltoo for iOS and Android and post it for sale on the app!
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