# Leasing Cars



## jimbobslats (Jun 14, 2012)

Does anyone know the best most affordable way to do this? I'm due in Dubai in July and will need a car for my work commute, my boss said I could lease one but wondered how you'd get the best deals by doing this, in the UK leasing is expensive and you can't get good deals, I was hoping you could get deals in Dubai maybe with people leaving and still having cars on lease or wanting to get out of contracts etc.


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## ziokendo (Jan 7, 2012)

jimbobslats said:


> Does anyone know the best most affordable way to do this? I'm due in Dubai in July and will need a car for my work commute, my boss said I could lease one but wondered how you'd get the best deals by doing this, in the UK leasing is expensive and you can't get good deals, I was hoping you could get deals in Dubai maybe with people leaving and still having cars on lease or wanting to get out of contracts etc.


Most of the big conglomerates that are in the business of selling cars do also fleet and long term leases, and they do this also to the end customer, not only corporates.

As you state usually this is just a common corporate option in Europe due to the tax savings/deductions/cash flow, and is expensive for end customers because you need to bear all the taxes (vat, etc) on the monthly lease.

Since this is not the case in Dubai (no vat/sales tax, little road tax and insurance, etc) it may actually be convenient also for an end customer if you find the right deal because is very easy on the cash flow.

For example Hertz, part of the same group trading Honda, Toyota and other brands in UAE also does long term leases for the same cars they sell at very decent rates when they have a special offer. You can rent a Camry, 30,000km/yr, everything included (registration, maintenance, tyres, insurance), for around 2000aed/36months. Early exit penalty is 3 months lease. 

Budget is doing the same, they have a wide range of Chevrolet on offer, but when I called them they wanted a lot of income documentation and a minimum salary of 25-35.000 aed/mo (why you would ever want to rent a Cruze for 1,600 aed/mo if you earn 30.000 / mo I find difficult to understand, but it's their business after all).

Galadari the mazda dealer has a mazda 2 for 1,299 aed / mo as well, with a couple of months of exit penalty, and so on.

This information (prices, offers, names) can no longer be accurate so call them of course to understand the current terms.




If you have the cash upfront (or can score a very low rate loan) and you don't mind to manage a car by yourself it will be always better to buy, but as said to lease is not that bad. Personally I am using Hertz, if you need a contact person let me know.

Be advised though that for long term leases you would need a local driving license, residency status stamped on your passport and a credit card (not necessarily local, you can use the home one and switch later to a local one), so it will take you a bit, forget to do this in the first week.


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## jimbobslats (Jun 14, 2012)

Great reply, thanks


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## minimal (Jul 26, 2011)

This is the first direct answer to this question I've seen - thank you.


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## toneson (Jun 15, 2012)

V useful indeed - dialogue opened with Hertz


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## Jager (May 26, 2012)

Even though I haven't moved permanently to Dubai yet, I started this process when I was visiting last month. Some of the advice I received from talking to the finance guys at the car dealerships was as follows :

1. 20% Deposit
In my past experience, finance companies will usually finance 100% of the purchase price. Apparently by law they can only finance a maximum of 80% in Dubai - an outcome of the number of deals that went bad in 2009/10.

2. 12 Months Company History
Because I am moving to Dubai to establish a new office for my company, I'm told the company is ineligible for a car lease until it has been established 12 months. Again, apparently is the result of the number for failed companies during the last financial crisis. I therefore can only lease the car personally rather than the company leasing it.

Happy to be corrected on the above if any of the information is wrong, but this is what I was advised by the Lexus & Toyota dealers.


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## LAME (Jun 7, 2013)

I'm just going through the same exercise. It's definitely not cheap compared to buying the vehicle outright. The end effect is that the profit the lease company makes is the residual value of the vehicle plus a bit once the lease ends and they sell it.

A mid range Prado over 48mths lease is around AED3300 per month. Thats 158,400 total paid to the lessor. the same vehicle can be bought for 163,000Dhs retail. Thats before any discounts.. A second hand vehicle 4yrs old at 100,000kms can be found on Dubizzle at around the AED95,000 mark. I'll effectively pay off the vehicle and leave the lessor with any return from disposal as their profit margin. If your happy to write that kind of cash off over the term of the lease that would otherwise be in your pocket, then all good!

I'm still not sure which way to go. The finance option is there but as stated you need to cough up the deposit. You also pay for insurance, rego, tyres etc. I don't currently have a deposit..
I also don't fancy owing banks here any cash knowing some want forward dated cheques etc as some kind of demented "insurance" that you'll get punished good and proper if you miss a payment?
And second hand? There's all sorts of horror stories about people getting ripped with lemons; previously smashed up vehicles, repairs etc after the sale due to having been flogged by a local out in the sand, the list goes on. Dubizzle's full of "pigs with lipstick". I'm sick of the site already. Then having to run around like a twit convincing the seller to get a vehicle check, ticking all the finance boxes getting hypothecation letters, letters of offer, vehicle valuation report, insurance, rego swapped etc. grrrr! Then if something does break, having the coin to fix it.. Air-cond condenser 7500dhs, suspension ?dhs, tyres 3000-5000dhs. Hmmm...

To have a brand new car pitch up with all costs (excl fuel and Salik) covered incl insurance, rego, servicing, tyres, 24hr breakdown cover, replacement vehicle etc plus having it managed over the whole life of the lease with the ability to drop it with relatively minimal penalty (3 months payments as mentioned earlier) at a moments notice if it all turns to shyte, or otherwise give it back at the end without any worry almost seems worth it! Almost.

Undecided....


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## looper (Apr 30, 2013)

LAME said:


> I'm just going through the same exercise. It's definitely not cheap compared to buying the vehicle outright. The end effect is that the profit the lease company makes is the residual value of the vehicle plus a bit once the lease ends and they sell it.
> 
> A mid range Prado over 48mths lease is around AED3300 per month. Thats 158,400 total paid to the lessor. the same vehicle can be bought for 163,000Dhs retail. Thats before any discounts.. A second hand vehicle 4yrs old at 100,000kms can be found on Dubizzle at around the AED95,000 mark. I'll effectively pay off the vehicle and leave the lessor with any return from disposal as their profit margin. If your happy to write that kind of cash off over the term of the lease that would otherwise be in your pocket, then all good!
> 
> ...


I would go with the last option....just to avoid the hassle with the used car!


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