# 2500 Dhms for a Nissan Altima for a Month



## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

Wondered what others are paying for one month car rental, so thought I'd post my experience to get some other comparisons as I need another months rental in September. 

Any better deals out there?

I flew into Dubai last week and picked up a Rental from Dollar at the Airport.

Before I went, I logged onto website Priceline.com - the one with xStar Trek, William Shatner on it - nice touch. "One part frugality, one part brutality" !

It came back with what they call a "Mid Size Car" Ford S Max or Similar - 1,990 Dhms for One month - sounded good - booked.

So turned up - late after delayed flight from the UK, they offered me a Toyota Corrola - 2013 model with 150k on the clock! I was tired and felt a little suckered at this - as it was obviously due for a change and held back as the "cheapy" for just such deals.

So I upgraded and got a Nissan Altima - 2.5 litre Auto, almost new for an extra 500 Dhms. Which seems OK. 3,000 Km mileage limit for the month.

Can anyone compare a recent deal / experience?
Cheers


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

My car is a stunning gold TIIDA for AED 1,900 through Advanced Cars. I do think I can get a better deal, I do realise I am being ripped off. But Its through the company so much less hassle for myself


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## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

Sounds OK actually - 4 door motor for 1900 - Tiida would compare to a Corrola I think.

Think the bit that's naughty now is the S Max picture on Priceline - which is truly a full size car.

It's the "Or equivalent bit" that catches people like me out - Corrola in my view isn't equivalent to an S Max.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

2500 Dhs for Altima if it is with the full insurance sounds like a very good deal.


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## mjdevans (Oct 4, 2009)

National Car Rental part of Al Tayer (Ford) Fiesta dhs 1,800/month


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## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

rsinner said:


> 2500 Dhs for Altima if it is with the full insurance sounds like a very good deal.


I don't think it's full insurance. I'll have to check, but I remember saying no to a further upgrade fee. I was tired at the time!


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## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

mjdevans said:


> National Car Rental Ford Fiesta dhs 1,800/month


That's not really comparable - I'd say a Fiesta was a "Small Car"


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## mjdevans (Oct 4, 2009)

True but I'm comparing it to the knackered Corolla he was offered at the airport.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

I'm paying 4100/month for a Honda CRV with full insurance from Hertz. It would be 3800/month with regular insurance. Probably could get a better deal but the Hertz branch is located in the same building I'm currently staying in and I'm lazy.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

1800 a month for a Tiida through Thrifty. 2014 with 31K on the clock (at the moment). Negotiated it down from 2100 after several months. 

It's a perfectly fine car. Does 140km easily and I drive to/from AD several days a week. Fuel economical too. 

It does feel odd to be driving a Tiida, especially for someone with my income but I figure as long as the Thrifty tag is on the car no one is laughing at me.


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## rahzaa (May 2, 2012)

Is Tiida better than Yaris sedan? I got a Yaris sedan for 1700 aed.


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## imac (Oct 14, 2012)

rsinner said:


> 2500 Dhs for Altima if it is with the full insurance sounds like a very good deal.


you can get the 2016 altima for 2150 on a two year + 150 cdw from thrifty... if you are interested let me know and i can pm the number of my guy to you...


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

TallyHo said:


> 1800 a month for a Tiida through Thrifty. 2014 with 31K on the clock (at the moment). Negotiated it down from 2100 after several months.
> 
> It's a perfectly fine car. Does 140km easily and I drive to/from AD several days a week. Fuel economical too.
> 
> *It does feel odd to be driving a Tiida, especially for someone with my income but I figure as long as the Thrifty tag is on the car no one is laughing at me.*


*Trust me - everyone is laughing at you. *


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## omrano (Jul 13, 2014)

It is a good deal but 3,000 Km limit for one month is low, Avis gives you unlimited kilometers while Hetz gives you 5000 Km limit.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

imac said:


> you can get the 2016 altima for 2150 on a two year + 150 cdw from thrifty... if you are interested let me know and i can pm the number of my guy to you...


Thanks. I have an 8 year old Honda Accord I drive to work, so still cheaper than renting. 

I hope people are not laughing at me for driving the car  esp. "with my income" which i have framed and put on the dashboard


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

I genuinely don't care  otherwise I would have bought a car long time ago. 

But it's a very snobby part of the world and I've had a few people joke about it. 

I once had a meeting with a VVIP client and blinged myself out for it. Expensive suit, even put on the signet ring. Meeting went well and as it happened he joined me walking back to the Tiida and when he realised what I drove a look appeared on his face. Then he realised it was a rental and started asking what cars I was looking at buying and I fobbed him off with a few vague statements about not having made up my mind and had to stand there for the next 30 minutes while he chain smoked and lectured me on the pros and cons of various luxury models, none of which I was remotely interested in. 





rsinner said:


> Thanks. I have an 8 year old Honda Accord I drive to work, so still cheaper than renting.
> 
> I hope people are not laughing at me for driving the car  esp. "with my income" which i have framed and put on the dashboard


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

TallyHo said:


> even put on the signet ring.


:ranger: 

As I've said countless times, I find it humiliating to drive a TIIDA, its the worst car of all time. I don't valet it, i park it myself, I hate driving to hotels. But I am to lazy to buy a car so its kind of my own fault.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Yaris? Lancer? Kia? Chevrolet Spark?

A battered 1990s Corolla with broken A/C?

There's worse cars out there. You're just a snob 

Tell me, are you gung ho for a FJ Cruiser (yes, it's a loaded question). 



iggles said:


> its the worst car of all time. I don't valet it, i park it myself, I hate driving to hotels. But I am to lazy to buy a car so its kind of my own fault.


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## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

Nissan Tiida for 1800.

Sounds good, I convert that to £310 a month all in... I still work in pounds in my head!

Interesting to hear about the approaches from various posters here - you're right though Dubai is all about show so Cars seem a big part of that.

I pinged a couple of other sites yesterday and got a quote for a 2015 Chevy Cruze for 2,100 a month (1500 security deposit) included full insurance.


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

TallyHo said:


> Yaris? Lancer? Kia? Chevrolet Spark?
> 
> A battered 1990s Corolla with broken A/C?
> 
> ...


FJ Cruiser or Mustang  I've already mentioned this ha. Thing is i work 6 days a week, and the ford dealership is closed on a Friday. So i really need to make an effort to go find a car. I don't want to play around with Dubizzle and chasing fake cars. Chasing a flat almost drove me out the country. 

To the OP, stop converting to pounds, you really need to. It's not relative here, UK is alot cheaper for alot of basic items.

Edit I like the Yaris, its cute. Like i wouldn't want to drive to fast as i might hurt her feelings.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

What is it that you do?

I have never worked six day weeks. 

It must make the Saturday hangover a real pain 



iggles said:


> FJ Cruiser or Mustang  I've already mentioned this ha. Thing is i work 6 days a week, and the ford dealership is closed on a Friday. So i really need to make an effort to go find a car. I don't want to play around with Dubizzle and chasing fake cars. Chasing a flat almost drove me out the country.
> 
> To the OP, stop converting to pounds, you really need to. It's not relative here, UK is alot cheaper for alot of basic items.
> 
> Edit I like the Yaris, its cute. Like i wouldn't want to drive to fast as i might hurt her feelings.


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

TallyHo said:


> What is it that you do?
> 
> I have never worked six day weeks.
> 
> It must make the Saturday hangover a real pain


I work for deVere Group, why?

I was texting Rascals about 6days the other day, i can't do hangovers at work, I'd just sit in the toilet and cry, wouldn't even be able to switch on the laptop. So my binge drinking has decreased, but I am having more regular pints. 

When i moved over here, i thought 6days was the norm, but now i understand its not, if I look to move jobs 5 days will be one of the important factors

PS

I am a Quantity Surveyor not deVere Group lol


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## The Rascal (Aug 6, 2014)

iggles said:


> I work for deVere Group, why?
> 
> I was texting Rascals about 6days the other day,* i can't do hangovers at work*, I'd just sit in the toilet and cry, wouldn't even be able to switch on the laptop. So my binge drinking has decreased, but I am having more regular pints.
> 
> ...


Puff.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

You're wasted in Abu Dhabi.

Hie thee hither to Dubai. Scores of QS here and most work five days. Chase all the usual suspects. 

I'd go mental if I had to work six days. 



iggles said:


> I work for deVere Group, why?
> 
> I was texting Rascals about 6days the other day, i can't do hangovers at work, I'd just sit in the toilet and cry, wouldn't even be able to switch on the laptop. So my binge drinking has decreased, but I am having more regular pints.
> 
> ...


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

TallyHo said:


> You're wasted in Abu Dhabi.
> 
> Hie thee hither to Dubai. Scores of QS here and most work five days. Chase all the usual suspects.
> 
> I'd go mental if I had to work six days.



I am fully ware of this now  haha

I am just getting a year on my CV then decide, I don't like to move around to much. I've had plenty of offers, with 5days but I think its important to not jump around because then I have to explain my motives in interviews. 

I'd like to work for Etihad as a QS/Contract Manager. Only cause i want cheap direct flights everywhere.

And yes I go mental. I am shattered Thursday night and usally cuddle the Russian with some vodka and then Friday night I am thinking oh I have work tomorrow.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

I vaguely remember you mentioning in another thread that you had bugs crawling on you in your office, you work with Rooskies and people smoked indoors. 

Sounds like a **** company.

When your year comes due, chase for new jobs in Dubai. A proper firm will fully understand where you're coming from and why you want to move. No real need to explain. 

Etihad doesn't fly anywhere decent.



iggles said:


> I am fully ware of this now  haha
> 
> I am just getting a year on my CV then decide, I don't like to move around to much. I've had plenty of offers, with 5days but I think its important to not jump around because then I have to explain my motives in interviews.
> 
> ...


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

If it makes you feel any better I work six days in a row too, 
but then I have four days off so that kinda makes up for it. 

I'm a car guy, which is something completely different from a car snob, so there is no way I'm gonna be driving some soulless sushi box like a Nissan "Tedious" or a Toyota "Yerass". There have been discussions on here before about the pros and cons of renting vs owning cars in Dubai but if anyone thinks paying 2500dhs per month for two years just to drive a Nissan "Ultimately Pointless" is good value you need your heads examined.

That's 60,000dhs on a hire car in two years! I'm pretty sure that you could but a 2015 one with less than 10,000kms for that price and sell it for 30Kdhs after two years. Jeez you could buy a 5 year old one, throw it away after the first year, buy another 5 year old one, throw that away at the end of the second year and still come out on top.

Why not drive what you love not what you loathe !!


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

It's complicated.

Assuming 60K in two years for a hire car.

Assuming buy a 60K car and sell it after two years for 30K

Differential is 30K savings and 30K loss.

But then you have insurance. Two years' insurance is probably 5K. So you're now at 25K savings and 35K loss.

Servicing? 60K car probably has 5K servicing intervals. For someone like me driving 35K a year, that's 7 servicing intervals or 14 servicing over the two years. I do it on the cheap side, so that's approximately 5K worth of servicing.

So you're now at 20K savings and 40K loss.

Assuming no accidents or expensive repairs. But you'll probably have to replace the tyres at least once. Cheaper car so perhaps 2500 for the tyres? 

Down to 17.5k savings and up to 42.5K loss.

2 x registrations. I'm not up to date but I think it's basically 500 AED each time you register. That's 1K in registration over two years.

Down to 16.5k savings and up to 43.5k loss.

Then there are the small, personal factors. I currently drive a very fuel economical car. All the cars I've looked at to buy are not so fuel economical. The difference is little on a daily basis but over two years it can add up to another 4-5K in petrol. I could buy a cheap Tiida but I won't, so I have to realistically compare to the cost of actually owning the car I'd buy. Let's assume it's 4K differential in petrol cost.

Down to 12.5K savings and up to 47.5K loss.

You still come out owning, but the differential is now only 12.5K. It works out to 520 a month. That buys me peace of mind (no expensive emergency repairs, no replacing batteries, etc cetera). I don't have to deal with the hassles of selling either. 

I drive to AD and that puts a lot of wear and tear on the car so I need to factor that too (meaning that instead of selling for 30K I'm likely to sell for 20-25K, reducing the advantage of owning even further). 



Felixtoo2 said:


> If it makes you feel any better I work six days in a row too,
> but then I have four days off so that kinda makes up for it.
> 
> I'm a car guy, which is something completely different from a car snob, so there is no way I'm gonna be driving some soulless sushi box like a Nissan "Tedious" or a Toyota "Yerass". There have been discussions on here before about the pros and cons of renting vs owning cars in Dubai but if anyone thinks paying 2500dhs per month for two years just to drive a Nissan "Ultimately Pointless" is good value you need your heads examined.
> ...


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

I prefer owning my own car, but you don't get the peace of mind of driving a hire car with full insurance when some **** in a fancy car is trying to jump the queue and force his way in.


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

Owning a car is my aim. But time is a factor. Also and this might be sounding like an excuse, I am not to comfortable with the markets around UAE right now to be taking out loans. I hate having debt


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Very smart, mate.

I remember the last recession, late '08 into '09.

The number of people who took out loans to buy cars only to be made redundant within months was astonishingly high.

Even now if you trawl through Dubizzle's used car offerings the number of 2014 models for sale is impressive. Of course they claim they're upgrading or that it's not a distress sale, yeah right. You were made redundant and are scared ****less and have a massive loan to pay off.

I'd wait until January. I think we'll have a much better picture of the economic situation. 

I'd only take a car loan if you're confident you can easily pay off the loan when you need to.



iggles said:


> Owning a car is my aim. But time is a factor. Also and this might be sounding like an excuse, I am not to comfortable with the markets around UAE right now to be taking out loans. I hate having debt


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## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

iggles said:


> Owning a car is my aim. But time is a factor. Also and this might be sounding like an excuse, I am not to comfortable with the markets around UAE right now to be taking out loans. I hate having debt


Interesting conversation, I'm 3 months into Dubai and hate car loans too.

I love cars though so will be buying, but for now it's a trade off between cheap Taxis to get to work and a Hire Car for Evenings and the Weekend. I've hired for a month, and need a further month in order to get some cash together. So I was just looking to see what prices I could get and what others experienced.

I've been looking at various options but the maths as a previous poster says isn't that clear cut when you get down to it. Taxis are also cheaper than a Hire Car for a month if you live close to work and don't have parking. 

My daily Taxi is only 30 Dhms to and from Work - 650 Dhms a month. (22 days)
Compare that to even 1,800 a month. 

It's an interesting puzzle to solve and we all go about it in our own way I guess.
I've also just got some 6 month hire rates - I'll try and post an image for those reading next.


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## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

Found this from the local rental place. Paperwork at this place took forever, but I rented a Mazda 3 from them last month for a couple of weeks.

1,700 for a Nissan Tiida for the chap renting... sounds like you need to give your supplier another nudge!


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

Just look at it, and its sad face. The car even knows its ugly, some uninspired Japanese designer who is bullied by his over powering wife came up with that design, and brought it upon this world.

What a waste of precious metals


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

European cars are beautiful but expensive.

American cars are for fat people.

Japanese cares are dull but reliable.

Sums it up pretty well.



iggles said:


> Just look at it, and its sad face. The car even knows its ugly, some uninspired Japanese designer who is bullied by his over powering wife came up with that design, and brought it upon this world.
> 
> What a waste of precious metals


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

My rate is technically 1700/month but there's a tax...err...service charge levied by the municipality that brings it up to 1800. 

I'm sure it's the same for your supplier.



bluebossa said:


> Found this from the local rental place. Paperwork at this place took forever, but I rented a Mazda 3 from them last month for a couple of weeks.
> 
> 1,700 for a Nissan Tiida for the chap renting... sounds like you need to give your supplier another nudge!


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## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

TallyHo said:


> My rate is technically 1700/month but there's a tax...err...service charge levied by the municipality that brings it up to 1800.
> 
> I'm sure it's the same for your supplier.


OK cool - I'm not using them at the moment but just thought it was interesting for people looking as a benchmark.


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## bluebossa (Apr 26, 2015)

TallyHo said:


> European cars are beautiful but expensive.
> 
> American cars are for fat people.
> 
> ...


It's the automotive equivalent of Beige or Magnolia, that's it the Magnolia of the Car world. But reliable and dependable I'm sure, and it'll never get stolen!


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

bluebossa said:


> It's the automotive equivalent of Beige or Magnolia, that's it the Magnolia of the Car world. But reliable and dependable I'm sure, and it'll never get stolen!


Or, if it did, it's probably someone taking it because they think it's their car hahaha!


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