large number of previous threads on the subject - for every person who swears by owning your own, there's another who always leases.

Expect nothing expect divided opinion.

 

Rent, things can go very badly wrong here very quickly. You need to be able to get out and you don't want "baggage" to get rid of.

For other opinions, see above.

 

Where do people rent / lease cars from? Are the big car hire firms best?

I've only ever owned a car outright, but when I arrive in Abu Dhabi I'd like to avoid buying for a few months at least.

 

Where do people rent / lease cars from? Are the big car hire firms best?

Go into the car showroom and ask who leases them.

Define best as its entirely subjective.

PS Rent and Lease are the same thing in practice, but hugely different in practice.

 

Plenty of global rental companies around. Local ones too.

They'll also lease cars as will a lot of the major marque's outlets.

Read this... http://www.expatforum.com/expats/du.../expats/dubai-expat-forum-expats-living-dubai/82210-cars-driving-questions.html

 

I've always preferred renting here. Basically, because I'd never had a 'huge' journey to work. Even the odd sojourn to Scabby wasn't an issue. When I moved out to the sticks and some idiot side swiped me as I entered a flyover and it ended up being my fault because he had right of way changed all that. He admitted he hadn't seen me because I was driving such a small car. That, coupled with the fact that none of the other b*ggers on the highway seemed to have small cars on their radar, drove me (pardon the pun) to buy because I couldn't get as much bang for my buck through renting/leasing.

 

I have done both, and at the moment I own car/s. There are pros and cons of both the options.

There are many factors to consider.
1. How long you are planning to stay here? if it is more than one/two years, then I would buy a vehicle.
2. Rental. For an example you may have to pay around AED2500-3000 monthly (rental may be lesser for yearly contracts) for a Toyota Camry from one of the main operators. If you opt to buy the same car (with few years' loan) you would pay a lesser monthly installment. However, if you rent, you would be able to drive latest models every year without bothering for servicing those etc.
3.If you like a particular vehicle, your time in the UAE may be the best time to buy it and enjoy.
4. Buying:if you opt to a brand new car, you know where to go. Most of the time there are various "offers", for an example, free service for xx number of years/up to xxxxxxkm. For financing, there may be bank representatives stationed in the Car Showrooms.
If you opt to buy a used car, most dealerships (e.g. AGMC-BMW, Al Tayer- Ford, Lincoln; Al Futtaim- Toyota, Honda, Al Rostamani-Nissan, Renault etc) have pre owned car section(usually their prices are higher). There are other dealers and you can opt to check on GN or Dubizzle website for advertisements.
5.Selling the car can be done in many ways, the dealerships buy some of the vehicles back, there are companies who buy used cars. However, both the aforesaid options may not offer you a good price. You may opt to sell it advertising on websites like Dubizzle or GN.

All the best.

 

I have found that I can take cabs / uber and I have yet to spend more in a month than the rental of a safe car. This is holding true even without calculating insurance , tickets, and parking. Now to pull this off you need to live relatively near where you work and not have kids.

 

I love these discussions, they're entertaining cause they never end.