Lots of Imports Due to Lack of F82 Stock

[mkutter]

Hi Everyone,
This is my first post on here since joining. I can see a wealth of knowledge.

My question is for the Middle East (specifically UAE). From what I can see, there's a huge shortage of used ///M car stock in the UAE and as a result there are a lot of imported used cars.

Does anyone have experience they can share on purchasing and then owning imported used ///M cars here?

A couple of themes crop up:
1. Import of Japanese or Canadian spec cars
2. Everyone in the UAE wants to avoid imported USA spec cars because they tend to have a history of accidents or other issues
3. Insurance will only cover 3rd party fire and theft
4. Prices are not as low as you'd expect
5. Generally a deep suspicion on the cars history

Now, I know I've thrown out a lot of caveats, but I feel the import market wouldn't exist if people weren't buying these cars(?)

If you've got experience, please share.

Thanks all

[335iHaroon]

Why don’t people in the UAE get Carfax’s from America. They cost like 40 USD but I have a dealership account so i can get it for people out there for 5 USD or less. Carfax reports in America will tell you the entire history of the car, if it was totaled, stolen, crashed, clean title or salvaged, flood damaged, the miles or if the miles had been messed with here, how many owners, and service history at dealerships and licensed shops. That plus where the car was driven will show you if the car you’re looking at that had been imported to the UAE from America is worth buying or not. That’s how we buy cars in America. And it’s accurate enough, my last car was a Austin yellow f82 m4 and it was crashed and totaled and then sold at auction and i can see on the Carfax all of that info as well as it showing that after it was sold it was shipped to Germany. And a quick google search of the vin will show us here at least where the car was sold after it was totaled and for how much.

[hatemax]

since I have more than 20 years in car business in middle east, let me answer your questions;

You need to know that UAE is considered on of major world car hubs with huge number of new/used cars import and export. Free zone areas made it very easy to start a business of import and export with decent profit (for both new and used cars). so, you can find very big market of all types of cars available in country ready for registration or export.

With regards to your concern on imported cars, 90% of imported (salvage) cars to UAE is sold as used parts to other parts of the world for second use or recycling purposes. Only little cars is being fixed and sold in local market. As suggested by (335iHaroon) you can use CarFax to check the history of US imported cars.

With regards to prices, its all about your negotiation skills and what type of cars you are looking for. Dubai is the land of opportunities and there is big chance to find your dream car with very good price.

There are recent change in the market due to Ukraine-Russia war as many rich Russian moved to Dubai and disturbed the market but still there are enormous opportunities out there.