Until you’ve actually done it, selling a used car (or buying one) here in the the UAE can been a rather daunting process. In fact, even if you’ve done it before it the experience doesn’t become any more pleasant.
With a rather convoluted system of rules and laws – and the occassional guy trying to pull a fast one – we spoke to Saygin Yalcin, CEO and Founder of Sellanycar.com who gave us the following tips to help make the whole process a little easier on all of us…
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How much is my car worth?
The first thing to do is figure out the value of your car. A quick look at online classified pages can be a place to start, but the values tend to range hugely with 20 versions of the same car with costing vastly different prices without enough details explaining why. What tends to happen is that when someone tries to sell a car on classified ads, the look at a similar car and then add another 2 per cent on the cost to leave room for negotiation. However, when someone is looking to buy a car they will filter out everything but the lowest price – making it a pointless process.
One way of finding a more accurate price is to check certified online companies that do price comparisons. In the UAE, Sellanycar.com analyses millions of price quotes and previous sales, and then provides an instant (and free) car valuation. Use that as a basis. It saves time trying to figure out your car’s real market value.
Finding a buyer
Posting an online ad on listing sites for your car is a way to find potential buyers, but it will no doubt encourage numerous calls from random people at even more random times – most of them from people blindly trying to bargain you down before even seeing the car! It can be a right pain to have to reorgnise your work/life plans to factor in a viewing or test drive schedule for all the potential buyers. You can certainly find buyers this way, but it can be a long drawn out process. It’s also important to remember that, in general, a car loses between 2-3 percent of its value for every month it is unsold. So, ask around at work; tell your friends; tell your friends to tell their friends; or look into selling it to car buying companies such as Sellanycar.com.
Selling to a dealer?
This is another option, but most dealer showrooms only tend to be interested in cars that are ‘certifiable’. In other words, your car is only worth their floor space if it is not older than two years and it fits their current ‘brand strategy’ – well, either that or you plan on buying a new one from them! In general, it is not worth the dealer’s time and he will offer you a low price. If you decide to sell to a dealership, remember to always check for their proper and valid trade license. It must read “Used Car Trading”, not anything which may sound similar or slightly different. Dealing with fradulent, incorrectly licensed or unlicensed dealers may lead you to not being paid or you might remain still liable for your car after sale.
The legal process in the UAE
When you’ve found a buyer, you need to actually make it happen. Both you and the buyer will need to visit an RTA (Road and Transport Authority) centre where they will oversee this process and transfer the title deed. Before this make sure that you have done your due diligence with regards to ensuring that you actually get paid the agreed upon amount. It is best to sign a binding, certified purchase agreement [a “Mubaya”] with the buyer, and make sure that if the car has an outstanding loan that you request a liability letter from your bank.
After selling, ask for a copy of the new ownership certificate of the car, send it to your insurance company so that you can receive any potential refund and notify them about the change in ownership. Also, make sure that you remove your personal belongings, number plate and salik tag from the car. If all that sounds like a hassle, it is not uncommon in the UAE to use a service that will do it for you. Certified companies, such as Sellanycar.com, make a point of not only buying your car but also taking care of the paperwork, clearing your bank loan and they even offer to give you a lift back to your home.