Buying a car in the UAE the need to knows?

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UAE NEWBIE
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Post by UAE NEWBIE » 05 Jun 2011, 4:12 pm

Ok i will soon be buying a car. Thought i would ask the need to knows?

I have read stories that you can have a modified car regoed? Is there anyway around this?
Have also heard that you can register a rhd converted to lhd car
What is the deal with rego? can i convert a regoed car into my name?
Have also heard you can get a fine for having a modified car? What the deal with this and how much is the fine?
Also compared to back home euro cars a very cheap here. Is there a reason for this? Should i stay away from cheap euro? Modified jap is what i know aswell, but a change might not be a bad thing.
Anything else you think is note worthy or I may need to know?

There is also the option of a toy and a dune basher tow car. As i have heard day at the motorplex are quite cheap? anyone car to elaborate? Anything I need to know about registering trailers?

Also...maybe i shouldnt ask this on a public forum, so mods feel free to edit....What about street stuff? What sort of punishments are there for drifting, draging on the street? Also are there any nice curvy roads, like nice hills roads here? Back home a nice fast hills run was always enjoyable.

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TNT
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Post by TNT » 05 Jun 2011, 5:31 pm

UAE NEWBIE wrote:I have read stories that you can have a modified car regoed? Is there anyway around this?
No.
UAE NEWBIE wrote:Have also heard that you can register a rhd converted to lhd car
What is the deal with rego? can i convert a regoed car into my name?
Converted cars are non-registrable.
UAE NEWBIE wrote:Have also heard you can get a fine for having a modified car? What the deal with this and how much is the fine?
Varies from emirate to emirate and depends upon your situation but a 3k AED fine and 30 days impound is usual.
UAE NEWBIE wrote:Also compared to back home euro cars a very cheap here. Is there a reason for this? Should i stay away from cheap euro?
What Euro cars are you talking about exactly? No specific reason behind low resale but just a general lack of demand I'd say. Also they are mostly unreliable and don't last well in this weather.
UAE NEWBIE wrote:Also...maybe i shouldnt ask this on a public forum, so mods feel free to edit....What about street stuff? What sort of punishments are there for drifting, draging on the street? Also are there any nice curvy roads, like nice hills roads here? Back home a nice fast hills run was always enjoyable.
Reckless driving fine is again about 3k and 30 days of impound.
Kalba mountain pass, Jebel Hafeet, Wadi Wuraiyah etc. are the twisties.
Kalba-Maleha road is a long straight stretch of road with no radars, good for high speed runs.

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UAE NEWBIE
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Post by UAE NEWBIE » 05 Jun 2011, 9:27 pm

ok. So modded cars are a big no no hey. What qualifies as modded? Like what do people usually get a fine for?

Seems stange as there are a lot of modded cars on dubizle. And i am sure plenty of people on the site have modded cars

Oh also when i say euro, just the general price of Porsche, bmw and merc is a lot chaper here. Where Jap car are not really that much cheaper maybe a little bit. I was possibly considering the 996 or m3 route as i wouldn't mind owning either of them one day

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TNT
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Post by TNT » 05 Jun 2011, 10:17 pm

UAE NEWBIE wrote:ok. So modded cars are a big no no hey. What qualifies as modded? Like what do people usually get a fine for?
This is the biggest problem. There are no certain laws explaining what is prohibited and what's not. It depends on the policeman's mood, the emirate you get caught in etc.
Generally speaking:

- Big mods to the engine bay are a complete no-no. Like turbo conversions etc.
- Loud aftermarket exhausts are not allowed but super loud Harleys and the like are fine because they have OEM exhausts. Funny rule I know because it should be judged on how loud it is and not if it is from the stealership.
- Vinyls and paintwork are fine, all you need to do is to apply for permission so that they update the color description on your registration card.
- Ricey body kits, wheels and suspension are all good as long as there is a 2-3 finger gap between the body/road.

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UAE NEWBIE
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Post by UAE NEWBIE » 05 Jun 2011, 10:28 pm

damn that sucks as i am quite the opposite. For me suspension and diff etc is first then engine trans then ricy bodykits. Hmm damn that rules out my plan for a turbo 350z. Looks like i have to get something with turbo standard, use standard housings hiflow the core get a highflow zorst that looks stock, remaped stock ecu, coilovers at a standard hight or stock looking springs with a set of bilsteins.

Damn if you could have the japspec s14/15s i would be cool with that. I know how to make them look dead stock and still run very good power.

Thanks for the info its great to know. So things like stock vtec civics with big cams etc must be popular as you can have a low cam that sounds quite and open it up when you need

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Post by Ozimandius » 05 Jun 2011, 10:43 pm

Get a car with a stock turbo and then start modding it from there, starting with the turbo, of course.

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TNT
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Post by TNT » 06 Jun 2011, 12:33 am

Get a STi :grin:

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Post by AccordTuner » 06 Jun 2011, 1:49 am

TNT wrote:Get a STi :grin:
nooo ... EVO <3

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UAE NEWBIE
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Post by UAE NEWBIE » 06 Jun 2011, 10:40 am

The thing is whats the point of having a turbo if you cant have a 3inch+ zorst? most the power comes from breathing modss. Ie fmic and zorst. You can have the bigest turbo in the world on there and all its going to do is add lag and no power without breathing modds.

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Post by Matt » 06 Jun 2011, 11:00 am

g'day mate! (sorry had to do it!) :grin: Well on my WRX i've got a full 3" downpipe to full 3 inch system BUT i've got a Varex muffler on it, you've probably heard of the company who makes them as they're Australian aswell - X-force. It's got a remote control butterfly valve in it that cuts all the noise when you want to be civil and acts like a straight through exhaust when open

NOT my car but you get the Idea, when closed it just sounds like a corrolla reving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2x7lHmv ... re=related

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UAE NEWBIE
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Post by UAE NEWBIE » 06 Jun 2011, 12:02 pm

Matt wrote:g'day mate! (sorry had to do it!) :grin: Well on my WRX i've got a full 3" downpipe to full 3 inch system BUT i've got a Varex muffler on it, you've probably heard of the company who makes them as they're Australian aswell - X-force. It's got a remote control butterfly valve in it that cuts all the noise when you want to be civil and acts like a straight through exhaust when open

NOT my car but you get the Idea, when closed it just sounds like a corrolla reving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2x7lHmv ... re=related
I atcually didn't notice the g'day mate it just reads normal lol. The sorry I had to do it made me read again and i figured it out. I was going to ask about the varex muflers? it ok to use them?

Matt
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Post by Matt » 06 Jun 2011, 12:13 pm

there are a few people here using them, on holden commodores + few other cars. The only other option was to go for a HKS hi-power silent and they were too expensive for me to ship from the states. As long as the valve is closed going past cops you wont ever have a problem

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Post by Ozimandius » 06 Jun 2011, 3:38 pm

In case it hasn't been added here, if you're caught by the cops for having a very loud exhaust, your ride will get impounded. Silly rule, I know. You'll also get 4 black points for not stopping for pedestrians at a zebra crossing, but tail gating and cutting others at high speeds is perfectly acceptable.

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TNT
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Post by TNT » 06 Jun 2011, 5:52 pm

In short, welcome to the UAE 8-)

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AccordTuner
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Post by AccordTuner » 06 Jun 2011, 9:31 pm

Matt wrote:g'day mate! (sorry had to do it!) :grin: Well on my WRX i've got a full 3" downpipe to full 3 inch system BUT i've got a Varex muffler on it, you've probably heard of the company who makes them as they're Australian aswell - X-force. It's got a remote control butterfly valve in it that cuts all the noise when you want to be civil and acts like a straight through exhaust when open

NOT my car but you get the Idea, when closed it just sounds like a corrolla reving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2x7lHmv ... re=related
How much would it cost to setup that kinda exhaust with the valve ?



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