Car Buying Made Easy: Three Apps You Need

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by Ashas Bukhari

Car Buying Made Easy: Three Apps You Need

11 Mar 2024

So, you want to buy a car! The good news is that cars are easy to buy, and they are everywhere in the UAE. The bad news is that they are indeed everywhere, and buying a car can be a challenge for expats and residents in the UAE because of the sheer volume of options available.

It is okay if you end up overwhelmed and second-guessing every choice you make because when there is just so much to choose from, one cannot help but wonder if something better is just around the corner. So, to help you cut through the clutter and find your ideal car, we suggest looking at the following apps.

Dubizzle

One of the most popular platforms for buying and selling cars in the UAE, Dubizzle allows you to search for both new and used cars from private sellers and dealerships. The app also features filters for price, brand, model, mileage, and more.

Moreover, Dubizzle Cars is an automobile-specific version of the famous buying and selling app Dubizzle. While it shares many of its functionalities, this app is specifically designed for car dealers who are paying customers of Dubizzle.

So, while this app is great at what it does, you had best avoid it if you are looking to purchase a car as an individual. Instead, we suggest sticking to Dubizzle, which has a wide selection of cars available.

Once you choose “Motors” on the app homepage, you will be taken to a list of car manufacturers, from where you can choose your favourite brand. The filter selection is fairly straightforward. You can choose trims, price ranges, makes and models, year and more. There is nothing exciting here, but nothing missing either.

One notable option on the website is to purchase "inspected cars." These vehicles undergo thorough inspections by Dubizzle's team of car experts and are confirmed to be suitable for driving on the road. Car inspections are also offered in Dubizzle’s “premium services” section, where you can sell cars and put them up for inspection to reach a wider audience.

Overall, the Dubizzle is great for buying cars. It is familiar, simple, easy to use and not at all complicated. Just watch out for scammers!

Total downloads: 5M+

CarSwitch

If you are looking to buy a certified pre-owned car with complete peace of mind, then CarSwitch is the app for you. They have a thorough inspection process and offer warranties on their cars, that is, if you choose the “safe switch” option (cool name, by the way). Safe switch verified cars are inspected and improved by CarSwitch. Other than that, you have the option to choose between “self-switch” and contact a verified dealership.

Overall, CarSwitch is a fair app that you can rely on to buy cars. At first glance, however, it is none too impressive. The user interface is a bit clunky and messy as compared to Dubizzle. It has all the necessary filters that you would expect, but a few do stand out. These are the “top condition,” “negotiable” and “price dropped” filters. You can activate either one, two or all three of these filters simultaneously, and all the results are verified by CarSwitch. Overall, CarSwitch has everything you need, but it could look better.

One advantage that CarSwitch has over Dubizzle is its clear display of partnered banks. While Dubizzle also offers this feature, it is more prominently showcased on CarSwitch.

Total downloads: 100K+

Cars24

Cars24 is another great app for finding cars in Dubai — well, not just in Dubai. When you first open the app, it asks you to locate yourself in the UAE without asking for location permissions, which is a relief, as it allows you to customise your experience.

Once you select a location, you are dropped head-first into a premium-looking app with all the regular filters and some more useful features. Among them are a Car Loan, where you can get your automobile financed through some of the UAE’s major banks, and an AI car finder, because why not? The AI car finder is helpful, though. Just tell it what to do like you would a human, and it will find you the best picks in a jiffy.

Honestly, the only place Cars24 loses any points to Dubizzle is the sheer size of the latter’s user base. Other than that, Cars24 is my favourite car-buying app at the time of writing. Though a dark mode would have been nice!

Total downloads: 1M+

by Ashas Bukhari