GCC & US Specs in cars: What's the Difference
Posted by Mansoor A. Bukhari on Apr 28, 2016
So there's a lot of input from lots of parties on this subject and it's hard to know what to go for when buying a car. I'm going to try and find out the basic differences and give you guys some peace of mind when trying to figure out which car to go for.
After a lot of research and reading I can tell that the main differences are this. US spec cars have, weaker radiators, the speedo’s are in MPH and the AC’s are weaker. This means when it hits 45 degrees here in the UAE you're probably going to wish you got a GCC spec car. Even though there are several states in the US where the AC’s do need to work in similar humidity levels the temperature at the height of summer still have a 15-10 degree difference. Now this may not sound like much but let’s see how long you can hold on to the steering wheel when you first get in your car in august. Nope.
Also See: How To: Obtain a Driving License in Dubai
One of the biggest issues I have consistently read about is buying a car that has either been in flood damage or a car crash. There are many US spec cars that are imported, fixed and sold on. For this reason before you even take another look at that V8 Mustang that's 25,000 dhs cheaper than its GCC counterpart, you must have it professionally checked over and make sure if it was damaged it was minimal and will pass an RTA inspection.
The biggest reason for the huge price difference between the two is that in the US there is a huge and competitive market whereas in the UAE there is usually one dealership for each make for example Al Futtaim Motors which are the only distributors of Toyota and Lexus in Dubai. Another example is Al Tayer which are the sole distributor of Ford, Lincoln, Ferrari, Maserati, Land Rover and Jaguar across the UAE.
Also See: A Do It Yourself Guide: How To Fix Your Fogged Up Headlights
Hopefully this gives a small insight into some of the differences between these two types of cars. Let me know in the comments whether you have had any first hand experiences with buying a US spec car and if it worked out for you.
Editor's Picks