Owning a car in the Gulf, what it costs each month beyond the price
Most owners know what they paid for their car; far fewer know what it costs them in a month. Fuel goes out in small amounts, insurance and registration once a year, servicing when it falls due, and the value the car loses is never paid at all until the day you sell it. This worksheet pulls every line into one monthly figure, with a hypothetical example from the UAE in dirhams. If you live in Saudi Arabia or Oman, fill it in riyals; the lines are the same.
Why a monthly figure
A car is a commitment that runs for years, and the yearly lines vanish from view in the months they are not paid, then land all at once in their own month. Dividing each line across the months tells you what to put aside every month, and lets you compare the car with the alternatives: a smaller car, one car instead of two, or public transport for some trips.
The lines, and how to work out each one
- Fuel: add up what you paid for fuel over the last three months, from receipts or your records, and divide by three. That is more accurate than working from distance, because it already includes traffic, air conditioning and the way you drive.
- Insurance: the annual premium ÷ 12. Get two or three quotes at renewal.
- Registration renewal and inspection: take the fees from your last renewal notice, or from your licensing authority's website, and divide by 12. No figure is given here, because fees vary from country to country and can change, and the figure on your own notice is the accurate one.
- Servicing: from the dealer's maintenance schedule, the year's total ÷ 12, plus a margin for repairs outside the schedule.
- Tyres: the price of a set ÷ the number of months a set usually lasts the way you drive. Extreme heat shortens tyre life, so do not count on the longest life the seller quotes.
- Parking: what you pay at paid parking near work, home or the malls in an ordinary month.
- Road tolls: if your city has toll gates, add up what was charged over the last three months and divide by three.
- Fines: give them a line even if it says zero. Last year's fines ÷ 12 is a frank number about a habit you can change.
- Washing and care: what you spend on washing and cleaning the car each month.
- Lost value: (purchase price − expected sale price) ÷ the months you will keep the car. Take the expected sale price from listings for the same model at the age you plan to sell, not from a hunch.
A hypothetical example in UAE dirhams
Someone in Dubai bought a car for AED 90,000 cash, plans to sell it after five years, and found listings for the same model at that age at around AED 45,000. Every figure here is hypothetical and only illustrates the method; none is an official fee or a market average. The lines set by official bodies are left without a figure, for you to fill in from your own notices.
| Line | How it was worked out | Per month (AED) |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | Average of the last three months | 450 |
| Insurance | Annual premium of 2,400 ÷ 12 | 200 |
| Registration renewal and inspection | From the renewal notice ÷ 12 | from your notice |
| Servicing | 2,400 a year ÷ 12 | 200 |
| Tyres | A set at 1,600 every 36 months | 44 |
| Parking | An ordinary month | 150 |
| Road tolls | Average of the last three months | from your statement |
| Fines | Last year's total ÷ 12 | from your records |
| Washing and care | An ordinary month | 100 |
| Lost value | (90,000 − 45,000) ÷ 60 | 750 |
| Total before the official lines | 1,894 |
The biggest line in the example is not fuel but lost value, and it is the only one never paid month by month, which is why everyone forgets it. You meet it in full on the day you sell, when half of what you paid comes back.
If you are paying instalments
A monthly instalment is how you pay for the car, so do not add it on top of the lost-value line, or you will count the price twice. What belongs on the worksheet is the difference between the total you will pay and the cash price, divided by the number of instalments.
What to do with the figure
Add up the lines once you have filled in the official ones from your notices, and put the monthly figure in your budget as one line. Then look at three things:
- The yearly lines: insurance and renewal can fall in the same month. Put their monthly share aside starting now, rather than letting the due date catch you out.
- The lines you control: parking, fines and washing move with your habits, not with the car.
- The alternative: if a second car's monthly figure is more than the trips it makes would cost another way, that is a conversation worth having at home.
Where Masareefy helps
Log everything you spend on the car in Masareefy under one category, either Transport & Fuel or one you create for the car, and you see what it really costs month after month. Record insurance and registration renewal as yearly bills: you get a heads-up during the week before each one, and its amount is reserved in its own month. If you want to put the money aside monthly, create a wallet for it and move the amount in each month; a transfer between wallets is neither spending nor income.
Questions people ask
Should I count lost value if I do not plan to sell?
Yes. The car will be replaced one day, and the value it lost shows up then in what the next car costs you. If you will keep it to the end of its life, use what it would fetch for scrap or a token sale.
Where do I find the official renewal fees?
On the renewal notice you receive, or on your licensing authority's website or app. Do not rely on a figure copied in a forum or an article, because fees change.
Fuel by distance or by receipts?
By receipts if you have them, because they are what you actually paid. Use distance when you are comparing two cars you do not own yet.
Create a category for your car in Masareefy and record its insurance and renewal as yearly bills, to see what it costs you each month.
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