FR-MKT · DUBAI · 19 Oct 2026
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What a US auction car really costs, landed in Dubai
Sources last checked 19 October 2026.
"Landed cost" is everything you pay between the hammer and a car you can sell: auction fees, US towing, ocean freight, UAE port and clearing, customs duty, import VAT and registration, and then the repair. This guide goes through each line for Dubai (Jebel Ali) and marks which numbers come from public sources and which you fill in yourself. For the rules on which cars can get UAE plates, see Importing a US auction car into the UAE. Nothing here is customs advice. Confirm every figure with a licensed clearing agent before you bid.
Before you add anything up: can this car get plates?
MOIAT prohibits importing, licensing and insuring burnt, scrapped, flooded, disassembled, beyond-repair and major-defect vehicles, and excludes light vehicles imported for re-export. (MOIAT, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally) If you want local plates, a flood or fire lot can fail before cost even matters. RHD can't be registered in Dubai unless it has a classic plate. (RTA, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · confirm locally) We found no current official text on a maximum vehicle age, so ask your emirate's traffic authority.
The landed cost, line by line
1. Hammer price + buyer fees (you enter). The hammer is your bid. Buyer fees come from the auction's own published schedule and depend on the auction, your account type, the price and how you pay. FlipRadar doesn't publish auction fee tables. Use the fee the auction shows for your account.
2. US inland transport (you enter). Towing from the yard to the export port. We found no sourced public figure, so get it from your transporter or forwarder (many bundle it into the freight quote).
3. Ocean freight (range, not a price). Public forwarder pages on 19 Oct 2026: RoRo US → Jebel Ali about $1,200–$3,200 (BidGoDrive · Royal Shipping Lines · Seaway Export); shared container about $1,800–$2,600 per car (Seaway); transit about 25–45 days (Royal, Seaway). estimate — confirm locally. The sources disagree, so get several quotes and ask what's port-to-port and what's charged at Jebel Ali.
4. Port handling and clearing (you enter). We found no reliable public figure for Jebel Ali handling or clearing-agent fees. Get them from your agent.
5. Customs duty and import VAT (formula).
- Duty: 5% of the CIF value (cost + insurance + freight). (ICP · u.ae, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally)
- Import VAT: 5% of the customs value including freight, insurance and customs fees, so in practice 5% of (CIF + duty). (FTA VAT Guide, Automotive §6.1, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally)
- Rule of thumb from those two rates: duty + VAT ≈ 10.25% of CIF (5% + 5% × 1.05), plus 5% VAT on any customs fees. Arithmetic, not an official figure.
- Ask your agent exactly what goes into the customs value for your car (for example, whether buyer fees are included).
6. Registration and inspection.
- MOIAT Product Status Statement: AED 200, plus product label cards at AED 1 each, 7 per vehicle. (MOIAT PSS · MOIAT label card, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally)
- RTA registration needs an electronic customs certificate, GCC-spec proof if the customs card doesn't show it, and a technical inspection. (RTA, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · confirm locally) RTA inspection, insurance and plate fees: Not found in our sources, so get them from your agent or RTA.
7. Repair (you enter). Price the repair for a car that has to pass UAE inspection and, for US-spec cars, GCC conformity. Published garage rates are weak marketing sources, so we don't quote them here.
Currency: the dirham is pegged at 3.6725 AED per USD. (CBUAE, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally)
Worked example 1: duty, VAT and MOIAT fees at a CIF of AED 40,000
The CIF value is illustrative (your car price + insurance + freight). The rates and fees are sourced above. estimate — confirm locally.
| Line | Basis | AED |
|---|---|---|
| CIF value | Illustrative input | 40,000 |
| Customs duty | 5% × CIF (ICP / u.ae) | 2,000 |
| Import VAT | 5% × (CIF + duty) (FTA §6.1) | 2,100 |
| MOIAT PSS + 7 label cards | AED 200 + 7 × AED 1 (MOIAT) | 207 |
| Subtotal: government charges we could source | 4,307 (≈ $1,173 at 3.6725) | |
| Port handling, clearing agent, RTA inspection and plates | Not found: ask your agent | — |
The freight is already inside the CIF here, so don't add it twice.
Worked example 2: the same lines at a CIF of AED 80,000
CIF illustrative. estimate — confirm locally.
| Line | AED |
|---|---|
| Customs duty (5%) | 4,000 |
| Import VAT (5% of CIF + duty) | 4,200 |
| MOIAT PSS + 7 label cards | 207 |
| Subtotal | 8,407 (≈ $2,289) |
Doubling the CIF roughly doubles duty and VAT, because both are percentages. The MOIAT fees stay flat.
Put it into the free calculator
The live max bid calculator is free and needs no account. It's a USD worksheet: max bid = resale − repair − buyer fee − transport − title and registration − target profit. It has no customs or tax fields and doesn't know Dubai. So you add your landed costs to its existing lines:
| Calculator line | What to put in it for Dubai |
|---|---|
| Est. resale | Your realistic Dubai sale price, converted to USD (AED ÷ 3.6725) |
| Est. repair | Your repair estimate, in USD |
| Buyer fee | Choose "Fee I type" and enter the fee from the auction's own published schedule. The site's bands are placeholders |
| Transport | US inland transport + ocean freight + Jebel Ali handling + clearing-agent fee |
| Title and registration | UAE duty + import VAT + MOIAT fees + RTA inspection/registration, converted to USD |
| Target profit | The margin you need, in USD |
One honest catch: UAE duty and VAT are a percentage of CIF, and CIF includes the hammer, which is the number you're solving for. Estimate CIF from your target hammer + freight, put duty + VAT into Title and registration, then use "Hammer to test" to check profit at that hammer. Adjust once if the max bid came out very different.
Blank lines count as $0, and the worksheet shows that. A blank isn't a researched number.
Want this inside the browser? The FlipRadar Chrome extension version with Market Profiles (1.1.0) adds dirham amounts, landed cost at your port, a walk-away line, a local-plates vs re-export choice, and flags for flood, fire and beyond-repair lots when you choose local plates. It's in private beta and not in the Chrome Web Store. To try it, email hello@theflipradar.com and ask for the private beta. To hear when it's released, use Get updates below. Product updates only.
FlipRadar is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any auction company or UAE government body.
FAQ
How do I calculate the landed cost of a US auction car in Dubai?
Add the hammer price, the auction's buyer fees, US inland transport, ocean freight, Jebel Ali handling and clearing, 5% customs duty on CIF, 5% import VAT on the customs value, MOIAT fees (AED 200 plus 7 label cards at AED 1) and RTA registration, then the repair. Duty and VAT rates are from ICP, u.ae and FTA pages accessed 19 Oct 2026. Estimate — confirm locally with your clearing agent.
What percentage of the car's value goes to UAE duty and VAT?
Customs duty is 5% of the CIF value and import VAT is 5% of the customs value including duty, so together about 10.25% of CIF, plus VAT on any customs fees. That's arithmetic from the published rates (ICP, u.ae, FTA, accessed 19 Oct 2026), not an official figure. Estimate — confirm locally.
How much is shipping from the US to Jebel Ali?
Public forwarder pages showed RoRo at about $1,200–$3,200 and shared container at about $1,800–$2,600 per car, with transit of about 25–45 days, on 19 Oct 2026. Sources disagree. Estimate — confirm locally with several forwarders.
Does the FlipRadar calculator include UAE customs?
No. The free max bid calculator is a USD worksheet with no customs fields. Add UAE duty, VAT and registration into its Title and registration line, and freight and clearing into its Transport line.
Can every US salvage car be registered in Dubai?
No. MOIAT prohibits importing, licensing and insuring burnt, scrapped, flooded, disassembled, beyond-repair and major-defect vehicles, with light vehicles for re-export excluded (MOIAT, accessed 19 Oct 2026). See the FlipRadar UAE market page and check the VIN with MOIAT before you bid. Estimate — confirm locally.
Is there a FlipRadar tool that does this in the browser?
The FlipRadar Chrome extension version with UAE Market Profiles is in private beta and isn't in the Chrome Web Store. Email hello@theflipradar.com to ask for the private beta.
Sources (accessed 19 October 2026)
- MOIAT, Imported Used Vehicle Technical Requirements: moiat.gov.ae
- MOIAT, Product Status Statement: moiat.gov.ae
- MOIAT, Product label card: moiat.gov.ae
- ICP, GCC customs union: icp.gov.ae
- u.ae, customs duty and tariff: u.ae
- FTA, VAT Guide, Automotive Sector: tax.gov.ae
- RTA, register a vehicle: rta.ae
- CBUAE, dirham peg: centralbank.ae
- Freight: BidGoDrive · Royal Shipping Lines · Seaway Export