Dubai RTA now offers used car reports

Used car buyers in Dubai can now get vehicle history reports through a new service launched by the city’s Roads and Transport Authority.

As per their news release, the ‘Vehicle Condition Certificate’ service offers detailed information of the vehicle such as the mileage, previous owners, condition during the last annual test, how many times it was impounded and more.

Sultan Al Marzooqi, Director of Vehicles Licensing at RTA’s Licensing Agency, says that the service can be availed only with the consent of the car’s existing owner, which “has to be confirmed to the RTA through a text message including a Pin Code.”

“Upon fulfilling this requirement, the customer can avail the service by entering the chassis number of the used vehicle through RTA website (www.rta.ae). The RTA will then inform the customer about the possibility of getting the vehicle details from the RTA for a fee of Dhs 100 per certificate,” said Al Marzooqi.

He said that the service also covers imported used vehicles, as it has links with international firms such as the U.S. CarFax and the European AutoDNA for providing information about vehicles imported to the UAE from American, European and Asian countries, although this will cost extra.

While we have yet to see what these reports look like, it is excellent that this information is finally being made public. So far, our experiences with private third-party “used car reports” have been less than impressive.

The UAE Ministry of Interior also launched a website earlier that can show the accident history of any car in the UAE, based on the chassis number, and it seems to be accurate. You can find it at evg.ae