If you’ve tried to sell a car recently in the UAE, you’ve probably felt it.
You list it. You get messages. People negotiate harder than before. And someone always says, “New ones are discounted right now.”
That’s not your imagination. The market has shifted. DubiCars’ 2025–2026 UAE auto market report describes a move from scarcity to abundance in 2025, with supply outpacing buyer urgency, longer time-to-sale, softer pricing power (especially in used cars), and depreciation becoming a major hidden cost.
So what does that mean for warranties?
Here’s the thing: depreciation and warranty are connected, but they solve different problems.
What this means is… in 2026, you have to be sharper about why you’re buying an extended warranty. Otherwise you end up paying for comfort that does not actually protect your wallet.
Let’s walk through it in a simple way.
Depreciation is always there, but it gets worse when buyers have more choices.
DubiCars puts it plainly: 2025 exposed the market once availability returned quickly. Buyers got more selective, listings stayed live longer, and price sensitivity increased.
And for 2026, the report highlights a specific shift: an increase in monthly depreciation from 1.2% to 1.3%, which it says implies over AED 150 million in additional annual value erosion across the automotive ecosystem.
You also see it from the buyer side.
A Gulf News report (July 2025) said UAE car prices were lower than at any point in the previous five years, and highlighted more aggressive financing like 0% offers for 3–5 years on more models. It linked price pressure to a “flood” of models diverted into the UAE and stronger competition, including Chinese brands gaining market share.
If you’re an owner trying to sell or trade in, that combination hurts:
This part is important because it resets expectations.
One UAE-based explainer from Al-Futtaim’s MOOV says many new vehicles can drop 20% to 30% in the first year, and up to 60% within five years (with big variation by brand and segment).
Even if your numbers differ, the pattern is the same:
So when someone says, “I’ll get an extended warranty to protect my value,” that’s usually the wrong mental model.
A simple way to think about it is this:
An extended warranty can help if you want to avoid large, unpredictable repair bills.
It can also help your resale indirectly if it makes a buyer more comfortable, especially in a softer market where buyers have options and take longer to commit. DubiCars explicitly notes time-to-sale lengthened across most segments when urgency dropped.
It cannot stop your car from losing value because:
So in 2026, the “Is it worth it?” question becomes very practical:
Will this warranty reduce my total cost of ownership, or just make me feel safer?
Sometimes “feel safer” is still valid. But you should know which one you’re paying for.
Because depreciation pressure changes behavior.
When owners see resale values soften, they often do one of two things:
Both are happening in real life.
And they lead to opposite warranty decisions:
That’s why you can’t copy-paste a decision from 2022 or 2023 and assume it still fits.
Here are the situations where extended warranty tends to be a rational buy, not just an emotional one.
If you planned to sell this year, but now you’re thinking, “I’ll keep it another 18–24 months,” your risk window grows.
More time + more mileage = more chances for an expensive failure.
In real life, it looks like this:
You own a 5-year-old SUV. It’s fine today. But you’re staring at weaker trade-in offers, so you decide to hold it until the market feels better. That’s exactly when a warranty can help, because you’re choosing time over resale.
This isn’t about brand hate. It’s about the cost of parts and complexity.
Cars that tend to carry higher repair shock risk include:
Even if the car is reliable overall, one module can cost what feels like a small vacation.
If you’re the kind of owner who would struggle to drop a big repair payment without stress, warranty can help if it genuinely covers the likely failure points.
Private buyers in a soft market want proof and protection.
A transferable warranty can become a selling tool, especially when listings take longer to move and buyers compare many options at once. DubiCars’ market report described exactly that buyer behavior shift as urgency dropped.
But only if:
This is where market trends matter.
DubiCars’ H1 2025 report noted Chinese brands surged in registrations (example: Jetour +163.9% to become the fourth most registered brand in H1 2025), and EV sales rose to 7% of total sales in that period.
In a market with rapid brand expansion and lots of new models, buyer confidence can swing. Some buyers will pay for peace of mind. Some will avoid anything that feels uncertain.
If you own a car in a segment where buyers ask a lot of “what if” questions, a strong warranty can help reduce friction at resale. It won’t erase depreciation, but it can speed up the sale and reduce the price haircut you accept just to close.
Self-insure means you keep a repair fund and accept the risk.
If you’re disciplined and have cash set aside, you might not need a warranty.
But if you know you will not keep a repair buffer, a warranty can act like forced budgeting. You trade a predictable cost for fewer nasty surprises.
The catch is you must read the contract properly (coverage, exclusions, claim limits), or you’ll think you’re protected when you’re not.
Now the other side, where warranty tends to be wasted money.
If you plan to sell in the next 6–12 months, the warranty cost rarely comes back.
In 2026, buyers are already negotiating hard because prices are softer and new-car deals exist.
So you end up paying for warranty, then discounting the car anyway to match the market.
In real life, it looks like this:
You buy a 12-month warranty. You sell in 5 months because you found a deal on a new car. The warranty didn’t fail, but your money still left your pocket.
This is a simple math problem.
If your car is worth, say, AED 25,000–35,000, and the warranty is a meaningful percentage of that, you’re often better off doing one of these:
This can help if your car is simple and parts are widely available.
If the car already has warning lights, leaks, rough shifts, or overheating history, a warranty plan may reject the first big claim as “pre-existing” or related.
So you pay for coverage you can’t really use.
If you only do one thing, do this: baseline inspection + scan + fix known issues before buying a plan.
Some owners skip services, delay repairs, or use random garages with no paperwork.
That’s fine if you’re paying out of pocket. It’s a problem if you expect a warranty company to pay.
A lot of denials are not because the part is “not covered,” but because the owner can’t prove basic maintenance history when the time comes.
This is the most common mistake.
The market is moving because:
DubiCars describes this structural shift clearly, and Gulf News described price pressure and stronger finance offers as part of the buyer-friendly environment.
A warranty won’t reverse that. At best, it makes your car easier to sell than another similar car with no coverage.
Here’s a quick way to decide without overthinking.
In a slower market where time-to-sale has lengthened, anything that reduces buyer doubt can help.
But check transferability and what the warranty actually covers.
Depreciation pressure makes people chase clever hacks.
Most of the time, the boring path wins:
Because in 2026, depreciation is doing its thing whether you like it or not.
