Used Mitsubishi Lancer in Dubai

The Lancer was the car half of Dubai's driving schools, delivery fleets and first time buyers ran for two decades, and a used Mitsubishi Lancer is still one of the cheapest ways to put a reliable saloon with cold air conditioning on a Dubai plate. What most buyers do not know is that for years Mitsubishi sold two different cars here under the same badge, and telling them apart is the whole skill in buying one.

The used Mitsubishi Lancer Dubai listings on OneClickDrive come from private owners and small dealers, nearly all GCC spec, with the odd Japanese import mixed in. Below is which Lancer is which, what the engines and trims mean, and what to look at on a car that has usually had several owners.

Mitsubishi Lancer price in Dubai and what a used one should cost

Nothing about the Lancer price in UAE listings is set by the badge, because the badge covers a very old car and a much newer one. The first split is which of the two you are looking at, then the year, the odometer, and whether the car worked for a company or lived with a family. Trim moves the number less than on most cars.

A late Lancer EX 2.0 GT with a private history sits at the top. An older shape 1.6 with a six figure reading and a driving school past sits at the bottom, close to the cheapest running, insurable saloon in the country. The figure under the heading above is refreshed from the live listings, so use that as the floor, and treat any Mitsubishi Lancer used Dubai price written into an article as stale within a month.

Lancer or Lancer EX: the two cars Mitsubishi sold here at once

This is the part that trips buyers up. The tenth generation Lancer, the sharp nosed car with the trapezoid grille, arrived for 2008 and was sold in the Gulf as the Lancer EX. At the same time Mitsubishi kept the previous, rounder shape on sale here as the plain Lancer, a cheaper car aimed at fleets and first buyers, and it stayed in showrooms for years alongside the EX. So a listing titled Mitsubishi Lancer 2015 or 2016 can be either car, and the two are not worth the same money.

The quick tell is the nose and the dashboard. The EX has the wide angular grille and a proper centre screen on the better trims. The older shape has a softer front, a simpler dash and a smaller engine. Both are front wheel drive five seat saloons with automatic gearboxes, and a used Mitsubishi Lancer EX is the one most buyers mean when they search for a second hand Mitsubishi Lancer, so the older shape should be priced as the older car it is.

GL, GLX, GLS and GT: engines and trims on a second hand Lancer

On the Lancer EX the engine is the real choice.

• The 1.6 litre four cylinder is the fleet engine, adequate in the city and working hard on the E311 with four people and the air conditioning on.
• The 2.0 litre is the one to have: noticeably stronger, paired on most cars with a continuously variable gearbox, and fitted to the GLS and the GT.
• The Lancer GT is the top car, with the bigger wheels, the body kit and the touchscreen.
• Below it the trims run GL, GLX and GLS, and a few cars wear ES or a Special Edition badge depending on the year.
• The older shape car is simpler: a 1.3 or 1.6 litre engine, a four speed automatic, and GL or GLX trim.
• A Lancer GLX of either generation is usually the private buyer's car and the GL the fleet car, which matters more than the equipment difference. One badge is a different car entirely.
• The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is the turbocharged all wheel drive rally car built on the same platform, worth many times a normal Lancer and bought by a different person.
• It has its own page and its own market.

Driving school, delivery fleet or family: where a used Lancer came from

More than almost any car listed on OneClickDrive, the Lancer's history is about who owned it. Driving schools ran them by the hundred, delivery fleets bought them in batches, and those cars come to market at four or five years old with a six figure reading, a stamped book and a clutch of previous owners on the Mulkiya. A family Lancer of the same year has done a third of the distance and may or may not have a book at all.

A fleet car was serviced on a contract, and the record proves it. A private seller with the agency history and one or two owners on the Mulkiya is worth a real premium, because that is the car that sells on easily. The one to avoid has a low reading, no book and four owners in six years, which on a Lancer is common enough to check for on every listing.

Running costs, parts and resale on a Mitsubishi Lancer second hand

The Lancer costs almost nothing to keep, which is the argument for it. Fuel use on the 1.6 is small car money, insurance is priced at the floor of the scale, and because Mitsubishi sold so many here the parts are on every shelf in Al Quoz and Sharjah. The model is no longer built, and on a Lancer that changes nothing about parts or expertise for years to come.

Resale follows the same logic. A Mitsubishi Lancer used as a second car with an honest reading and a book sells within a fortnight, because demand at the bottom of the market never stops. What holds a used Lancer back is a cheap accident repair, a gearbox that slurs, or a history with gaps.

Why buy a used Mitsubishi Lancer with OneClickDrive

On a cheap car the commission is a visible slice of the price, and there is none here on either side. The seller's own figure is the figure on the listing, you contact the seller directly, and each listing says whether that seller is a private owner or a dealer and whether the car is GCC spec or an import.

Each Lancer listed here also carries the year, the trim, the engine where stated, the distance and photographs of the actual car, so the used car Mitsubishi Lancer shortlist can be sorted into the two generations before anyone drives across town. Where a car has an inspection report or any warranty left, the listing says so. When it is time to move on, a private owner lists a used car Lancer buyers want here for free, with no commission when it sells.

Where to find a Lancer for sale in Dubai and across the UAE

The Lancer for sale Dubai stock sits with the small independents in Al Aweer and Ras Al Khor, who take fleet cars in batches, and with private owners who bought new and are moving up. A used Lancer for sale in Dubai from an owner with the book is the one to see first, and a used Mitsubishi Lancer for sale in Dubai from a dealer is worth a look when it carries an inspection report. There is a separate page for Lancer stock in Sharjah, where the prices are often keener.

It pays to search the whole country. A used Lancer for sale in UAE listings beyond Dubai is usually a Sharjah or Ajman car an hour away, and a Mitsubishi Lancer for sale in UAE terms from those emirates often costs less than the same Mitsubishi Lancer for sale Dubai sellers list. Lancer cars and used Lancer cars of both generations turn over quickly, so if the used Mitsubishi Lancer for sale in UAE list has nothing right this week, next week will.

If the Lancer is the right money but the wrong car: the Mitsubishi Attrage is the smaller saloon Mitsubishi sells in its place, the Nissan Sunny and the Toyota Yaris are the two cars it competes with on every forecourt, and the Mitsubishi hub carries the rest of the range.

What to check on a used Lancer before you pay

The gearbox first, from cold, because it is the only expensive thing on the car.

• On a four speed automatic, count how long drive takes to engage from neutral, listen for a slur between second and third, and feel for a thump on the downshift.
• On a 2.0 litre car with the continuously variable gearbox, pull away gently and feel for a shudder, then hold a steady throttle and listen for a whine, and ask for the invoice for the last fluid change. Then the engine and the cold air.
• The EX engines use a timing chain and want oil changes on time, so a rattle on a cold start is a car that missed them.
• On the older shape car ask whether the timing belt has been done.
• Let the air conditioning run at idle in the sun for ten minutes.
• Walk the car in daylight looking for the cheap accident repair: mismatched paint, overspray on the door seals, a bonnet that sits high on one side.
• Take the chassis number from the Mulkiya and run a history report for accident claims and registered finance, read the service history against the odometer, and read the seat bolster and the pedal rubbers as a second odometer, because on a fleet Lancer they tell the truth the display does not.
• If the listing carries no inspection report, book one at an RTA testing centre before any deposit moves.

Finance, EMI and buying a used Lancer with no down payment

Most Lancers are bought for cash and most sellers expect it. A bank caps how old the car can be when the loan ends and sets a minimum loan sum, and a large share of the Lancer market falls outside one or the other. The late EX cars clear both, and on those the estimated EMI under the listing is a planning figure, with a down payment normally asked for and a no down payment deal possible for some buyers depending on salary and employer.

Finance on the cars that qualify runs through OneClickDrive's arrangement with Emirates NBD (ENBD), which gives car loan pre-approval inside 24 hours to buyers who meet the bank's eligibility criteria, and the listing marks the selected cars it applies to. If the seller still has a loan on the car, the bank issues a liability letter with the balance and the transfer waits for the clearance certificate.

Paperwork to put a Lancer in your name

The transfer runs at an RTA centre or a registration partner and takes an hour when the file is clean.

• The seller brings the Mulkiya and their Emirates ID, you bring yours and an insurance policy already in your name, the fines on the plate are cleared first, and a car of this age usually needs a passed technical inspection before the RTA will move it.
• Read the owner history on the Mulkiya carefully, because a Lancer has usually passed through several hands and the person selling must be the registered owner.
• On an ex fleet car the company's documents and a signatory come to the counter too.
• On a Japanese import, ask for the customs file and call your insurer first, because some will not cover a non GCC car.

Nuestra selección de Usado Mitsubishi Autos en Dubai ofrece opciones versátiles que se adaptan a las necesidades de cada conductor, desde el confort cotidiano hasta los modelos de altas prestaciones. Si desea ampliar sus opciones, nuestro completo centro de Usado coches en Dubai ofrece miles de vehículos para explorar. Además, nuestra cuidada gama de NUEVO Mitsubishi Autos te mantiene al día de las últimas novedades de la marca. ¿Quiere renovar o cambiar de vehículo? También puede Vender mi coche Dubai a través de OneClickDrive y conéctese con compradores serios de los EAU.