The demand for used cars is on an upswing as the year is coming to an end with an increasing number of young citizens preferring to offload old cars to buy 2013 models.
Used car sales also pick up ahead of the Haj season as a majority of nationals who prefer to go with their families for pilgrimage prefer not to fly but travel by road in used vehicles.
These people, thus, buy used cars and travel for Haj with their families. They resell these vehicles for almost the same price when they return from the pilgrimage, said market sources.
"This practice is not new. This has been going on for a long time. These citizens simply don't want to travel in luxury cars they own, so they buy used cars only to travel to the neighboring Saudi Arabia for Haj or Umrah," a market source said. This year, the Haj season has almost coincided with the time when most nationals begin selling their cars to buy new models. This is the time of the year when nationals especially sell old cars to buy new ones.
An increasing number of citizens can be seen in the market this year trying to dump used cars in preparation to buy new ones, said market sources. It might be because Qatari public servants got a huge salary increase last year-end.
The impact of the pay raise that has led to added affluence in the Qatari community is being felt now as more and more young motorists are out to offload old cars to grab fancy 2013 models.
If one visits the used car market in the Industrial Area one can also see Saudi nationals (identifiable by their style of dressing) in large numbers in both the auction enclosure and near the roadside displays. They mostly prefer to buy five to 10-year-old Japanese cars which they take to Saudi Arabia and resell them to expatriate buyers for a profit. Toyota Corolla is in huge demand. The trend of pricing shows that Corolla cars of 2007 model are, for instance, available in the used car market for QR30,000 onwards.
As for Nissan Sunny, a five-year-old car in a good condition can be bought for up to QR20,000.
Most of those who buy used cars for their personal use and not for resale are expatriates, according to market sources.
The Peninsula
18 October
