Desk research against primary sources. Figures are traced to the issuing UAE authority and linked on the page.
Shipping only makes sense once you have priced the full landed cost, not just the freight quote. The AED 20,000–50,000 shipping figure is the headline a broker leads with, but the 5% customs duty is calculated on the vehicle's assessed value, and the engineering inspection happens after the car has already arrived — so a failure at that stage means paying storage while you source parts or accept the car cannot be registered.
The maths rarely favours older or common models: a car worth little at home still costs the same to ship, inspect and modify, so the shipping cost can exceed the vehicle's value long before duty is added. It suits vehicles that are rare, modified, or sentimental enough that no local equivalent is an acceptable substitute — for anything else, selling at home and buying in the UAE avoids the inspection risk entirely.