The vast majority of UAE garages are honest businesses. But the minority that aren’t rely on the same handful of tricks — all of which fail against an informed customer.
The known scams: charging for genuine parts while fitting used or counterfeit ones (ask for old parts back and boxes/invoices for new ones), diagnosing phantom problems ("your gearbox is about to fail" — get a second opinion), holding cars hostage with inflated bills beyond the quote (never authorise open-ended work), and operating without a trade license entirely.
Your protection checklist: verify the trade license (Verified garages on UAE Garage Finder have license and premises checked), get itemised written quotes before work begins, authorise extra work only in writing, pay traceable methods, and check recent verified reviews — not just star counts.
If a garage listed on our platform behaves badly, use the Report button on their profile. Reports are reviewed by our team and repeated complaints lead to suspension.