Self-drive
Self-drive van rental in Dubai
You take the keys and drive it yourself. Bring a valid UAE licence and Emirates ID, and a van can be with you the same day — from AED 150 for a pickup, AED 180 for a Hiace.
From one day
Insurance included
Free delivery in Dubai
No booking fee
Who it suits
When driving it yourself is the cheaper answer
Self-drive is the default choice for anyone who holds a UAE licence and has a few hours. You are not paying for a driver’s time, and you are not working to anybody else’s schedule.
Moving house
A studio or one-bedroom flat with a friend and a weekend. Two runs in a Hiace usually beats what a removals company quotes for the same job.
Tradespeople and contractors
A pickup for a week of site work, or a panel van while your own vehicle is in the workshop. Weekly rates make short projects predictable.
Small businesses
Your own staff driving your own deliveries, without the cost of buying, registering, insuring and servicing a van you may only need part of the year.
One-off collections
A furniture pickup, an auction lot, a market run. Take the van for a day, do the job, hand it back.
Where it can go
Outside Dubai, and outside the UAE
A self-drive hire is not limited to the city, but two boundaries matter: the mileage allowance and the border.
Anywhere in the UAE is fine. Sharjah, Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and everything between are all normal work for these vans, and nothing about the hire changes when you cross an emirate line. What does change is the arithmetic: 150 km a day disappears quickly on an Abu Dhabi round trip, and Abu Dhabi has its own toll system, Darb, alongside Salik in Dubai.
Leaving the country is different. Taking a rented vehicle into Oman needs written permission from us and separate Oman insurance arranged in advance. Crossing without both means driving uninsured the moment you pass the border, so tell us at the booking stage and it can be organised properly; ask on the day and it cannot.
One more limit worth stating plainly: these are road vehicles. Driving onto soft sand, into water or onto an unmade site track is treated as misuse, and misuse is not covered by the insurance. If a job involves the last stretch being off the asphalt, describe it to us first and we will tell you whether the van can do it.
Speed
What actually makes a booking same-day
Most self-drive hires are confirmed within the hour. The ones that are not usually stall on the same three things.
Documents in advance. A photograph of the driving licence and Emirates ID, or the passport and visa page for a visitor, sent with the enquiry rather than produced at the yard, is what lets us confirm eligibility before the vehicle is promised. If a second person might drive, send theirs at the same time.
A payment method that works today. The hire and the deposit go by card or bank transfer, and a transfer that has to be approved by someone in another office is the most common reason a same-day booking becomes a next-morning one. Company bookings are quicker after the first time, because the trade licence and driver authorisation are already on file.
The address and a time window. Delivery anywhere in Dubai is included, but a van cannot be in two places at once. Tell us where it should arrive and between which hours, and if the vehicle you want is already out that day, we will say so and offer the nearest size rather than quietly substituting one.
Eligibility
Can you drive one of our vans?
Every van up to the Ford Transit sits in the standard light vehicle category, so the licence you already use for a car covers it. The 3-ton chiller van is the exception.
Every van up to the Ford Transit sits in the standard light vehicle category. The 3-ton chiller van is the one that does not.
UAE residents
- Valid UAE driving licence
- Emirates ID, front and back
- Passport copy with visa page
- Minimum age 21
Visitors and tourists
- Passport and entry visa page
- Home-country licence, plus an international permit where your country requires one
- Minimum age 21
- Send us your licence before you travel and we will confirm it is accepted
Which licences the UAE accepts changes from time to time. Send us a photo of yours before you book and we will tell you either way rather than let you find out at handover.
On the road
If something happens while you have the van
Two situations account for almost every call we get from a self-drive customer. Both are easier when you know the order of events in advance.
After any accident, however small, UAE law requires it to be reported to the police, and the insurer will not act without a report. For a minor knock in Dubai the quickest route is the Dubai Police app: choose the minor traffic accident report, enter the vehicle details for everyone involved, upload photographs of the damage and submit. You are given a report number, and that number is what the claim runs on. If anyone is hurt, or the road is blocked, call 999 and leave the vehicles where they are.
Then tell us, with the report number and the photographs. Comprehensive insurance covers the vehicle, subject to the excess written into your agreement, and the report is what releases it. The one thing that causes real trouble is moving on without reporting, because there is then no way to settle the damage through the policy. The full sequence, including the damage that is not a road accident at all, is in the damage and accidents guide.
A breakdown is simpler. Roadside assistance and a replacement vehicle are part of every hire, so message or call us rather than arranging a garage yourself. Tell us where the van is, whether it is loaded and whether it is somewhere it can safely stay, and we will arrange recovery and get another vehicle to you.
Coming back
Returning the van without surprises
A hire ends the way it started: with a walk round, a fuel gauge and a photograph. Three things decide whether anything is added afterwards.
Fuel goes back at the level it came out at, and both levels are photographed. If it comes back lower, the difference is charged at cost with nothing added, so filling up on the way back is usually cheaper than leaving it to us.
The van comes back reasonably clean and empty. Ordinary road dust and site dirt are expected and are not charged; what does get charged is the exceptional, such as cement set into a pickup bed, oil spilt in a load space, or a body that carried food and was not washed out.
The deposit is released once Salik crossings and any traffic fines have appeared against the plate, which can take up to thirty days because those charges reach the vehicle after the hire has ended. Nothing is deducted without being shown to you, and if you return the van late, tell us as early as you can: extending is usually straightforward, while an unannounced late return can collide with the next booking.
Rates
Self-drive rates
In AED, including comprehensive insurance, registration and maintenance. Fuel, Salik, fines and 5% VAT are charged separately.
| Van | Per day | Per week | Deposit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Ton Pickup | AED 150 | AED 900 | AED 1,000 |
| Toyota Hiace | AED 180 | AED 1,050 | AED 1,000 |
| Nissan Urvan | AED 200 | AED 1,150 | AED 1,000 |
| Ford Transit | AED 250 | AED 1,450 | AED 1,500 |
150 km included per day, 1,000 km per week. Taking a van for a month? Monthly rates work out considerably cheaper per day.
The bill
What else lands on the bill, and when
The rate is the largest number, and it is rarely the only one. These are the charges that arrive alongside it.
Fuel and Salik are yours, both at cost. Salik posts against the plate a day or two after each crossing, so a route that crosses two gates twice a day mounts up quietly. Fines work the same way and are passed on exactly as charged, with no administration fee added.
Kilometres beyond the allowance are charged per kilometre: AED 0.50 on the pickup, Hiace and Urvan, AED 0.60 on the Transit, and AED 0.80 on the chiller van. The allowance is 150 km a day, 1,000 km a week and 3,500 km a month, so the weekly and monthly terms are worth taking for anything that repeats, not only for the lower daily figure.
VAT at 5% is added to the hire, and the refundable deposit sits alongside it — AED 1,000 on the vans and pickup, AED 1,500 on the Transit. None of this is unusual, but it is the difference between the headline rate and what actually leaves your account, which is why the quote you get from us states all of it before you commit.
How it works
Booked in three steps
Send the details
Van, dates, delivery address, and a photo of your licence and Emirates ID. We check availability and confirm the total.
Pay and sign
Hire charge and deposit by card or transfer. The rental agreement is sent through before the van moves, not shoved at you on the forecourt.
Drive away
We deliver anywhere in Dubai, or you collect from the yard. Condition and fuel level are photographed at handover and again on return.
At handover
The five-minute check before you drive away
The handover photographs protect both sides. These are the things worth looking at while they are being taken.
Walk round the vehicle with whoever is handing it over and make sure every existing mark is on the condition record. Scuffs on the rear corners and bumper are the ones that get missed on a van, because that is where loading damage happens, and they are also the ones a later inspection notices first.
Check the tyres, including the spare, and that the lights, indicators, wipers and air conditioning work before you leave rather than at the first drop. On a van the load space matters too: floor clean and dry, nothing loose rolling about, and the rear and side doors opening and closing properly from both inside and out.
Look in the glovebox for the registration card and insurance paperwork, because that is what a patrol will ask for, and check the fuel gauge against the record. Confirm which licence category the vehicle needs if you are taking anything above a panel van; the licence guide sets out where that line falls.
Finally, save the number you have been messaging on. If a question comes up mid-job, the person who answers is the person who knows your booking.
Self-drive questions
Do I need a commercial or heavy licence?
Not for the pickup, Hiace, Urvan or Transit — a standard UAE light vehicle licence covers all of them. The 3-ton chiller van is heavier and does need the appropriate category, so most customers take that one with a driver.
Can somebody else drive the van?
Only if they are named on the agreement. Send us their licence and Emirates ID and we will add them at no charge. An unnamed driver invalidates the insurance, so it is not worth the shortcut.
What is the minimum hire?
One day, counted as 24 hours from collection. If you need it for four hours we will still charge a day, but you may as well keep it for the full period.
What happens if I damage the van?
Comprehensive insurance covers it, subject to the excess stated in your agreement. A police report is required for any accident in the UAE before the insurer will act — call the police from the scene, not us first.
Do I have to bring it back full?
Return it at the level you took it. We photograph the gauge at handover so there is no argument, and if it comes back lower we charge fuel at cost plus nothing.
Take a van out tomorrow
Send your licence, the dates and the address. Most self-drive bookings are confirmed within the hour.