How to Choose a Car Consignment Company in Dubai: The Questions to Ask Before You Sign

In short: Judge a consignment company in Dubai on five answerable questions: does the car have to be handed over before it sells, who sets the price floor, is anything payable in advance, who handles the paperwork and the settlement, and can you find the company at a real address during published opening hours. Bilgatti Auto answers all five in writing.

Most consignment companies in Dubai describe themselves in more or less the same words. Professional. Trusted. Hassle free. None of that is checkable, and none of it tells you what actually happens to your car during the weeks it is being advertised.

What is checkable is a short set of operational questions. Each one has a factual answer, each answer is either in writing or it is not, and the real differences between providers surface there rather than in the adjectives. Five questions do most of the work.

What five questions separate one company from another?

1. Does the car have to be handed over before it sells? This is the single largest practical difference between one arrangement and another. If the vehicle has to sit on somebody else's premises for the listing period, you need other transport for all of it, and your car is out of your sight while it is still unsold. Ask it plainly. Then ask what happens to the car if you change your mind halfway through.

2. Who sets the price floor? A valuation is an estimate. A floor is a decision, and it is a different thing. Find out who makes that decision and whether the figure is written down before advertising starts. Be precise on the wording: a promise that you will be "consulted" is not the same as a number below which the car does not sell.

3. Is anything payable in advance? Listing fees, photography fees, administration fees. The sharpest version of the question is this: what do I owe you if the car never sells? Ask for the commission rate in figures too, applied to a sale at your floor price, so you are looking at an actual AED amount rather than a percentage in the abstract.

4. Who handles the paperwork and the settlement? There are three separate jobs hiding in that sentence. The contract, the ownership transfer, and the money. Someone has to do each of them, and where the answer is vague, the answer is usually you. Ask how the funds reach you and at what point in the process.

5. Can you find the company in the physical world? A street address you could drive to, opening hours that are published rather than described, a phone number a person answers during them. This is the cheapest check on the list and it removes the most candidates.

The order matters. Questions one to four tell you what the arrangement actually is. Question five tells you whether the answers to the first four are worth anything.

How do you check the answers before you sign?

Put all five in a single message and see what comes back, and how quickly. Anything that returns as reassurance rather than as an answer is itself an answer.

Treat round the clock availability claims with mild suspicion. A contact form and a WhatsApp thread will accept messages at three in the morning, which is not the same as an office staffed at three in the morning. The more useful signal is whether a company publishes when it is open and states how long a reply takes, because both of those can be held against it later.

Two more things are worth asking, though neither belongs on the core list: how long a car of your type usually takes to sell, and whether the arrangement will be put in writing before any advertising goes live. If you are still deciding whether consignment is the right route at all, consignment, trade-in or private sale compares the three on workload and return, and how car consignment works walks through the process in order.

How does Bilgatti Auto answer these five questions?

Ask them of Bilgatti Auto as well. The answers are published, which is the point of listing them here.

Two numbers sit alongside that table. On timing, most cars sell within 2 to 4 weeks, with popular models going faster and niche models taking longer. On contact, the form and the WhatsApp button accept messages outside opening hours and the published expectation is a reply within 24 hours, which is a different promise from a permanently staffed phone line and is worth reading as exactly what it says.

One more detail that helps if you are checking the company for yourself. Bilgatti Auto was formerly Norwest Motors, so records and listings under the old name belong to the same business. The about page and the sell your car page set out the model in the company's own words.

How do I get started?

Start with the valuation, because it costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Send the car's details and photographs through register your car and a free valuation comes back within 24 hours. The form asks for the chassis number and your contact details, then for any faults or damage, the service history, and extras such as extra keys, a tow bar, child seats, the original documentation or the service book. Photographs do most of the work, so send the front, the rear, both sides, the interior, the dashboard, the mileage display and anything you would rather disclose now than argue about later.

To put the five questions to a person first, call +971 52 270 8056, email bilgattiauto@gmail.com or get in touch here. The office at 10 San'a Rd, Ras Al Khor Ind. First, Dubai is open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 18:00, and there is no obligation to sell at any stage.