we bought a car when we lived in the UAE. you can find cheap second-hand ones and newer online through dubizzle (for example). i mean, if you're really into bashing then go for it but for me...who cares? i can just twirl around non-stop for 20 minutes if i wanted to vomit. anyways, we had a tiny car but ran great. fixing and repair is relatively cheap (ours was a japanese car). like everything in the ME, it does seem to get done somehow for a good price, but with quality parts? probably not.
we also rented after we sold the japanese car. the rate was pretty good too. there are places that give teacher discounts as well.
good luck!
v.
Shipping a car instead of buying or renting a new one?
Discussion
One of the advantages of a rental is that in the case of repairs, etc.. you can often just swap out cars for an identical one, though the paperwork takes about 30 minutes.