Rent GAC M8 2023 in Dubai

The GAC M8 2023 is the black seven-seat MPV on our fleet built for the segment that Toyota's Alphard and Kia's Carnival usually own, and it deserves a proper look before you default to whichever badge you already know. We bring it to your Dubai address, typically within one to two hours of booking, and take cash or a debit card at handover. GAC still isn't a name most renters recognise here, and we won't pretend otherwise. Underneath that unfamiliarity sits a genuine premium MPV, with captain's chairs in row two, power sliding doors and a turbocharged engine that does its job quietly. This page settles whether that trade, an unfamiliar badge for real savings, works for you.

The engine, and how it drives

GAC fits the M8 with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder making around 248 hp and 400 Nm, sent through an 8-speed automatic to the front wheels only. There's no all-wheel-drive version of this car. Treat it as a road MPV, not a Hatta or dune vehicle. On Sheikh Zayed Road the engine has enough shove to merge and overtake without drama once it's rolling, though a fully loaded M8 with seven adults aboard needs a moment to build speed from a standstill, which is normal for a vehicle this size and weight. Around town and on ramps into Marina towers the steering is light and the turning circle is manageable for something over five metres long, so it doesn't feel like the chore its footprint suggests.

Seven seats, and what fits behind them

Row two is where the M8 makes its case against the Alphard and the Carnival. Both outer seats are individual captain's chairs, power-adjustable with heating and ventilation, a proper luxury touch you don't expect on a car most people here have never heard of. Row three is a genuine three-seat bench, foldable when you need the space instead of the seats. Power sliding doors on both sides make loading kids, elderly parents or a stroller easy even in a tight bay, since you're not swinging a full-size door into the car parked next to you.

With all seven seats up, the boot behind the third row runs to roughly 355 litres, enough for a few soft bags and the weekly shop, not seven people's hard cases for a flight. Fold the third row and the load area opens up considerably, which is the honest way to run this car for an airport trip with four or five passengers and real luggage. At just over five metres long and close to 1.9 metres wide, it needs a full-size bay to park in comfortably, and multi-storey ramps and speed bumps pass without drama given the MPV's reasonable ride height.

Running cost, heat and the cabin

Officially the M8 returns around 11 L/100km combined, and the 68-litre tank should cover something over 600 km on paper. In real Dubai driving, with a full cabin and the air conditioning working hard against the heat, expect closer to 13 to 14 L/100km and a realistic range nearer 480 to 550 km before you need to stop. That's thirstier than a sedan, but reasonable for a vehicle carrying seven adults instead of four.

The included mileage is 250 km a day, which covers ordinary city use and school runs with room left over. Go past it and extra distance runs AED 0.5 per kilometre. You need to be 25 to take the keys. Salik tolls and any RTA fines during the rental are yours to cover, as with any car on this fleet.

Cooling a cabin this size in a Dubai summer takes longer than it does in a hatchback, simply because there's more air to chill. The front vents pull the first two rows down quickly, and the ventilated captain's chairs in row two genuinely help on the worst afternoons, cooling the seat itself rather than waiting for the air around it to catch up. The third row, as in most seven-seaters, takes a little longer to feel comfortable. Give the car a few minutes with the engine running before you load everyone in, and park in shade or a basement when you can.

Who should rent it, and who should look elsewhere

Rent the M8 if what you actually want is Alphard-level comfort, captain's chairs, sliding doors, a properly spacious cabin, without paying Alphard rates, and you're comfortable running a badge most people in Dubai won't recognise on sight. In black it looks the part parked outside a hotel or a villa, and the seats are the part nobody who's rented it from us has ever complained about.

Look elsewhere if brand recognition matters more to you than the spec sheet, or if you need four-wheel drive for the desert. This is a front-wheel-drive road car, not an off-roader, so a Patrol or a similar 4x4 is the right call for Hatta trips. If you're only ever carrying four people, a mid-size SUV will be cheaper to run and easier to park. But for a family or a group who wants space and comfort for the week, and doesn't mind driving something unfamiliar, the M8 does the job the Alphard and the Carnival do, for less money and less waiting to get one.