Rent Hyundai Palisade 2022 in Dubai

Need a three-row SUV that actually seats seven without anyone drawing the short straw? We rent the Hyundai Palisade 2022 across Dubai with 250 km a day included, so a school run plus an airport return plus a weekend drive out to the east coast all fit inside one day's allowance without you watching the odometer. The Palisade is a big, plush family hauler with a smooth 3.8-litre V6 and a third row adults can sit in, and this page is about one decision: whether it's the right size of car for your week, or whether you'd be better off a class smaller or in something built for real dunes.

What you're actually renting

The Palisade sits at the top of Hyundai's SUV range, just under the luxury badges in feel. It's a 7-seat SUV (some configurations run an 8-seat bench in the middle row), and the cabin is the reason people book it. Soft-touch surfaces, quilted leather on the higher trims, a quiet highway ride, and second-row captain's chairs that recline. The 3.8 V6 makes 291 hp through an 8-speed automatic and Hyundai's HTRAC all-wheel drive, so it never feels strained merging onto Sheikh Zayed Road with seven people aboard. You're paying a standard-SUV rate for a cabin that feels a step above it.

Does my family and luggage fit

Yes, and this is where the Palisade earns its rate. The third row genuinely takes two adults for an airport run or a day out, not just kids folded in for ten minutes. Headroom and legroom back there beat most rivals at this price, and there are air vents for all three rows, which matters more than it sounds in summer.

The trade-off is the boot. With all seven seats up you get 510 litres, enough for the weekly shop and a couple of soft bags, but not a full set of hard suitcases. If you're collecting four people and their cases from DXB or DWC, drop the third row and you free up a flat, deep load space. The realistic rule: seven people OR seven people's luggage, rarely both at full load. For five passengers plus a holiday's worth of bags, it's excellent.

Heat, the cabin, and how fast it cools

Dubai summers push into the high 40s, and a car this big bakes hard parked in the open. The Palisade has a strong front climate system and, importantly, dedicated rear controls and vents reaching the second and third rows, so the back doesn't stay an oven while the front gets comfortable. From a cabin sitting at 45C or above, expect the front to feel tolerable within a few minutes and the whole cabin to settle a while later. The ventilated front seats on higher trims help more than the air alone. With a glass roof on some versions, the cabin loads heat fast in direct sun, so park in shade or a basement when you can.

Driving it around Dubai

On the highway the Palisade is in its element. The V6 has easy overtaking pace, the ride is settled at 120, and long airport or inter-emirate runs pass quietly. It's a relaxed cruiser, not a sharp one, and that suits the job.

Around town the size becomes the thing you manage. At nearly five metres long and almost two wide, it needs thought in Marina towers and older mall basements where the bays and ramps are tight. The 201 mm of ground clearance clears speed bumps and mall ramps without scraping, and the all-round camera and sensors on most units make parking far less stressful than the footprint suggests. If most of your week is solo errands in dense parking, this is more car than you need.

A note on the running costs you carry: Salik tolls and any RTA fines during the rental pass to you, seat belts are required in every seat, and children under four need a child seat. We can fit one on request.

How often will I stop to refuel

This is a 3.8 V6 moving over two tonnes, so be realistic. The combined figure is around 11.2 L/100km, but Dubai's stop-start traffic and constant AC load push real-world use into the low-to-mid teens in city driving. The 71-litre tank still gives a strong touring range, so on mixed highway and city use one fill covers a normal week, maybe a top-up if you do a lot of short hops. It's thirstier than a four-cylinder crossover, and that's the cost of the V6 smoothness and the seven usable seats.

Off the tarmac

The HTRAC all-wheel drive and decent clearance handle graded desert tracks, beach access roads, and the drive up to Hatta without drama. What it isn't is a dune machine. This is a road-biased family SUV, not a body-on-frame 4x4, so leave the soft sand to a Land Cruiser or a Patrol. For everything short of that, the Palisade goes where a family on a day trip actually goes.

Who should rent it, and who shouldn't

Rent the Palisade if you're moving a real family or a group and want comfort across three rows. For five or six people with luggage, airport runs, and highway cruising, it's one of the best-value big haulers we hand over, and the cabin punches above the rate.

Look elsewhere in two cases. If it's mostly you and a partner doing city errands in tight parking, size down to a two-row SUV and save on fuel and hassle. And if your week is built around real dune driving, take a proper 4x4. Pick the Palisade for space and comfort, not for the sand.