Rent Nissan Patrol 2022 in Dubai

Seven of you come off the belt at Dubai International, one trolley each, and somebody starts doing the sums out loud: two cases per adult, one apiece for the kids, does that actually go in one SUV or are we splitting into two cars for the ride to the villa? That question is exactly why renters ask for the Nissan Patrol 2022 by name at the airport. We can have this one waiting at the terminal within one to two hours of your call. It's the Y62-generation Patrol, the older body with the 5.6-litre V8, not the redesigned car that came later, and the honest answer to the luggage sum depends entirely on whether you need all seven seats for the ride home or just most of them.

What the V8 and the size buy you

Under the bonnet sits a 5.6-litre petrol V8 making 400 hp and 560 Nm, sent to all four wheels through a seven-speed automatic. This isn't a crossover wearing rugged badges. It's a genuine body-on-frame 4x4 with a low-range transfer case, the kind of hardware that still means something once the tarmac runs out. On a normal week that translates into effortless overtaking on the highway and a ride that shrugs off the odd rough patch on the way to Hatta.

One thing worth checking when you book: a handful of Patrols from this year carry the smaller 4.0-litre V6 instead of the V8. It still drives the car perfectly well, just with noticeably less shove. If the V8 is the reason you picked this model, ask us to confirm which engine your unit has before you commit.

The luggage math for seven

Back to that airport trolley. With all seven seats occupied, the boot behind the third row is honestly modest, enough for backpacks, a couple of soft duffels and a pushchair, not nine hard cases stacked to the roof. If your group genuinely needs every seat on the ride in, plan on a roof box or a second vehicle for the overflow bags, the same as you would with any seven-seat SUV on the market.

Where the Patrol earns its keep is the rest of the week. Fold one side of the third row flat and you're down to six seats with a proper load bay running alongside them, enough for four or five large cases plus the smaller bags. Drop the whole row and it's a five-seater with a cargo hold that swallows a big family's luggage for a week without anyone thinking twice. Most rentals actually run this way. The airport pickup with everyone and everything at once is the one tight moment; the rest of the trip, you're choosing seats or space, not fighting for both.

Running cost and a white cabin in summer

A two-and-a-half-tonne V8 is not a cheap car to feed, and real-world consumption in Dubai traffic with the AC working hard tends to land closer to 16 or 17 litres per 100 km than the 14 you'll see quoted as a combined figure. The 140-litre tank absorbs that. It's a genuinely long-range fuel tank that means fewer stops even with a heavy right foot, which matters more than the per-litre number on a week where you're covering ground every day.

Mileage is the other running cost to watch. The included allowance is 250 km a day, then AED 0.5 for every kilometre over. Airport runs, school drop-offs and mall trips sit comfortably inside that, but a full day out to Hatta and back is worth a quick tally before you leave. Salik tolls and any RTA fines land on the renter too, as they would with any car we hand over.

This fleet's Patrol is white, and that's a genuine advantage in July. A white body reflects far more heat than a dark one, so the panels and the roof stay cooler to the touch after hours in a parking lot, and the compressor isn't starting from as deep a hole. That said, a car this size still bakes through the glass, and no paint colour changes that. Climb back in after a few hours in the sun and it takes a couple of minutes of strong front vents working before the cabin properly cools, and rear vents keep the second and third rows fed too, so the people furthest from the dash aren't stuck with warm air while the front seats get all the cold.

Who should rent it, and who's over-buying

Book the Patrol 2022 if you're a large family or a group travelling with real luggage, or if your week actually mixes highway driving, seven passengers and a run out to the desert. Few rentals in Dubai handle that combination as easily, and the V8 makes the highway stretches feel short. You'll need to be 25 to take the keys, five years older than the minimum on smaller cars in our fleet, which tells you something about the class this car sits in.

Skip it if it's one or two of you running errands and doing the odd airport pickup. You'll spend the week parking a five-metre SUV in bays built for something smaller and filling a big tank for a job a mid-size crossover does for less. The Patrol earns its size back the day you actually need seven seats and the cases to match. On any other day, it's more car than the trip requires.