How's the driving in Dubai? I'm travelling from the US and will be there for 3 days. Having a car at our disposal would be helpful... but is it worth it or should be stick to taxis? How's the parking situation around most touristy spots?

Parking in Dubai can be horrendous if the place you are visiting doesn't have its own parking lot. Circling the block for an hour or more looking for street parking is not uncommon.

Really no need unless you plan to head out of the city, and then just get a car for the day.

I may sound negative but there are too many reasons not to: parking (unless you're near a mall); traffic jams at rush hour; clueless, often dangerous driving; tolls; cowboy rental companies; cameras; 101 possible violations that you don't know about; road layouts constantly changing so sat-navs are out-of-date; etc, etc.

You need to be used to city driving on fast, multi-lane highways, as well as confident, careful, assertive and possessed of an even temperament !

On the upside, gas is cheap

Just to complement what has already been said, the traffic can be annoying and in certain areas parking is challenging. The driving is generally better than other regional areas (especially when you compare to Saudi (worst), Qatar and Kuwait (next tier)). I am always in favor of public transit, and the metro is quite useful(and has bus or other options for special destinations from the metro stop), although it is not 24 hours. So depending on where you are planning to go and when, I would advise either public transit complemented by taxis or renting (as compared to taxis exclusively).

Stick to Taxis. They are generally very good. They always use the meter. And no need to tip (unless you really want to).

Thanks everyone for the responses.

Uber also works really well in Dubai and can be a good alternative, if you don't want to be outside in the heat trying to flag a taxi.

Haven't been to Dubai since this thread was current - what's driving like there now? I appreciate that traffic will still be crap, but I will have various meetings at locations from the airport to Jebel Ali, and I know that taxi/Uber might be more convenient but really don't want to be standing around waiting in >40 degrees...

Driving is not so bad. It's fun to complain about traffic, but by global standards it's moderate. If you avoid certain neighborhoods (e.g., Karama, inner Deira, or JBR/Marina in the evening) and travel on Sheikh Zayed Road and other major highways, it's manageable, especially during the day. I would avoid driving to the Dubai Mall or Mall of the Emirates in the evening (go to Dubai Hills Mall instead). And, by all means, avoid going to or from Sharjah during rush hours, but your needs south of the airport should avoid that.

It resembles a spread-out American city like Los Angeles (not as big of course nor as bad), Washington, or Atlanta. Not nearly as bad as the scrum of Cairo or the gridlock of Istanbul or Riyadh. The more suburban parts of the city, like from the airport to Jebel Ali, are fairly smooth, with some exceptions such as Hessa Street. Parking is decent though you have to register for to pay for meters by SMS if you're going to be parking on the street (or get someone to pay for you by sending an SMS with the car plate number). Road construction won't create bottlenecks like it did a decade ago.

All of that said, taxis and Uber/Careem are quite convenient, especially if you have to move from meeting to meeting and want to avoid having to look for parking. You generally won't wait long for Careem. If you drive yourself, it's true that you fill find quite aggressive, discourteous, and inept motorists compared to the U.S. or Europe, and it's easy to get lost because the roads are over-engineered and unforgiving. You have to remember that in Dubai (1) there are a lot of broken one-way streets and there are few uncontrolled left turns except on the smallest streets, meaning often long stretches followed by U-turns, (2) lots of service roads parallel to highways with non-intuitive entrances and exits and pointless barriers, meaning it's sometimes hard to get back on the main roads and trouble if you miss a turnoff, (3) certain neighborhoods with very limited access (e.g., trying to get into or out of Karama or Al Barsha are ridiculous), and (4) very long traffic signals, which can be good or bad depending on your luck though generally make for inconvenience. Unlike in America, where a gas station or big-box store parking lot will have two or three entrances on multiple sides, in Dubai there will usually be one entrance and one exit, with unnecessary one-way traffic flows. Similarly, parking lots of large buildings or adjacent strip-mall stretches are generally unconnected. It's all just needlessly heavy-handed and complicated (just like society as a whole).

For your amusement, here are two typical examples of getting from point A to close-by point B, in the aforementioned examples of Al Barsha and Karama, respectively.

Just keep in mind it can easily be just as warm inside a rental car and might take longer to cool down when you get into it than the wait for a taxi
Otherwise after being there for 2 weeks recently I agree with what @mecabq said, the main pain points for us were that it's very very easy to miss an exit/turn, both google maps and apple maps were just as bad in telling the correct lane to use some times adding few minutes to the drive if you miss the right one. They are also both seemingly unaware of things like a no u-turn sign or recent changes to the roads
The other thing was a 2-hour traffic jam getting from the marina area to the Airport due to multiple accidents on the highway, luckily my colleague left 4 hours before his flight

One of the main reasons for me not to live in the Marina was that 2hrs from DXB to JBR is pretty much standard during rush hour.

Uber is pretty much the way to go. They almost always come with a Lexus as well.

100% agree with the folks recommending Uber/Careem.
Have rented cars in Dubai on a number of occasions, and I rarely find the driving experience to be fun or stress-free. Bad traffic is almost understandable and expected because you�ll encounter that in any big/popular city, but the sheer volume of people you�ll encounter driving that should never actually be allowed to drive is staggering.

Definitely do not recommend driving for US drivers unless you're used to crazy driving. Lane discipline is not followed and speed limit can be problematic. It's hard enough driving in a foreign country but you also need to pay 360 attention to your surroundings. And then traffic is also a problem. Better to seek alternative transportation. A lot of excursions allow you to be picked up from your residence or hotel

20 years ago I spent a lot of time in Dubai and have visited less and less frequently since. I have always rented a car on my trips. If you are not easily intimidated and not nervous you can cope with the traffic in Dubai. Dubai is full of people with big cars and small brains. I always rent a small car. I have never liked big cars and especially not SUVs. It is quite common for the drivers of big SUVs to try and intimidate other drivers by driving very close. It does not intimidate me, but be ready for that sort of thing. Range Rovers in particular come with an exemption certificate for most road traffic rules (speeding, erratic lane changing and driving on the bit of road between the central crash barrier and inside lane).

The roads have grown wider in the last 20 years with more lanes and increasingly complex junctions. Even with satnav you are going to miss the right exits. You just accept it and reroute. Fortunately we were there during the quieter time of August so the long queues on Sheikh Zayed Road were not happening.

In the last 20+ years I have driven all over the world, often in Africa. Middle East and Asia. The only accident of any significance I have been involved in during that time was in Dubai 17 years ago and I had a near miss on this trip too. None my fault I hasten to add. Having said all this, if I was going to Dubai tomorrow I would still rent a car without hesitation.

Parking in Dubai can be horrendous if the place you are visiting doesn't have its own parking lot. Circling the block for an hour or more looking for street parking is not uncommon.