BizBooks: According to conventional wisdom, 80% of cars brought into Nigeria are salvage or
accidented cars. Kunle-A recently put the figure at close to 90%. Regardless of which
figure you believe, this means that about 80 out of every 100 cars brought into Nigeria
are accidented or in some cases odometer roll backs. Some people may find these figures
hard to believe but those of us in the car business understand they are highly credible.

Recently, a seller posted a car on Nairaland and dubbed it the cleanest ever. Soon after,
Inspired asked him to provide the VIN and he obliged. A subsequent check of the VIN showed
that the car was involved in a serious accident in the US before being shipped to Nigeria.
In fact, pictures of the car as it appeared after the accident are still on the internet.
I don’t know if the seller who may be a mere middleman is aware of this. The moral of this
story is: Provision of VINs on Nairaland should be mandatory just as it used to be.

The advantages and disadvantages of buying an accidented car is well known to most
Nigerian car buyers. But there is a second category of cars brought into Nigeria which is
still not widely known by many buyers and that is “high mileage cars”. High mileage cars
are a bit harder to detect because the sellers usually roll back the odometers sometimes
by as much as 100,000 miles. For instance a car that was driven for 210,000 miles in the
US will magically become 110,000 miles once it lands in Lagos. In Nigeria, this has become
the norm rather than the exception.

The all-encompassing desire of the average Nigerian car buyer to seek the cheapest price
has made the mass shipment of accidented and high mileage cars inevitable. That is the
only way most car dealers can make a profit at the price Nigerian buyers are willing to
pay. The question now is: given the choice of an accidented or high mileage car, which
will you choose.

Disclosure: There is nothing wrong in selling an accidented car as long as it is disclosed
as such. While I have personally decided not to ship accidented cars to Nigeria, I’m
seriously considering buying and shipping some cars with high mileage with no odometer
roll backs.

Emperoh: One of the toughest choices for any informed car buyer.
For me, accidented cars make it as long as i know where the impact was from and to what extent the car was damaged.
The truth about high mileage cars is that their internal parts may be nearing the end of their life cycle and the new user
will then be saddled with changing one worn part after another.

If your case is worse enough and you buy a car which the previous owner was not a meticulous user who services the unit regularly
and doesn't change the parts as recommended by the manufacturer, then you can be sure that your period of ownership will be fraught with
unpleasant stories and expenses.

In all, a buyer should be properly made to be aware of what he is buying into and necessary situations
painted clearly for him/her.

But to ensure peace of mind, please save up enough and buy a clean title vehicle.

Gentlemaxy: thanks for the information, are you an importer of cars? I need a car that is good in everything.

BizBooks: According to conventional wisdom, 80% of cars brought into Nigeria are salvage or
accidented cars. Kunle-A recently put the figure at close to 90%. Regardless of which
figure you believe, this means that about 80 out of every 100 cars brought into Nigeria
are accidented or in some cases odometer roll backs. Some people may find these figures
hard to believe but those of us in the car business understand they are highly credible.

Recently, a seller posted a car on Nairaland and dubbed it the cleanest ever. Soon after,
Inspired asked him to provide the VIN and he obliged. A subsequent check of the VIN showed
that the car was involved in a serious accident in the US before being shipped to Nigeria.
In fact, pictures of the car as it appeared after the accident are still on the internet.
I don’t know if the seller who may be a mere middleman is aware of this. The moral of this
story is: Provision of VINs on Nairaland should be mandatory just as it used to be.

The advantages and disadvantages of buying an accidented car is well known to most
Nigerian car buyers. But there is a second category of cars brought into Nigeria which is
still not widely known by many buyers and that is “high mileage cars”. High mileage cars
are a bit harder to detect because the sellers usually roll back the odometers sometimes
by as much as 100,000 miles. For instance a car that was driven for 210,000 miles in the
US will magically become 110,000 miles once it lands in Lagos. In Nigeria, this has become
the norm rather than the exception.

The all-encompassing desire of the average Nigerian car buyer to seek the cheapest price
has made the mass shipment of accidented and high mileage cars inevitable. That is the
only way most car dealers can make a profit at the price Nigerian buyers are willing to
pay. The question now is: given the choice of an accidented or high mileage car, which
will you choose.

Disclosure: There is nothing wrong in selling an accidented car as long as it is disclosed
as such. While I have personally decided not to ship accidented cars to Nigeria, I’m
seriously considering buying and shipping some cars with high mileage with no odometer
roll backs.

Find Out!:

the car in question ''the cleanest ever....'', that would be one of the 2 cars I advertised recently. I make bold to say I'm the culprit

Find Out!:


the car in question ''the cleanest ever....'', that would be one of the 2 cars I advertised recently. I make bold to say I'm the culprit

I noticed the car was likely accidented a few days ago when I looked physically at it & noticed something strange about the front bumper, like it had been replaced. & the funny thing is I'm not even exactly a middleman in the real sense. I simply help the man advertise his cars (he's a friend), clients call me, I refer them to him for negotiation & everything else, tho yeah, if a sale succeeds, i get settled with something, even though i'm not given to asking, especially when the initial price he wanted is close to, or the same as he actually got. I have other things that keep me busy, & pay me some small change. Lol

I was to have advertised about 6 of his cars, the pics are still saved on my laptop, but i ended up posting just 2. Reason: I copied the VIN & decided to view the reports myself before advertising them, 3 of the 4 cars whose reports i ordered had suffered some damage, i was surprised coz sincerely, these cars are VERY clean in and out & they drive beautifully. Unfortunately, i hadn't checked the corolla's VIN before putting it up, hence i promptly supplied the number the moment Inspired asked for it.

I hereby request that the thread be deleted, coz I 've always been against selling of salvaged vehicles & i will be the last person to sell one or consciously allow a buyer purchase one without him knowing its full history.

Four people called me in respect of the car and the first thing i told them was to request for the carfax report and get back to me coz i was already sceptical. Wouldve requested it from Export1 myself but i don too disturb the guy with requests lately so i decided to chill a bit.lol

I dont compromise QUALITY in anything I buy or sell because my integrity means a whole lot to me. Not to mention the fact that i've seen the benefits in the business i do on the side. When I have something to say, people listen, take me seriously & keep their faith in me.

Once again, my apologies (if required) to the house, and Oga Inspired, please delete the thread. I havnt updated it in a week now.


Advice: if a car looks tooo clean for its age and mileage, it could be a warning sign. Always request for a VIN check.


Some salvaged cars may have been fixed properly, especially if d repairs were done there in the US, and there was no damage to the body frame but there's almost no way to be sure. Its better to be safe than sorry.

BizBooks:

Yes, indeed you're correct. I was referring to one of the cars you posted for sale. Kudos for
owning up to it. However, in providing the VIN, it occurred to me that you may not be aware
of the history of the car. Obviously if you did, you may not have released the VIN. That's
exactly why most Sellers on Nairaland do not include VINs in their ads even under the threat
of been banned or having the ad deleted.

Most salvage cars are repaired here in the US before being shipped to Nigeria. There are
mechanics here (mostly from Mexico) who are experts in fixing accidented cars. They fix the
cars in such a way that makes it difficult for one to tell the car has been involved in an
accident merely by looking at it. That's why I encourage everybody to run a VIN report before
buying a car. Even if the Seller did not include the VIN in his Nairaland ad, make sure you
get it from him one way or the other. If he is not willing to give it to you, simply walk
away. He is hiding something sinister.

BizBooks:

Yes, indeed you're correct. I was referring to one of the cars you posted for sale. Kudos for
owning up to it. However, in providing the VIN, it occurred to me that you may not be aware
of the history of the car. Obviously if you did, you may not have released the VIN. That's
exactly why most Sellers on Nairaland do not include VINs in their ads even under the threat
of been banned or having the ad deleted.

Most salvage cars are repaired here in the US before being shipped to Nigeria. There are
mechanics here (mostly from Mexico) who are experts in fixing accidented cars. They fix the
cars in such a way that makes it difficult for one to tell the car has been involved in an
accident merely by looking at it. That's why I encourage everybody to run a VIN report before
buying a car. Even if the Seller did not include the VIN in his Nairaland ad, make sure you
get it from him one way or the other. If he is not willing to give it to you, simply walk
away. He is hiding something sinister.

Emperoh:

Nice one for owning up. . . i admire your courage and sincerity.
However, note that accidented cars in themselves are not bad. I advertise some here.
But be sure to please state them and if you know, which side of the car was affected by the damage
The key is the client knowing and being aware of what they are negotiating for.

Kudos

BizBooks:

Yes, indeed you're correct. I was referring to one of the cars you posted for sale. Kudos for
owning up to it. However, in providing the VIN, it occurred to me that you may not be aware
of the history of the car. Obviously if you did, you may not have released the VIN. That's
exactly why most Sellers on Nairaland do not include VINs in their ads even under the threat
of been banned or having the ad deleted.

Most salvage cars are repaired here in the US before being shipped to Nigeria. There are
mechanics here (mostly from Mexico) who are experts in fixing accidented cars. They fix the
cars in such a way that makes it difficult for one to tell the car has been involved in an
accident merely by looking at it. That's why I encourage everybody to run a VIN report before
buying a car. Even if the Seller did not include the VIN in his Nairaland ad, make sure you
get it from him one way or the other. If he is not willing to give it to you, simply walk
away. He is hiding something sinister.

Emperoh:

Nice one for owning up. . . i admire your courage and sincerity.
However, note that accidented cars in themselves are not bad. I advertise some here.
But be sure to please state them and if you know, which side of the car was affected by the damage
The key is the client knowing and being aware of what they are negotiating for.

Kudos

ZIM DRILL:
its better to save your life by getting a high mileage than accident damage becoz you dont know how much damage was done to the car's body structure

Fhemmmy:

How do u really know a ride that has not been in an accident apart from someone that is able to tell an accidental ride from the one that has never been in an accident apart from the one that is shown to you on the VIN Number, i have said it before and will say it AGAIN . . . VIN is not good enuf to show a ride that has an accident on NOT, what if it was not recorded.

I will buy and use both a high mileage ride, especially one bought in western world and not on those death trapped roads

Fhemmmy:

How do u really know a ride that has not been in an accident apart from someone that is able to tell an accidental ride from the one that has never been in an accident apart from the one that is shown to you on the VIN Number, i have said it before and will say it AGAIN . . . VIN is not good enuf to show a ride that has an accident on NOT, what if it was not recorded.

I will buy and use both a high mileage ride, especially one bought in western world and not on those death trapped roads

aieromon:

Can you please cite instances where cases of accidents are not recorded?

I thought it was impossible and criminal to do such especially in an organised society.

ZIM DRILL:

it depends with the country here in uk if there serious body damage to the car, the car has to be retested by the government body to be back on the road and that will show on the system if you check the car's history

so here in uk you can check if the car has been involved in any serious accidents

aieromon:

Can you please cite instances where cases of accidents are not recorded?

I thought it was impossible and criminal to do such especially in an organised society.

Fhemmmy:

Ofcourse, anywhere in the world apart from Africa, a serious accident, MOST will be reported and tested, but here is a question for you . . . You enter into a serious accident in UK and you know that your insurance premium will go up ( I dont know UK too well oh) once the accident is reported and you have an uncle who has a great body work shop . . . would go and report the accident, if the police was not called to the scene of an accident ( In Canada, it is even a crime to leave a scene of an accident without reporting or calling the authority . . . but would you fix the ride yourself by your uncle and dont report it, or would you call the insurance and the police and report it and damn the consequence of paying more premium, please be honest and dont be politically right

ZIM DRILL:

that will only work if you have an accident on your own you are able to tow the car without being seen by the public

Fhemmmy:

Not totally true at all, SIr . . . In most cases, yeah.
Try and let a "Chinese" hit your ride and you will see how they will beg and apologize for them to fix the ride and dont get the police involved.

aieromon: How do you detect a high mileage car whose odometer has been rolled back?