Two months after my 13 year old Camry engine decided to pack up, I made the trip to Ladipo, Lagos, to get a another engine.

I am not particularly car savvy, but I know a few things about my car. However, this is not my worry – I am not street wise. And Ladipo is the last place a person like me should be seen.

Ladipo is the largest auto spare parts market in West Africa. Any kind of car parts, starting from bolts to engines, you can get it in Ladipo.

In fact, it is the largest market for European used goods in Africa. Think of bicycles, motorcycles, cameras, televisions, decoder, sound systems, fridge, electric iron, car battery, computers and accessories, clothes, shoes, mobile phones, underwear, virtually any used-goods you can think of, you can get them in Ladipo market.

I was particularly a novice about Ladipo and what it offers but like every other Nigerian, I knew I could get my engine there. So I proceeded to Ladipo. And after hours of touring the market, I came out with 6 lessons I think everyone should could use.

1. Know Your Engine

Before heading to Ladipo market to get a new tyre, car door, engine, alloy wheel or any auto parts, you need to ask yourself one question – what do you drive? Answer this first. Know your car.

If you are going to get an engine, you need to understand the engine type. Go to a mechanic and ask him to loosen the engine, take note of the engine type.

Toyotas are either 1Az or 2Az mostly. If you have facts about your car engine, it will be easier for you to scale the next hurdle.

2. Go To The Warehouse Alone

Immediately you arrive Ladipo, you will be circled by men who want to push and drag you to their stores, but that is just the beginning.

All those men dragging you do not own any shop or warehouse. They are hustlers. If they succeed in pulling you to any particular shop, they have not less than 20% of the money you pay for the spare part.

Supposing the price of the engine is N250,000, you will end up paying N270,000. But if you know your engine type, you know your car, you should walk straight to a warehouse in Ladipo and make sure you are not led in or followed by any hustler.

Related: Apapa Traffic Is Threatening Our Business, Ladipo Auto Parts Dealers Cry Out

3. Go To A Dealer Directly
There are two kinds of sellers you meet in Ladipo. They are the importers and the retailers.

According to my importer friend, Emeka Ameri, to import auto parts for Nigeria no be moi moi.

Therefore, there are more retailers than importers of course. If I had known, immediately I got into Ladipo, I would have walked straight to the tarred road and into one of the warehouses.

That way, I would see who is a dealer and who is a retailer. If you buy from a dealer you, get almost 50% less than what you would have bought it in the retail shop.

But that is not all, retailers do what they call “decoupling”. They separate the engine into different parts – gearbox, tubes, pipes, nuts and bolts and skeleton. These are then sold differently at a prohibitive prices to the same buyer who could have bought everything as one.

As they say in local parlance, “If you know you know”.

4. Do Not Go To Ladipo With Your Mechanic

Do not be deceived, your mechanic is not your friend. When you want to buy a car, it is advisable to get a professional mechanic, but not when you are going to Ladipo. The mechanic will ruin you.

All the mechanics in Lagos have Ladipo contacts with them so that anytime a customer needs a spare part, they simply make a call.

Their percentage is more than 25% of the actual price you should pay. And if you refuse to buy from their favourite seller, they make sure you buy Nigerian used engine. And that becomes penny wise…

So the best thing for you is to get the details of your engine specification and head straight to Ladipo. Do some window-shopping if you have the time. But make sure you are alone and that you deal directly with the importer.

5. Beware Of Nigerian Used Engines

Nigerian used engines are unbelievably everywhere in the market. You can’t even differentiate an engine used in Nigeria and an engine used overseas, so don’t even try to play smart with them.

So what do you do? Buy from an importer, most of them are old men who try to be honest. If you meet them you will know.

Consult a professional engineer, not a mechanic. Pay him well and let him do your shopping. No matter how much you pay him, it will be better than dealing with a Nigerian used engine.

6. Don’t Bother About A Warranty

You might demand a receipt but in Ladipo, ‘no refund of money after payment‘ is law. Whatever you take out of Ladipo is your own. If you find out it is not working later on, you may have it changed but you are not getting your money back.

First, if its one of those guys on the road that led you into the shop, they cannot attend to you until you find him, because he has left with his share of your money, and believe me, you won’t find him.

However, if you walked into the shop yourself, they can only change it once. After all, they are not the manufacturer of the engine, and there is no way of testing it. It’s a blind business for everyone.

I hope you found this article useful. Kindly spread the love by sharing with your friends

You can also share your own experience dealing with Ladipo dealers with us in the comment section.

in 2015..

I wanted to buy a Auto Tranny for my Isuzu jeep.
Everywere everyone told me was 130k. (even the gear master that destroyed the gear).
a guy sitting by the side was watching me as I paced from shop to shop.. hoping to get it at atleast 100k
He called me.. Took me on a long walk into their ware houses.(honestly I almost wanted to turn back.)
Eventually showed me one and offered it for 75k...
I was still disbelieving the authenticity until i saw one of teh 130k bros came with a 2 wheeler and wheeled 2 gears out of the shop..

nobody tell me, i pay sharp sharp.. he even negotiated a cab to take me to my destination for 5k


So i ended up spending 80k to get my get after all the whole brag of 140k for the gear master for gear and transport.