Let me have your number.

saintjoel:
There is no way any agent will know the mind of every car dealer in Cotonou unless he/she is a wizard/witch and what is applicable to customer A isn't applicable to customer B.

For those who have been to Cotonou to purchase cars before,you may have noticed that all we give you are asking prices+expenses+custom duty.Many questions have been raised and we'll like to clarify them.

Let's use a benz 230(2000) as an example.

The asking price is 700K+220K(custom duty).

Now,everyone knows that in Cotonou,there are certain monies you've to pay to bring the car out from the park to the border and it's a standard charge of 165K irrespective of year.

Now,let's assume you pay 700K in cotonou,it's going to be 700-165K=535K(which is the actual purchase price).

Now let's assume you've a budget of 800K,all you need to do is so simple,deduct 220K(custom duty in Nigeria) from 800K,we have 580K left.

580K-165K=415K.

415K is your bargaining price when you come into Cotonou,this is what you offer the dealers.

If any agent tells you that you can get a car for 350K from Cotonou,it's practically a lie cos at least you'll spend 70K smuggling the car into Nigeria.

350K-70K=280K

Now according to our calculation,if we deduct 165K from 280K,we have 115K(345K CFA).Which good car can you purchase at that price.

All they do is trick you into Cotonou with your 350K cos they know greed is a factor which comes into play when it comes to some Nigerians,after you spend the 350K,your car is stuck in the parks because they'll keep demanding money for duty clearance and smuggling fee,before you know it,your car spends weeks in the bush before getting to your doorstep.

Please note that the 165K is a mandatory charge in cotonou but the beauty of it is that even when you fix it in your budget,if you're a good bargainer,you'll get quality cars.

Eyop: Let me have your number.

08062948193

@saint Joel;Good Morning.How much can I get a 1999 Honda crv from cotonou(pls let me know the prices for the manual type&auto type)
Thanks @saint Joel;Good Morning.How much can I get a 1999 Honda crv from cotonou(pls let me know the prices for the manual type&auto type)
Thanks

helvidius: @saint Joel;Good Morning.How much can I get a 1999 Honda crv from cotonou(pls let me know the prices for the manual type&auto type)
Thanks @saint Joel;Good Morning.How much can I get a 1999 Honda crv from cotonou(pls let me know the prices for the manual type&auto type)
Thanks

Sir,would have loved to post the prices but we have been warned not to do business in this section,pls get in touch via jelad.ventures,08062948193 or 22B2B2C9,thanks

I'm a customs licensed agent in seme and we were discussing about customers who are scared of buying cars from Cotonou in Rep.of Benin,

Although as agents we've tried to sample peoples' opinion but we still think we haven't been able to pinpoint some issues bothering these customers,that's why we have decided to bring the issue onto several websites and blogs,nairaland for example.

Over the years,we've heard stories which can be group into two sections,hearsays and facts.Some have suffered while some are enjoying their cars. Right now,we have educated agents at the border who are trying to revolutionize the way business is done at the border but they can't do that without knowing the grievances of their prospective customers.

We'll like to crave the indulgence of the moderators,car users and co agents to please post one or two comments so that we can all learn from each,share our experiences and also make friends through these posts.

i have not heard from you for the picnic

The management and staff of Jelad ventures will like to thank Mr Issa who resides in abuja and who also managed to break some of our protocols. We seriously appreciate is trust in us cos it's not easy sending 1.3M+ to people you've never met.

Around 1100HRS GMT,Jelad Ventures landed another 2002/2003 Toyota camry in Abuja district. Bought by a customer who has turned a friend and brother who connected via Nairaland,trusted us enough to send money down and got his car without getting to know anyone in Jelad ventures,although we had some differences when issues like network delays at customs office came up but the Issa family now have a camry to paint Abuja town red.

This is what we will continue to tell people, it's all about knowing what you want and trusting the services of an agency which has come to change the face of car purchase in cotonou.

saintjoel:
The management and staff of Jelad ventures will like to thank Mr Issa who resides in abuja and who also managed to break some of our protocols. We seriously appreciate is trust in us cos it's not easy sending 1.3M+ to people you've never met.

Around 1100HRS GMT,Jelad Ventures landed another 2002/2003 Toyota camry in Abuja district. Bought by a customer who has turned a friend and brother who connected via Nairaland,trusted us enough to send money down and got his car without getting to know anyone in Jelad ventures,although we had some differences when issues like network delays at customs office came up but the Issa family now have a camry to paint Abuja town red.

This is what we will continue to tell people, it's all about knowing what you want and trusting the services of an agency which has come to change the face of car purchase in cotonou.

Nice one.I got a car like this from cotonou too but with fake papers. Can you help with the original custom papers. Pls. give a quote

JaaizTech:

Nice one.I got a car like this from cotonou too but with fake papers. Can you help with the original custom papers. Pls. give a quote

Send car chasis number with name and address to 08062948193 +170,000.You can collect your duty certificate at custom's office,seme command within 48hrs.

saintjoel:

Send car chasis number with name and address to 08062948193 +170,000.You can collect your duty certificate at custom's office,seme command within 48hrs.

Thanks. That is gonna be some saving... Will contact you when I am ready

Pls what will be the estimated clearing charge for a 2003 honda pilota

saintjoel:

Send car chasis number with name and address to 08062948193 +170,000.You can collect your duty certificate at custom's office,seme command within 48hrs.

keziah123: Pls what will be the estimated clearing charge for a 2003 honda pilota

Sir,where is the point of entry,lagos ports or seme border?.

@SAINT J,

great job you are doing here .

i have a TOTAL budget of 1.5 m (agent fees, car , customs , clearance ....every every)

Please give me an idea of the kinda of Honda Accord i can get for that range plus or minus 50k.

Pictures will be appreciated , Leather seats, dvd, navscreen , full option .

Email me @ bomatai@gmail.com
- i want to do this , b4 Nov runs out....ball in your court.

Seme. Is there any difference?

saintjoel:

Sir,where is the point of entry,lagos ports or seme border?.

keziah123: Seme. Is there any difference?

360K

CUSTOM DUTY PAYMENT MADE SIMPLE.

The payment of custom duty has always caused arguements between agents and clients who want to bring in cars into Nigeria through ports or land borders. At jelad ventures,we have taken pains to explain the procedure to clients and we've also decided to post on Nairaland,so that clients will not be confused when bringing vehicles into Nigeria.

When you're bringing a vehicle into Nigeria,there's is a certain tariff you've to pay and it's always divided into two,bank payments and running costs. The bank payment is what you pay into the bank and it goes directly to the NCS HQ and FG while running costs is what the command you're paying through uses to print your documents etc.

Using the two pictures below as illustrations,we can see the tariff booklet is divided into three sections,year,value and bank.

A) Year - the manufacture year of the vehicle been bought into Nigeria.

B) Value - the estimated dollar value of the vehicle been brought into the country.

C) Bank - this is what the FG actually actually expects the agent pay into the bank as bank charges for his/her client's vehicle.

Please take note that apart from year of manufacture,vehicles are also rated according to engine capacity,which means your vehicle may be 20% or 35% engine capacity.

Also please note that the NCS having discovered that the bank charges were too expensive reached an unwritten agreement with agents,which means an agent can shave three/four years off the actual year of the vehicle been brought in,to make it affordable for the clients.

Now let's use three vehicles as examples using the pictures shown below.


A) 2002 Highlander - as we can see from the pictures, 2002 Highlander is rated as 20% engine capacity,valued at 4,918$ and with bank payment of 214,600,which means any importer bringing in an 02 highlander has to pay at least 350,000 =N= to obtain duty papers. 350,000 =N= must have been high for importers to pay,so an agent can use his/her discretion to run the duty papers has 1999 highlander (2002-3yrs=1999),which means 156,000 naira is paid into bank and the importer pays 250,000 has custom duty charges.

B) 2008 Highlander - from the pictures below,we can see that 2008 highlander is rated as 35% engine capacity with a dollar value of 9,250$ and bank payment of 648,268 =N=. All the agent needs to do is declare the SUV has 2004(2008-4yrs=2004),which means 420-450,000=N= can be paid into the bank while the importer pays 550-600,000=N= as bank charges.

C) 2006 Range rover HSE - From what we can see,the RRS is rated as 35% engine capacity with dollar value of 22,650$ and bank payment of 1,587,380M =N=. This particular vehicle has always been a source of confusion between importers,agents and custom officials. In some instances,we've agents who declare it has 2002(2006-4yrs=2002) and they pay =N=1M has bank charges while the importer pays 1.2M for duty charges.

We also have agents who take risks in declaring the 06 RRS as 1999 or below,which means they pay 600,000 =N= as bank payments while the importer pays 850,000 =N= as running cost but absolute care should be taken because in a situation where one agent manages to bribe his/her way out,it may not work for another agent and in such case,the vehicle may be impounded.

Now,note that when vehicles are impounded and it's about been recovered from custom officials,a DL is raised. DL means direct levy and in this case,the importer is asked to pay the original bank charges he/she was supposed to pay and also pay a 20% fine with running costs.

Running costs using seme border as an example is what an agent pays to type the documents,collect value for the vehicle,assessment and examination of vehicles and tagging. Tagging of documents is very necessary especially across land borders because these photocopies are essential,they're are records the Fed. Ops. Unit and CG squads submit in ikeja and Abuja commands to show that your vehicle passed through their checkpoints.

When next you're bringing in your vehicles in through land borders or ports,always make sure you take care that your agent doesn't short pay. Short payment means making false declaration e:g declaring an 06 RRS as 02 RRS or declaring 2007 camry as 98 camry or 2002 sienna has 1996 toyota bus.

All these acts put the vehicles at risk and it's always common amongst dubious agents and car dealers who want to make more gain from car sales,that's why we now see more and more cheap cars coming out of lagos ports and at the end,these same cars are impounded by custom officials.

Now the following post was written as by the management of Jelad ventures and it doesn't not serve as the opinion of every custom agent operating at the ports or land borders. If at anytime,there are other agents who want to add to this post,they're free to do so.

Thanks and happy new year in advance.

Seme border linking Rep. Of Benin and Lagos,Idiroko border linking Ogun state and Rep.of Benin are the two main commands for clearing vehicles into Nigeria.

Right now agents are on strike in seme because of the outrageous demands by Nigerian customs,so we've decided to shift our jobs to idiroko border which is quite cheaper,safer and faster than seme border.

If you've bought a vehicle from cotonou or shipped through cotonou ports,you can contact us for payment of custom duty at idiroko border.Kindly disregard rumors that idiroko border is mainly used for smuggling,your custom duty paper comes with a custom verification number which is like your pin and it's used to confirm the authenticity of your papers.

Also take advantage of the drop in exchange rate,right now it's =N=336-1,000 cefa.