Just as the topic goes, 90% of these Cotonou agents here either do not know how much it would cost to land vehicles in Nigeria, or simply want to lure you there, and bring on the actual cost when you have committed. I am telling you from experience. Don't believe what they say. Go there yourself and make up your mind. You may see a difference of up to 350k from what you are told.

From the boarder, Cotonou taxi will collect N2,500 from you (the N500 is for boarder settlement).

Thread very carefully. There are many rude shocks out there! Be careful!

I need to also add that conservatively speaking, 90% of cars sold in Cotonou have their odometer tampered with. Very sickening!!!

Be very careful when buying from Cotonou. Agents, this goes to you too!

boss, please drop your email. i want to contact you

you have to share your experience in details.

This is to whom it may concern.

I have bought cars from Cotonou, but never really bothered to dig into the genuinety of odometer readings. Recently however, I have discovered that those Lebanese are criminals.

When I noticed that a car bought from there early last year had a different record on the title certificate than that on the odometer, it got me thinking. I realised that the title certificate should help in determining if the odometer reading has been tampered with.

When it was time for me to buy my last car, I insisted on viewing the title certificate of any one I intend to pay for. And as I had thought, about five of the cars I checked (a friend also needed a car) failed this test! Some dealers would decline bringing out the certificate, claiming they are not with it.

Well, I was looking for a vehicle with very strict spec, and by the time I eventually found it in the evening, having covered virtually all the parks in Cotonou, I was very tired. It was the only one that met the spec, after visiting there two times! I did not ask for the certificate; the odometer had 103,000 on it. For the 15K/year assumption, it checked out. I was actually willing to accept any minor defect, even though it had none (I normally would not). Later, the car came back, and the title certificate showed 148,000 as the last odometer reading!

Fast forward to last week. My cousin wanted a Highlander or Venza, and planned to go to Cotonou. I told her to insist on seeing the title certificate before commiting to any vehicle (her agent did not know about this check; was happy to learn). With that, they were surprised that all the vehicles they would have bought had odometer rollback. Due to a combination of this, and very limited options, they ended up visiting Cotonou for three consecutive days! (vehicles were being offloaded).

Eventually, they got this 2011 Highlander with the odometer reading 73,000. With the certificate, there was an agreement. Happily, they paid.

When the vehicle came in later that week, I just reluctantly decided to run it through Autocheck. I burst into cold sweat at what I saw - 268,000+ miles! What could have happened?? Was Autocheck wrong? Did they forge the certificate, or was the odometer adjusted before it was shipped? How could a 3/4 year old vehicle have high mileage when there is no record of rent? Interestingly, the title certificate was not included in the document delivered!

It was a rude shock! That is why I say, BE VERY CAREFUL WITH COTONOU PURCHASES. Its not the agents, but the sellers!

***Note: all odometer readings above are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Kashif:
This is to whom it may concern.

I have bought cars from Cotonou, but never really bothered to dig into the genuinety of odometer readings. Recently however, I have discovered that those Lebanese are criminals.

When I noticed that a car bought from there early last year had a different record on the title certificate than that on the odometer, it got me thinking. I realised that the title certificate should help in determining if the odometer reading has been tampered with.

When it was time for me to buy my last car, I insisted on viewing the title certificate of any one I intend to pay for. And as I had thought, about five of the cars I checked (a friend also needed a car) failed this test! Some dealers would decline bringing out the certificate, claiming they are not with it.

Well, I was looking for a vehicle with very strict spec, and by the time I eventually found it in the evening, having covered virtually all the parks in Cotonou, I was very tired. It was the only one that met the spec, after visiting there two times! I did not ask for the certificate; the odometer had 103,000 on it. For the 15K/year assumption, it checked out. I was actually willing to accept any minor defect, even though it had none (I normally would not). Later, the car came back, and the title certificate showed 148,000 as the last odometer reading!

Fast forward to last week. My cousin wanted a Highlander or Venza, and planned to go to Cotonou. I told her to insist on seeing the title certificate before commiting to any vehicle (her agent did not know about this check; was happy to learn). With that, they were surprised that all the vehicles they would have bought had odometer rollback. Due to a combination of this, and very limited options, they ended up visiting Cotonou for three consecutive days! (vehicles were being offloaded).

Eventually, they got this 2011 Highlander with the odometer reading 73,000. With the certificate, there was an agreement. Happily, they paid.

When the vehicle came in later that week, I just reluctantly decided to run it through Autocheck. I burst into cold sweat at what I saw - 268,000+ miles! What could have happened?? Was Autocheck wrong? Did they forge the certificate, or was the odometer adjusted before it was shipped? How could a 3/4 year old vehicle have high mileage when there is no record of rent? Interestingly, the title certificate was not included in the document delivered!

It was a rude shock! That is why I say, BE VERY CAREFUL WITH COTONOU PURCHASES. Its not the agents, but the sellers!

***Note: all odometer readings above are rounded to the nearest thousand.

I'll want to ask some questions and they're as follows -

1." they ended up visiting Cotonou for three consecutive days! (vehicles were being offloaded)."

Cars are sold in parks,so how come they were been offloaded again when they're already in the parks and not in the port?

2. "What could have happened?? Was Autocheck wrong? Did they forge the certificate, or was the odometer adjusted before it was shipped? How could a 3/4 year old vehicle have high mileage when there is no record of rent? Interestingly, the title certificate was not included in the document delivered! "...

Cotonou unlike Nigeria doesn't give space to fake documents and I've seen situations where car dealers drop their title deeds for confirmation and even allow you copy the vin for checks,how come an SUV now has 230K has mileage...do you've proof and when I say proof we need the VIN of that particular vehicle even if you can't provide a picture.

3. How come your people spent three days checking for vehicles and with all your links with Niaraland where you can run free VIN checks and from your profile I've also seen you know much about cars,how come your people couldn't copy the VIN and run checks on them before payment?

4. I've some VINs with me and I'll provided to prove that what you've posted is either false or someone wanted to play a fast one on you by taking you to stands where you'll have gotten your low mileage cos it seems that's what you actually went there to do

5.A. "Just as the topic goes, 90% of these Cotonou agents here either do not know how much it would cost to land vehicles in Nigeria, or simply want to lure you there, and bring on the actual cost when you have committed. I am telling you from experience. Don't believe what they say. Go there yourself and make up your mind. You may see a difference of up to 350k from what you are told.

From the boarder, Cotonou taxi will collect N2,500 from you (the N500 is for boarder settlement).

Thread very carefully. There are many rude shocks out there! Be careful!"

B . "It was a rude shock! That is why I say, BE VERY CAREFUL WITH COTONOU PURCHASES. Its not the agents, but the sellers!"


How come you earlier stated that agents were rogues and in another post,you now claim it's not the agents but the car dealers,what made you change your assertion?

7. " Go there yourself and make up your mind. You may see a difference of up to 350k from what you are told.

From the boarder, Cotonou taxi will collect N2,500 from you (the N500 is for boarder settlement).

Thread very carefully. There are many rude shocks out there! Be careful!"

How come you claimed agents/dealers were rogues in one breath and you start giving them directions...are you advising them to go and buy vehicles with rolled back odometers,since you assumed that 98% of the car dealers sell cars with rolled back odometers?

8. If you claim that 90% of cars sold in cotonou have rolled back odometers...does that mean that there are no vehicles with rolled back odometers in Nigeria or that Nigerian car dealers are saints when it comes to odometer rollback?

I still have more questions and I'll ask once they come to mind,thanks.