New Cars Versus Tokunbo Cars In Nigeria! Which One Is Better?

I Compared New Cars and Tokunbo Cars 3 years ago and I settled for a Toyota Camry, 1996 Model Tokunbo Car. The car has done pretty well I am seriously considering buying another car.

Which is better, Tokunbo/Brand New? Please bear in mind the cost, comfort, reliability, cost of ownership, security etc

I'll choose a well-managed and fuel-efficient 'tokunboh' (used) car over an expensive new one any day.

thats, simply because you don't have enough money to buy a brand new one, Its like saying you prefer okirika to new. Well If you prefer okirika (ok) how many pants i mean underwear have you bought.

Ok, simple one

A 2005 Honda Accord with less than 50,000 miles on it vs a brand new 2007 kia rio or hond city

@tox22

I dont think there is nothing like buying a new car.
You will not visit the mechanic for repairs for about 3 years depending on the make, only for servicing

Some tokunbos will eventually have problems, If u have the money -------- I ADVICE, BUY A NEW CAR

shaiguy:

Ok, simple one

A 2005 Honda Accord with less than 50,000 miles on it vs a brand new 2007 kia rio or hond city

Correct question !

Definitely the Honda ! Most definitely.
********** _{and the toks Honda is twice the price of the brand new Kia Rio} *********

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Ivvie:

I hope you are aware that cars are built tropicalised and non tropicalised. You aren't saving any money cross-buying. Buying an american specified vehicle to be used in nigeria is simply a money-pit waiting to happen. If you decide to carry out modifications on the engine, it won't stop the interior and roof linings to bubble away and eventually seperate.

I agree with you. Most of the cars advertised on Nairaland are heavier than new cars in price. A decent camry is the cost of a Benz in dollars here. Quite alarming to know. Cars are still assembled in Osun or Ogun state (Toyota's) and I'll rather wait 3 to 6 months for the package to be completed than buy a car not designed for the intended region.

Who manufactures cars in Osun or Ogun state? Toyota? Never heard of that before!

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Ivvie:

@Tats

I believe I used the word "Assemble" and not "Manufacture."  I really don't know the entire details but whenever we ordered a new Toyota's, it took about 4 months to 6 months to build it to our detail before it was delivered and they came with Ogun or Osun state licence plates.  I think there is an assembly plant there.  The highest mileage I have seen was 0.4km so, I believe there is an assembly plant there.  I would find out in a few days.

Yeah, I understand the difference. However Toyotas are not assembled anywhere in Nigeria.

The cars you ordered usually came with those number plates because the plates were cheaper and faster to get/buy in those states than in Lagos. They must have been driven directly from the port to your location. Wheras, 0.4km which is 400 metres is too small a distance. That mileage on a car can only be possible if the car was brought on a car trailer from the holding lots in port and not driven. http://carsnigeria.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota

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Yes new car, but some toks are far better than new ones

Nice post about the cars, Very useful information provided here, Thanks for your posting,
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simmons
Car Reviews

The cost of purchasing new cars here in Naija is damn too high. Recently the most ridiculous has been the Toyota Corolla '08. The full options trim is about 3.9million Naira ($33,233.61). I find that appalling. Thats the price of a new Avalon in the US. Another thing is that the cars designed for our region have a lot of options omitted (eg cruise control, ABS standard, smaller engines). It just doesnt make sense spending that much.
The only thing you stand to gain from buying a new car here is factory warranty (if they fulfill that commitment). I will rather buy a new or well maintained car from the US and deal with whatever problems arise. The car manufacturers dont make these cars to break down.

k, simple one

A 2005 Honda Accord with less than 50,000 miles on it vs a brand new 2007 kia rio or hond city

I AGREE WITH U BRO, COS KIAs ARE CRAP.

Ivvie:

I hope you are aware that cars are built tropicalised and non tropicalised. You aren't saving any money cross-buying. Buying an american specified vehicle to be used in nigeria is simply a money-pit waiting to happen. If you decide to carry out modifications on the engine, it won't stop the interior and roof linings to bubble away and eventually seperate.

@ Ivvie,

I will like to think you are joking. Ive read your posts before and I'm guessing you live the the US. From the cold weather of Conneticut or Alaska to the heat in Texas, Arizona and my home state of California. What else do you want in "tropicalisation"? The cars comes to withstand it all. Snow, heat, rain etc. Radiator is 3-4 rows already. Heater, A/C, Climate control all fully loaded. Ready to go.

The only problem you will have in Naija is if you use adultrated petrol. Petrol tankers will load diesel, kerosene, petrol, engine oil etc with same tanker within few hours/days without washing them etc. Theres bound to be contamination.

European cars, i don't know. They may overheat in naija when they get there. Their radiator is small. US cars no problem.

Thousands (if not millions) drive US specs in naija everyday. No issues. All fully loaded.

I think tropicalisation as a term is a marketing gimmick by car manufacturers. US spec and those sold here are quite similar.
A friend of mine who is a major Toyota licensed distributor told me that what tropicalisation simply means is using reinforced suspension (which most US specs already have), raising the car for more ground clearance (which isnt a problem for most US specs apart from sports cars), covering the engine from below (which most US specs have) even if they dont, you can easily fix a cover here in Naija.

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New car is good;but know that you are also paying a whole load of money to the manufacturers; you are making their profit. You could save a whole load of money by buying it a year later or some months after use. If it takes 3yrs for a new car to start having problems, then a car of some months old or a year could as well pass as new. Dont forget you save a whole load of bucks for other things.

The annoying thing though, is some toks have better features than new ones here.Except you pay to the roof.

Another thing is the so called 3yr warranty. By the time you queue up and heavily frustrated to service your car, you will end up servicing the car yourself. You may not be saving much afterall.

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Ivvie:

There is hardly profit to be made in a new car.

Are you talking as a manufacturer or an importer?Because you actually pay the manufacturers cost of production and profit when you buy the new car; whereas when you buy say a year later, someone else has done the payment. And you buy a car still 'new' within the supposed 3yr trouble free time.

I don't think the main thing is about US or japan cars, all I'm saying is reality on ground and how the final user can have optimum benefit.I have also used US cars for years and I didn't/don't observe any accelerated wear or breakdown.Try buying a luxury car or near luxury car new -high cost, but after a year with very low mileage you would save a lot of bucks.

You didn't also comment on the other points I raised.

tpacalipse:

k, simple one

A 2005 Honda Accord with less than 50,000 miles on it vs a brand new 2007 kia rio or hond city

I AGREE WITH U BRO, because KIAs ARE CRAP.

I don't think you've seen Kia/Hyundai cars in a while, they are there with the big boys now(trust me on that). Just look at the Azera,Borrego, and Genesis


A 1-2yr old toks is better than any new car in Naija considering you'll be paying half if you get it from US yourself
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___EX-L-V6-Sedan-LIKE-NEW-NAV-SUNROOF-HTD-LTHR-EX_W0QQitemZ320303073815QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320303073815&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___GORGEOUS-2008-HONDA-ACCORD-EX-IN-EXCELLENT-CONDITION_W0QQitemZ110292859008QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110292859008&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245


The only difference I want to believe still exists in tropicalised cars and US spec cars is in fuel requirement regular unleaded.Nigeria might still be using leaded fuel.Very few even know there are grades of fuel for different cars.Imagine paying one of our dealers N3m for a Mercedes and filling it at NNPC station.



AMerican cars are not gas guzzlers, most are made with V6 engine and compare to I-4 of Asia cars.With same engine size, the do well.Take a look at ratings from MsnAutos on I-4s from GM, Toyota, and Honda(Aura,Malibu,Camry,Accord)
http://autos.msn.com/research/compare/default.aspx?c=0&n=3&i=0&tb=0&ph1=t106992&ph2=t0&dt=0&v=t106799&v=t107041&v=t107852&v=t106992

hey guys,check this out
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=215423.msg3309546#msg3309546

hey guys,check this out
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=215423.msg3309546#msg3309546

I cant believe you guys are talking about KIA as cars,the ones brought to Nigeria a crap, compared to the ones made to go to Europe , and can someone plz tell us what T R O P I C A L I Z A TI O N means as regards to cars?, aint that a car dealer's term to market thier cars eh. Dear Poster, Buy your Toks and follow the maintance practice that comes with it, for every car I have brought to Nigeria I have brought with them thier service book, when you do these to fairly a good degree, you got litle or no problem with your car.

Even in the US purchasing a used car is a more financially sound decision than purchasing a New car , Reason- A car is a depreciating asset, the moment it drives out of the dealership the dollar value starts dropping , The average car loses 5% of its values in the first two years regardless of maintenance and mileage ( Honda's, Accra's and Lexus being a slight exception). You can hence get more bang for your buck by buying a Manufacturer Certified Used Vehicle (2- 3 years old with Manufacturer's Extended Warranty) than a brand new car . Especially when you consider that most manufacturers don't make major changes to the model of a car for at least three years from first release ( Who cares if you are driving a 2009 Honda CRV or a 2007 Honda CRV , They look the same to the rest of the world).

OK Translate that to Naija , the New cars sold by Naija dealers are OVERPRICED and usually economy versions of similar versions found in the US. So even if you will buy a new car it still pays you to import it (Please correct me "Politely" if I am wrong) .

I will NEVER prefer a used vehicle over a brand new. Who no lyk better soup? Just lyk prefering to marry a second hand wife over a new bride, NEVER!!!

there is a lot of factors to consider.
ofc money is first and foremost.if you have loads of cash you will only buy a new car.
however if you have say  you had 2m naira as budget  then you have a choice of say a 2005 honda accord ,2002 toyota rav4 or a brand new "tear rubber" hyndai elantra.
Now comes in the person factor.For my mama i simply did not waste time and got her a kia rio.Same thing if you have a 2m budget as the scenario above then i personally will go with a new car for someone who does not need the stress of mechanics.the warranty and the fact on average you have a few years no trouble at all with a new car is simply unbeatable .also no matter what sellers of used cars say hyndai and kia have made very good and quality standard cars in the last few years.But they also make dull cars.
Then comes the other type of person like me who has something more hip and kia is not really hip.it looks so from outside but once inside its just plain dull,so we tend to go for something more hip and worry about the cost of repairs later.
To me the resale value is less important in nigeria because a car loses value at least twice mostly 3 times when its used in nigeria.don't believe me go look at threads with used cars and see that a 2006 nigeria used accord will cost u same as a 2003 never used in nigeria accord.
The dodgy nigerian roads,mechanics and driving does this.
So i never use resale value on a car in nigeria its just pointless.

as i dont know much about tokunbo, i just seen in the forum, its views and all the stuff, i search on net, i found tokunbo is different one, so vote for Tokunbo,

To ship in my fifty cents as regards to Erico2k2's question about TROPICALIZATION in cars. Actually,there are not much difference in cars built for different parts of the world. However, there are difference in maintenance and parts used. For example,in part of the US where I live,we don't use water as coolant in the radiator,we use anti-freeze cos water in the radiator will turn to ice block in the winter time. Again,we use winter tires in winter for better grip. Summer tires in summer for good ride and better gas mileage. You can't driver a car without heater in winter. There's the windshield defogger. There's heater and heated seat. Underbody coating to prevent rust from snow melting salt. Sometime at the tail end of fall,we normally go for servicing they call winterization.
Again ,most diesel engines here usually have plug in charger where you plug it to power outlet(110v/120v) to keep the engine and components warm when parked in winter. All I said are tropical maintenance which are not necessary in Nigeria. So don't expect to see heater and heated seat,windshield defogger,navigation system in a car assembled in Nigeria.

On the topic of new and used cars, Honestly,there's nothing as sweet as "tear rubber" with the new car smell. However,as somebody has said,cars depreciates in value every minute and according to Consumer Report here,new cars depreciates fastest in their first 3 years, over 30% in most makes. It does make economic sense to buy brand new late model e.g, one 'll save a fortune by buying a brand new 2009 model now and still enjoy new car smell,comfort and reliability. Also,buying a certified pre-owned with dealer's 150 points inspection, 'll leave a chunk of change in one's pocket. Generally,a gently used car especially in a country with good roads 'll give you back double the money's worth in service if you keep to manufacturer's required maintenance.

To me,a gently used car makes more economic sense than a new car.