adeptniyi: this really interesting! I commend contributors for the tacit knowledge intelligently transferred. I want to start the used car and tyre biz in naija. first issue is: I saw a whole lot of nice cars in Germany but can't be allowed to enter naija cos they are above 8 years. is it advice able to ship my cars to cotonu, gt them cleared legitimately at both borders and bring them in? or wats the risk trying to get them cleared tru Lagos directly? which is better? as for the tyres can I clear them at cotonu and bring them in? I need help pls!

saintjoel:

I've downloaded viber,how do I connect?

adeptniyi: this really interesting! I commend contributors for the tacit knowledge intelligently transferred. I want to start the used car and tyre biz in naija. first issue is: I saw a whole lot of nice cars in Germany but can't be allowed to enter naija cos they are above 8 years. is it advice able to ship my cars to cotonu, gt them cleared legitimately at both borders and bring them in? or wats the risk trying to get them cleared tru Lagos directly? which is better? as for the tyres can I clear them at cotonu and bring them in? I need help pls!

globalfanz: You are deviating this thread from its main purpose. Besides, this is not the proper place for your adverts. This section is a learning point (school) and not a selling or advert point (market). Please get it right.

kuntash: If you are an auto enthusiast and keen to know the technical nitty gritty of what u are buying, if you cannot go to overseas yourself, go to cotonou, WHY?..... because you would have opportunity to see many cars as it was... without changing anything there... (THATS NOT TO SAY THEY HAVE NOT STARTED SUCH IN COTONOU AS THEY DO HERE IN NAIJA)

if u dont care how the car gets to Nigeria, i.e you can cope with the risks of customs before and after the car lands ur house.... , you can reduce the total cost by avoiding paying the correct tax... (this is what many of the agents so to speak do).... if you notice, you would still have to pay the same full cash to the Benin Govt, its only on Naija side that the magomago begins... - quite unfortunate..


If you care about how much u spend and you are not too interested in the technical nitty gritty of cars, maybe u just want smthn to move and YOU DONT WANT CUSTOM WAHALA.. just ask someone u can trust overseas to help u , or just buy here...


and Lastly, if you want to manage your cash within a budget and can easily change ur mind on the car you want... and you are sure of how to manage ur way with our customs... ... call up cotonou guys to help u, cos, they can present several options for u and cheap cars to get , often completely different from what u originally wanted...


These are my take from a personal experience.... not once, but twice...


summary, WHEN YOU BUY A CAR IN COTONOU , AFTER CLEARING THE CAR THERE, PAYING ALL EXPENSES, PAYING FULL DUTY AS AGAINST THE ACTUAL YEAR OF MANUFACTURE.... ITS MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN shipping and clearing directly in Naija

saintjoel:

Sir,I'm so sorry but if you have been to cotonou to buy cars like you have stated,you'll definitely know all you've written are pure lies and gibberish.

S

olumide4christ: @Saintjoel - I have heard some experiences of some people who buy cars from Cotonou and even Lagos here, who complain that the catalytic converters in their cars have been removed prior to purchase and they only discovered it after the car had been purchased. My question is- HOW DO YOU RESOLVE THIS ISSUE WITH YOUR CLIENTS & THE CAR DEALERS? DO YOU PROTECT YOUR CLIENTS AGAINST SUCH VANDALIZATION OR ARE THEY LEFT TO FACE THE MUSIC THEMSELVES?? Your response is needed on this issue.

saintjoel:

Sir,I'm sorry but I met the buyer of the car on this thread and I felt I should show appreciation and show people that there are geniune agents in cotonou and at seme border.

Ikenna351:

You have gradually turned this thread into advert. Don't earn yourself a ban or force me to move this thread to Autos section.

Moderator.

car-doctor:


Due to the high rise in catalytic converter thefts from Cotonou port and borders, its advisable to read this thread also.

https://www.nairaland.com/1523351/beware-catalyst-stealing-mechanics-welders#19643216


Car-Doctor.

dabosuker: Saint Joel, since you are an agent, would you happen to know the cost of clearing/Nigerian custom duty for a 2005 mercedes ML 350 special edition, with a 3.5 litre V6 engine. am considering coming to cotonou to purchase that ride, and i want to get real genuine nigerian custom papers, because "i no like problem, i sleep with 2 eyes closed".
please your quick response would be apprecited, even if its just an idea of the cost of clearance . thanks.

saintjoel: I sincerely want nairalanders to please judge whoever has done wrong and please I also want you all to be truthful about it especially for those who have bought cars from cotonou.

A certain Gboyega got in touch with for a 307 and other cars he could get for 900,000naira and initially I sent pictures of a 307 with manual transmission but he declined saying he needed one with auto transmission and I remember telling him that auto transmission will be more expensive since there is so much hype around cars with auto and leather seats. He still insisted on a 307 with auto transmission and I had no choice but to tell them to come into the market.

Now everyone knows you've to pay a certain amount of money after purchase in cotonou before it can be moved to the border purchase but I've adopted a way of telling my customers the whole amount,for example if you inquire about a 1999 camry,I just tell you it's 850K with Nigerian custom duty instead of telling you 500K CEFA goes into this or 1.3M CEFA goes into that.

Now,when they came into the market,I had issues with the first cart they bought cos from the look of things,it had engine issues so we moved to another park and started bargaining for a better one.In all this bargaining,I wasn't involved and the manager spoke english,so everything was clear to them and after bargaining,the manager told them to pay 2.2M CEFA and everything amounted to 2.7M CEFA with clearing etc..

Immediately I called them aside and asked them if they'll settle for a cheaper car like a Golf4 cos to me the 307 wasn't just it but they were like it's either 307 or nothing,so I told them to deposit 20,000 naira,they even said someone promised to ship and clear the 307 to them for 600,000naira and I can remember asking them if they'll settle for the one been shipped to them.

When we got back to seme after paying the deposit,I later learnt they needed to make withdrawals from GTB which was about 2hrs drive from the border.On getting to the banks,they ran into some issues and could only withdraw around 3pm,we got to the border around 4pm,in all these,Gboyega kept asking me if they could get the car out that evening and I told him it was a 50/50 thing,that we've even loaned them 500K CEFA for the clearing but the white man insisted on been paid before releasing the car,even when we changed into CEFA,I don't know if the money changer kept part of their money but when I calculated using the exchange rate,I discovered they were shortchanged and Mercy and Gboyega didn't even know about this. I had to confront the Alhaji that changed the money,collected the balance,went back to cotonou to meet them with the balance,kindly take note that this happened around 5pm.

To summarize it all,the car couldn't come out and even two of my cars were also stuck in cotonou cos there was a public holiday a day before and the whole place was choked up,even as at that time the car couldn't beat the 6pm deadline at seme,so I told them to come back.

Even after collecting their car in one piece,Gboyega and his girlfriend mercy have kept calling me a 419 cos of these reasons:-

1.Their car didn't come out the same day they paid,even when I kept telling Gboyega it was 50/50 and I didn't collect the 15K CEFA(express charges) from them,cos if I had collected it and couldn't produce the car by evening,it'll have been worse.

2. I told them my charges was 30,000naira but I think Gboyega been who he is told his girlfriend who paid for the car my charges was 5,100naira instead of 30,000.

3. Mercy said people she met in Abuja told her that the extra charges weren't needed in cotonou(battery and security,escort,customs etc),that you just pay and leave with your car.

4. I was given 35,000 naira for plate numbers but that same day,customs officials shot a smuggler and we were stuck in seme for hours so I told them I didn't want to risk dropping the money for a plate number and they will come the next day,it wouldn't be ready.I also told Gboyega that I deducted 15,000 from the 35,000 to cover for my agent fee and when he came for the car l,I gave him 20,000naira.

5.Gboyega later called for a BMW and I got him a pristine one,even paid 20K deposit for the car but to my dismay,he never showed up in Cotonou to either bargain with the white man or make outright payment.I kept calling him for days and also sent him messages via whatsapp,that it wasn't about him paying me back but he should at least let me know if he'll buy or not,so I could find ways of recovering my money but he never replied not until saturday when Mercy,his girlfriend called me to start asking for her 15,000 naira and I had no choice other than to tell her what her man did to me.

6. They have now said I behaved unprofessionally cos I told Mercy about the BMW deal and Gboyega even sent me messages telling me that he didn't believe I dropped 20K deposit with the white man when he hasn't even come into cotonou to verify and I even sent a picture of the receipt issued to me.

7. Gboyega said an agent told them clearing of 2003 cars was between 100K-120K and I charged them 150K but I told him to tell his agent to produce his tariff booklet,from my experience has an agent,only cars from 1996-2002 pay 130K while 03 pays 150K,I wasn't the one who wrote the tariff booklet and I did all I could to get the car out.Gboyega even drove the car out from seme border to abuja himself and unless he wants to lie,no custom personnel disturb him on his way.

8. When the car was brought out,I called the AC repairer and he told me the gas was leaking,one thing I know about an average Nigerian mechanic is this,if he doesn't know much about a car,don't let him touch the engine unless the customer is around.Even when they got to Abuja and filled the gas,it was discovered that there was nothing wrong with the AC and yet they are accusing of not filling the AC,when did an agent become AC repairer?.
I won't want to bore you but please I'm an honest businessman and I will like the Nairalanders to please tell me where I've gone wrong.I don't understand why Mercy will wake up on a sunday morning and start calling me a 419.