Vehicle ownership in Nigeria has come a long way from being a status item decades ago to becoming a necessity for mobility. If you live in a major city in Nigeria , you will find that there is added convenience of owning your own vehicle.
Vehicle features have changed over the years with current vehicles having sophisticated features like hill assist, brake assist, GPS etc, demographics have also changed as we have people in much younger age brackets owning vehicles .
The following is suggested advice for would car owner in the Nigeria of today.

1. Do your research
This cannot be overemphasized, whether you’re a firstimer of an experienced owner there is always the need to do your research because chances are the vehicle you’re going to buy is a step up from the one you had before (e.g moving from Japanese to European car). There are many sites that review vehicles online including our own ‘Nairaland’ reviews from previous owners of the model you’re shopping for is precious information. Our mechanics don’t read so they can’t get new information on how to fix newer cars they rely on trial by error. Do you want your car to be their guinea pig?
After all who knows the car better? The daily drivers off course!

2. Get a vehicle report
This is good to especially those buying direct tokunbo (You don’t need vehicle report for a brand new car!). My issue with the vehicle report in Nigeria is that we have not developed a centralized system for storing and sharing vehicle maintenance reports, even major car dealerships here don’t do it much, and even if they do they don’t share the information.
A vehicle report for a used vehicle imported into Nigeria in 2014 but purchased in 2020 will be dated if for example its catalyst was removed in 2017. Vehicle reports works well overseas where records are kept, ask yourself when last did you record the maintenance done on your car for a consistent period of 2 years?


3. Go with the right mechanic for inspection
Emphasis on the words ‘right mechanic’ no mechanic is knowledgeable on all cars, a Japanese mechanic cannot inspect a German vehicle and vice versa, especially for a Nigerian used vehicle (we are so poor on the maintenance side). Go with an experienced mechanic, not the jack who carries a scanner! Many hustlers think that because the carry a car scanner they ve become experts, never underestimate the power of practical experience. An experienced mechanic with a scan tool is a valuable resource when buying a used car.
In 2019 a friend got a 3C Passat, vehicle was had power loss issues, he opted to go to one geek at Olu Obasanjo road who had a scanner and ran up some codes which pointed to random cylinder misfire the geek collected 20k from him yet the problem was not solved, off course the geek decided to blame the matter on the exhaust and suggested that my friend see a panel beater, a real mechanic later fixed the issue, a bad coil on cylinder no2.

4. Insist on a test drive
Most car sellers in Nigeria don’t like giving a test drive! I speak from experience, they will tell you the car is sound, even when you offer to pay for fuel. Off course most of them are middle men, the real owners who are anxious to sell will give a test drive when they’re convinced of your seriousness to buy. Also never agree to a price before a test drive. A clean exterior is not enough there can be serious issues hidden underneath the vehicle which a test drive can reveal.


5. Know the maintenance cost implications of the vehicle
You should have an idea how much the parts cost, some vehicle side mirrors cost 5k, some cost 20k, some vehicles brake pads cost 5k, others cost 20k. Some automatic transmissions have dipsticks, some like Volkswagens don’t have dipsticks. These are things research will reveal so that you can be better guided as to whether the car is the right one for you. You also want to know if the parts are available locally.
Buy a car that’s good for your persona and your wallet. Don’t just buy a car for looks.

6. Price should not be your deciding factor
We all want to save cost, but it’s better to save it in the long run, luxury vehicles tend to be cheap especially the poorly maintained ones , but they can be a maintenance nightmare for the inexperienced or unprepared owner. A good deal is to buy a vehicle that will not require much additional costs to repair unless you’re a person who buys to resell. Buying a car for 500K and spending another N500k to fix is a bad deal if a sound one can be gotten for 850k.

7. Check Vehicle documentation
This cannot overemphasized, documentation is key, you want to make sure the seller is the bonafide owner or has the right to sell the car. Run away from people who are middle men, (unless established ones). Don’t buy vehicles in a mechanic’s shop especially those ones that have been parked for years without getting in touch with the owners? Verify the authencity of the vehicle registration papers, check the last time the license was renewed because you will pay for each year missed. This tip is important if you’re buying used vehicles from the Northern/ Southern part of the country or from uniformed people, (they are notorious for not registering their vehicles).




8. Never go alone to buy a car in Nigeria.
The importance of a witness is very important, next to landed property vehicle purchases can be a heavy expense especially if you’re buying a late model. Never go alone to a car stand, you could easily be hoodwinked into buying a lemon and have no memory how it happened.
9. Trust your instinct
Our subconscious tries to warn us if something is about to go south on a car deal, listen to your instinct, if it doesn’t feel right it can’t be right.

10. Seek out the private seller
This is another good source of a car purchase the private seller is the owner who has upgraded and wants to sell their old car, the private seller has all the information about their car because they used the vehicle, they’re hard to get because middlemen hunt for them.
I always say part of the reason cars remain unsold in online platforms is because the real owners of these vehicles are not involved in the selling process.
I have seen people who go out and take pictures of vehicles put out for sale without contacting the owners for permission. Such pictures will not reveal the interior of the vehicle, at times when you call the person they won’t know what you’re talking about

Feel free to share your car buying experience in Naija. Its not easy buying here, I remember in 2019 one used car buying platform popular in Lagos, PH and Abuja (It has suddenly faded to obscurity) They specialized in buying extremely cheap and over pricing their vehicles some which were in terrible condition. Am not surprised they’re no longer popular because they were trying to rip off all and sundry.

In short, shine ya eyes!