I salute all car gurus in the house!

This thread intends to draw from your wealth of experience in autos to help the not-so-experienced and newbies make an informed choice in selecting a car.

Your opinion is highly welcomed!

The Only Brand that comes to Mind is Toyota

In terms fuel and parts economy, i think Volkswagen and all her model still takes the lead.

@Inspired_m, @Fhemmy, @Freiburger.

Thank you.

Others, please leave your opinion.

Fhemmmy:

Toyota is the way to go . .   [b]especially if being used in Nigeria . . . Good luck[/b]

I will not be surprised when over 99% of the replies will go for Toyota. The fact is that Nigerians always finds it very difficult deviating from what they 're already used to, trying new things is always a no go area.

House, keep the comments coming!

Your opinion is of great value!!

.

Fhemmmy:

Trying something new is not a bad idea,[b] but when you want a spare part availability and at same time a ride that is reliable . . . In Nigeria, there is not much, cos in Nigeria Toyota is where affordability meets availability [/b]

Why are the other spare parts not available?

Freiburger:

Why are the other spare parts not available?

DEMAND AND SUPPLY

Toyota all the way,

Fuel economy goes to any car below 1.8 litres engine capacity.

Reliability depends on quality of built and maintenance.

Here is where things get tricky, apart from models with know defects they all last as long as you want to drive them.

If you buy a used Kia and Camry with N700k difference in price with the fact that you will likely upgrade in 5 yrs, do you think you will spend extra N140k a year more on Kia?

What is the probability that he prior owner of the Kia thinks is cheap and not bother wasting money maintaining it to a prior Camry owner.
Thing are to be inspected and/replaced at interval on cars when all these neglected items converge on a use car new owner gets overwhelmed (mechanic want own a car too)

There is something called aftermarket parts, and most are not made by car manufacturers but contractors like Bosch,Delphi,Avinmeritor,Federalmogul, ACDelco,Standard Motor Products, Aisin  there are thousands of manufacturers out there.
All you need to know is the equivalent part#.
Most(99.**%) of the Toyota/Honda labeled parts in Nigeria are fake chinese knockoff.The only place I have seen manufacturer brands are online and dealerships and there is no way those parts are readily available in Nigeria at retail price.There is almost no way to ship Bosch parts from Germany and expect to stay in Business selling original parts,1000s in shipping cost and duty don't add up.This is why those 'dealers' Global motors and Honda place went to supreme court accusing one not being accredited(both were not then) and selling fake parts.If you are not buying your parts from Honda place good luck there the only listed for cars.

n the west duty is a percentage of estimated value of goods if I have $20k of car parts in a container duty might be 10% means I pay $2k pickup container same day if coming from known vendor without custom/ inspection eg Huawei,  Bosch, or corporate importer. In Nigeria ~N1m($6k)per container or worse make up for it by shipping scraps or low quality.