₦airaland Forum

jpworld:
Yes bro, we spoke plenty of times, always buying oil from ur wife.

I only do tokunbo cars, use them for 2years and sell. Naija use in this business will be a very horrible business decision for any investor.

Lol .....ok .. You seems to doing ok o .. You tried

calabardick:
I thought you have a mechanic that services your cars? Opening the container doesn't stop them from selling the oil, it takes a thief to buy from a thief. You need a mechanic sir. When the cars are due, let them go there for servicing and repairs.

Unfortunately the mechanic we were using at Ladipo pass away about 1 year ago or so .. He died under weird or maybe preventable illness .. Some said it was jazz etc me I don't know.. While he was sick we notice certain things he was hiding from us came out .. I was upset at him when the truth came out. And I was planning to spark for him and let him know how unhappy I was with him .... But he died shortly after that.. It was a sad situation.

This particular Civic with sludge was given to the first driver as tokunbo.. He drove the car for at least 1 year plus. All we did was oil change and basic maintenance. When we forcefully took the car from the driver is when we did any repairs .. The repair cost was roughly maybe 50k naira or so .. We had to take steering rack from another tokunbo civic that have not put on the road yet for this red.. But since than the car is very ok and low on maintenance..

The civic mechanic specialist I used in the past was just useless.. He seems to be very good ,but you have to chase him around to do his job.. It got to a point I felt I was begging him with money to do his job.. I no get time ,so from time to time I use Ayo Bishop to do small repairs here and there.. Once you get a very good civic your repair cost is down ..

But with any car it boils down to finding the rite mechanic for the Job... So for now I don't have an official mechanic, once I can do the basic maintenance on the cars , mechanic visit will be less or just basic fixes that any blind mechanic can attended.. Sometimes it sounds simple, I once had a mechanic in front of me empty a whole 5quart of oil into the engine without checking the oil level.. The car had too much oil inside, something so simple can become disastrous for your car.....

calabardick:
Dru is a nice guy, I'm glad one bad egg didn't make him change his mind.

That engine will need total overhauling.

The car runs like nothing happened, but will not wait till something before attending to it .. The Liqui engine flush cost 3k naira . Easy to use and YouTube reviews were great.....

calabardick:
His one weak me dru.
This's wickedness in high places.

Well that is transport business for you .. You have to monitor at least try to monitor from driver to mechanic when it comes to repairs ... Will continue to enforce opening the gallon of engine oil before we give it to anyone to do oil change..... The Civic still runs ok but will do engine flush on Monday or so . We bought Liquid moly engine flush from a nairandlander ..And I read great reviews about it online.......civic engine are very strong ..

jpworld:
There is no owner that has not been cheated of rental fee, even with 10k weekly, infact is unaffordable, but with strict measures u will minimize it. Cheating owner of rental fee is common practice in this business.

I always give my opinion on how it works for me, I'm a believer of Corolla, i have been with Corolla for 4years plus, i only try 1 Honda, after dru23 talk much about it, at the moment i will continue to stick with Corolla. If i see a good honda deal, i can try 1 more

In mechanic industry ur services are the most expensive, to compare wat other mechanics charge, but you still have customers prioritizing u.

For example i change oil and filter b4 with 500naira, but now they collect 1000naira.

I change brake pad with 1000naira, will you charge the same? Tie rod socket, ball joint set, my mechanic charge 1000naira. Infact is bc i understand Corolla functions better i stick with Corolla.

If elumelu a billionaire can fire 2000 people during lockdown, i will do the same for my business to survive.

Just as ur services are premium, you didn't force anybody to use, same as me, if you like my conditions work wity me, if not the exist door is open.

You stated that you will continue to stick with Corolla .. A tokunbo car has always been the best choice for ehailing. A tokunbo car can maybe last up to two years on ehailing, no matter how well you maintain the car it will get to a point that you will need to sell it ... so am wondering when that times comes, would you sell the Corolla and get another Corolla? Or would you drive the car to the ground and than sale it ?

Now if you than decide to sell the car to get another car . Would it be naija used or Tokunbo? If it is naija used than you taking a gamble.. And if it is tokunbo, would the cost of tokunbo worth it for u.....

My point here is for any investors going into uber for the long haul .. My advice is to get a tokunbo car good enough to do the job with the most minimum maintenance cost..

And cheap enough to the point that when is time to sell of the car ,you would have made enough money to buy another tokunbo car.. You can't try that business model with a Corolla . It will not make any business sense. And it will not make business sense to sell your uber car to get a naija used 1.. It is like hustling backwards, but with the Honda Civic you have that capacity to do that. A Corolla can buy 1 Honda Civic and change will remain. But both cars are bringing in the same income..You might say the real sell value of Corolla is better depending on the condition of the car.. But the Civic still the best choice because it was bought cheaper the Corolla..

There is no owner that has not been cheated of rental fee, even with 10k weekly, infact is unaffordable, but with strict measures u will minimize it. Cheating owner of rental fee is common practice in this business.

I always give my opinion on how it works for me, I'm a believer of Corolla, i have been with Corolla for 4years plus i only try 1 Honda, after dru23 talk much about it, at the moment i will continue to stick with Corolla. If i see a good honda deal, i can try 1 more

In mechanic industry ur services are the most expensive, to compare wat other mechanics charge, but you still have customers prioritizing u.

For example i change oil and filter b4 with 500naira, but now they collect 1000naira.

I change brake pad with 1000naira, will you charge the same? Tie rod socket, ball joint set, my mechanic charge 1000naira. Infact is bc i understand Corolla functions better i stick with Corolla.

If elumelu a billionaire can fire 2000 people during lockdown, i will do the same for my business to survive.

Just as ur services are premium, you didn't force anybody to use, same as me, if you like my conditions work wity me, if not the exist door is open.[/quote]I think we spoke before , we use to deliver oil to you and you use to buy alot.. And u said u had a Honda civic that you bought tokunbo and it gave you hell.

hvac:
You are a real business woman not the one that feels like God. People that feel like God hardly succeed in business and I can say jpworld didn't just hustle to make money to buy cars he is giving people either on hp or Rentals, maybe he sold his father's land in village and came to invest it on the transportation business.

I try to be objective and honest with my response or post. And also I inject real life experince into it that been said...

Transport business is a tough business.. You have to be as tough as the drivers you are dealing with it .. I do understand JP's approach to business.. Different methods works for different people.. I am not for or against JP's method... I do understand him very well have been there ...

radautoworks:
Why you come fall my hand na lol

But real talk, your approach makes more sense because you figured out your core competency and created a blue ocean out of that. Expecting to do the same as everyone with different results never works. DON'T LISTEN TO THOSE DOING WORSE THAN YOU ARE AS THEY HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER YOU.

The turnover rate in transport business will be high when compare to other businesses ... This is why I 'recommended' max of 5 ... Anything more than that equals to the old saying of " MORE MONEY , MORE PROBLEM "

jpworld:
How many owner that invest 2million in one car, and after renting car for 2years, was able to buy another one. There is none.

If you're doing 1 or 2 car, collecting rent below 30k, you're not making any profit. You're just rotating your money.

Renting of cars is not lucrative business, most people doing it, are doing it to have weekly money to feed.

This statement depends on many factors... You have to consider the landing cost of those cars. If you are buying Corolla especially as a middle or directly yourself than weekly rental can't be less than 30k weekly......

But if you have other alternative brand of cars that cost less , than you can wiggle some low rental fees abit.. This will depend on all type of factors etc......

jpworld:
As a driver it sound foolish, but me that invested my money will protect it with everything.

During lockdown alot of companies fires employees, simply bc business not functioning as usual, and they cannot continue paying salaries, when business comes back to normal they hire fresh people.

Anytime rent is low bc of low patronage as you claim, my vehicles will be withdrawn, when you seat at home or search for vehicle you cannot see, you will come back for it or i get fresh person, that will be committed.

Hiring and firing is part of business.

Especially in transport business.... It is why I recommend max of 5 cars and grow from there.....

calabardick:
This thread don cast, I see greedy partners popping up everywhere.
One thing they don't understand is that when you give your driver a hard target it's your car that will suffer for it. At the end they dump it and go for a better one.

Whether you give hard target or cold target to drivers.. More than 50% will wreck the car ... This is a tough business.. Partners will have to determine what will work for them.. What works for dru23 might not work Sam89 ...Drivers don't care .....

Below is my civic 03 .. There this particular driver that I took the car from. This driver at the time had no place to leave . I got him place at the time for close 200k naira . He was sleeping and eating in the car. So out of pity we got him a place .. They guy started good and was delivering. And is rental was 25k naira when others were between 25k to 30k... we trusted him and when it is time for oil change will just give him the oil...... It got to the point that he was no longer delivering.. Last last we went to the house we rented for him and collected the car.. I had to spend about 40k naira to put the car in order for next driver....

We now find out the car we give him has sludge picture. Full synethtic oil should not have any sludge ,my other cars do not have sludge .. Ever since I started importing my own oil ,I never had sludge.. What happen is more than likely the driver was selling the imported oil we gave him and than buying 20w50 oil for the car. Out of respect we didn't feel we need to tell him to bring back the empty gallons of oil we give him ......

So my point here my brother this business is a doggy eat dog business.. Drivers don't care and so partners have to be strict . So I don't blame strict partners that are either strict or more strict than JP.. Based on experince you have to structure how you run your business...... I will not sugar coat anything.. With me once I give a car out and I know am giving you a good deal.. Once you start to mess up , I will use style collect my car ..before na shout up and down etc.. Now I just dey calm and cool....That same driver now is more than likely homeless now.. He called few times begging etc.. But me I no send am .. We move make he go find partner that will do 100% maintenance and deliver below market rental....... Days of me shouting up and down at drivers was over long time.. You can recall 1 driver was saying I didnt give him notice before I collected my car from him etc .....this is tough business

jpworld:
Did you know dru was buying elentra b4, after he sold them off and lost some money, then reinvested in Honda civic?

What if dru is not working in America? Is that not village send off?

Dru is in this business as a side chick, dru has major source of income in America, dru buy good and cheap cars in America. And also Dru is not on ground, he has to get peanuts to gain drivers loyalty. And still drivers will still try to frustrate.

Me, I'm the main wife in this business, I'm ready to do the battle. Any dubious idea you bring up, we know how to counter it, I'm ready to fire and hire immediately.

I just want to clarify few things......

When in business you have to find your COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ..... At the time people were using Toyota cars Corolla and " Big daddy " etc .. .. The cost of those cars tokunbo and even naija used went up.. It didnt make sense for me to buy Corolla or camry, plus I didn't like those cars at all .. They were like sachet of pure water litter on Lagos road.. It was an eye sore .....

So I decided to research and went for Elantra cars 07 to 09. Since I import cars to Nigeria personally myself , the Elantra were extra cheap for me. The elantra was so cheap, it was like using Corolla money to buy (2) Elantra cars...... .. I can recall my landing cost of 1m naira for an elantra that I used personally .. I was that lucky, with car business depending on your location in the USA , You will find very good and watery deals .....This was my competive advantage........

Now , Elantra are very good cars for uber. I love them and it was easy to fix ... some of the issues with cars in Nigeria can be explain briefly below..

Finding the Right Mechanic and Good Parts. Unfortunately and I will say it with full confidence, finding good mechanic that will not cheat you of your hard earn money and do a good job , is like finding a needle in haystack ....

A mechanic can frustrate you to the point that you end up selling your car out of frustration. And the parts that you buy contributes to the issue .. Most of the parts been sold are more than likely worn out and by the time you use them, it will only last few weeks or months ... so out of frustration the car owner blames the car, instead of the mechanic or low quality parts...

Adapting to your business environment... The ehailing business was changing for the worse and it was affecting my bottom line . The cost of Elantra cars were going up and I couldn't justify buying them with income coming in. They were price changes that benefited the riders than partners .. So Elantra didn't make sense at the time anymore , people were still buying Corolla, which got me scratching my head...... So I had to think outside the box and look for an alternative ....

Lucky for me, when I was buying Elantra at my early stage of my uber business, I came across Honda Civic 03 for $700 . It was a steal and decided to try it out , it was cheap and the landing cost was less than 1m naira. It was just ridiculously cheap.

The 03 Honda civic did very well compare to the Elantra and likely the Corolla . So I did more research on my end and I came across cheap Honda civics .. It was a game changer for me ... so that is how I came across Honda Civic .. The maintenance cost of the Civic is cheaper than the Corolla or than any other cars. The parts were cheaper.. And the shocks on the civic can last a long time......And this is the reason I can lower my rental depending on the driver driving the car.

If the driver and car are saving me from high cost maintenance , than I should able to reward the driver. The same business model I use in selling my engine oil. Buy it cheap enough cut the middle men and the customers will enjoy big savings.. This is another example of a business competive advantage.. You just have to find yours.. We are selling the same products, what makes yours special from others is what u will need to find out.....

I have been saying this time to time .. Don't put all of your eggs in 1 basket .. Transportation business should be a section of your business.. It is equally as good as it is challenging .. You need to diversify your business to avoid headaches... I wouldn't want to have more than 5 cars on ehailing.. At times it is very tempting to do so ,but for now 5 is my max..

BAZ001:
How long do u think it will take a driver on rentals that deliver 30k weekly to save up to 2million to own a tokunbo car? 2yrs or 3years?
D same driver will pay house rent, pay utility bills and small responsibilities unless na only child or still living in his fathers house. Let’s not talk about married drivers.
Why do u think must people stopped driving and looked for other hustle ?

From personal and business observations, your bolded prints equates to about 70% excuses ......

80% of drivers that drove for me should be able to own their cars by now .. When I started the ehailing business. I wanted to create a business model that will benefit both the driver and car owner.

When other partners were using naija used cars to give to drivers , I was using tokunbo cars , when others were splitting maintenance cost with drivers ,I was handling 100% of maintainence myself, when the market rate was high I came down a bit for some drivers and I was still responsible for 100% vechicle maintenance.....


So after I implemented the above model. Drivers will still wreck the cars and come up with excuse not to deliver. It was either one personal excuse or the other .. Some drivers feel that they were doing me a favor etc ...... With all my business I try to create a business model that benefit eveyone ... Now with some of my drivers delivery is between 20k to 25k weekly compare to the market value of 30k naira or more... If a driver is patience enough he can save up and buy the car he is driving ..but most will not do that.... So if they are not discpline enough to make use of the opportunities am giving them ,how can they move on to bigger things..

confusedworld17:
Drivers making "One billion" in two months and yet you are still on rental after 3 years of driving.
Yet to see or read testimonies of drivers buying there own cars from money saved from huber. Abegiii.....
To those complaining of back pain, try driving more time in za oza room and thank me later.

Unfortunately you are very correct.. I will use my experince as a partner .. I have given so many drivers opportunity for them to be car owners.. I do 100% repairs on my rental . All a driver has to do is just drive and deliver ,my cars are tokunbo. I learn that no matter how you make it easy for them ,majority of them will not see it like that..

A lot of them will just squander it .. I notice this is frequent in all aspect of the Nigerian life.. And you come to the conclusion that you have to stay focus mind your business..... At the end of the day ,they will tell you last last they will survive, and they will continue saying that until it is too late to make changes..

And these are the same people that will start complaining when they see another man that becomes successful and saying " life no balance " them not knowing that the successful man made good use of his chances ..

Seun360:
please, can you introduce me to a specialist, a friend's honda civic is having air conditioning problem.

Please, your assistance will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Radauto will be the best choice .. It might cost an arm and a leg at least you guaranteed good service that will pay itself in the long run..

calabardick:
They gave you what you were interested in nah, No be palm wine you want drink? They gave you till you drink and forget your money. Lolz.
My brother, transportation isn't for everyone.

100% correct.. It is lucrative and very challenging at the sametime.. Technology has made certain parts of the business easy ...

If handled very well ,which comes with experience, you can create good cash flow business and good passive income ...

Most investors get burnt when they have too many vehicles on the road that they can't handle. From experince I wouldn't want to have more than 5 cars on ehailing. Sometimes I am tempted to have more ,but fear dey catch ,can't over do myself o .. People that do interstate section of the business, my hats off to you ,you guys have the biggest balls ..me I no fit try am , the local route self na with 1 eye close I dey sleep at night.. Imagine state to state route , that means I no go sleep at nite be dat....

Powerful V6 engine .. Comfortable ride and handles very well on high speed.... Clean title

We at dru23 are happy to present to you another excellent Suv 2007 Veracruz.....

****** Clean Title and nothing to fix ********

*******The mileage is 160k original Miles . This is basically a low mileage Suv which is very hard to Find****

******* The A/c is Winter Cold **********

******** All 4Tires in Excellent Shape******

********* Asking Price is 3m naira********

This is one of the best vechicle in market.. There is nothing to fix .. With the low original miles of 160k and a V6 engine. This vechicle will last you years to come with the correct owner .. You have enough leg room and cargo space at the back.. This is not bad for 3rd row seat vechicle and mostly importantly ground clearance is excellent for those bad roads ......


So come on down for a test drive ......give us buzz, don't miss out to own this vechicle... we at your service

Chazleeray:
A wonderful morning to everyone in this family, It gladens my heart to see a thread like this, i greet you all. Please am currently in owerri but will be heading to Lagos by December. I've been able to save up a little funds from the petty trade i do in owerri, My elder bro is insisting i go into uber and he's willing to assist me and I'm ready, we might be able to raise withing 1.5-2million by next week. But am in severe need of advice.
1) what kind of car is advisable to purchase as a newbie and how do i ensure is purely Belgium use from a well reliable source
3) Since i"ll be learning how to drive here in Lagos. Please how fast and easy can i Learn to navigate the Lagos road
3) how can i start applying for my drivers licence here in Lagos
4) how long does it take to get all the required documents to start uber and how best should i go about it.
Please i really appreciate everyone here and your candid advice is needed.

From experince go for Honda Civic 03 to 05 .. Make sure and make sure is tokunbo... preferably USA spec . Make sure the transmission is in excellent shape ..

When it comes to Honda Civic transmission make you use the rite fluid this is non negotiable. The civic has excellent gas mileage and the parts are relatively cheap compare to others .. The engine are almost bullet prove even abuse , plz use the recommended engine oil 5w20 not the 20w50 engine killer .. I am talking from experience.....

The civic has low ground clearance, you can always change the rims and tires to 1 size bigger, that is what I did... For the economic situation on ground now and the naira is not doing too well against the dollar.. Cost of cars has gone up , A tokunbo Honda civic will make sense more than ever before .... It might be hard to get a tokunbo Honda civic ,due to the fact that car dealers don't make a lot of profit on them ..but am sure you might be lucky to get an excellent 1 in good shape ....goodluck and if you need more assistance don't be afraid to reach out .....

Weightless:
Please don't be tired, we need more knowledge and information from both you and boss lady rad.

By fire by force .. I have officially retired from contributing anything meaningful on the forum ...

GforGee:
Permission not granted. Don't be tired, it's not allowed. Just because one or two person's ain't learning doesn't mean everybody ain't learning.






Pass the next person a crumb and a drop, and the world
would be great.

My brother, my team advice me to stay quiet.. I was told it was needed so that we can cash in on owners that abuse their cars ... we might start even importing 20w50 to start with , to find it in Yankee na the problem self ..we have to give the people what they want, not what is good for them .....

radautoworks:
In fact I don retire in oil issue. Dru to take over

Meself don over over tire.... I promise to keep quiet from now on and watch people make mistake.... I just have to stay quiet...... No more talk

Trustme2:
The recent weeks has seen a drastic increase in the exchange rate of Naira to the Dollar which make business quite challenging.

This is moreso that prices of vehicles are determined by Dollar-Naira exchange rate. Within the month of November alone we have seen the Dollar going from N460-N487 as at today.

This is not likely to come down owing to the appraoching festivities in December. The last few months have also seen a maginal increase in the prices of both Tokunbo and Nigerian Used cars and customers no wan hear say price of cars increase, the insult no be here.

So how are you all coping and what strategies do we use to navigate this trying times?

Have stop shipping goods into Nigeria for now.. Dollar go reach $1 to 600Naira very soon .. There is no way around it .... Good luck to eveyone out there

AngryIgboDon:
Wahala for who no buy pennzoil abi pennis oil from dru23.

Oga dru, I hope you know you are the one speaking from a position of ignorance? Me? Do 8k miles a year on Uber? Lol. If there was a medal for Uber drivers, I will be on Legend or Veteran level.

Oga dru, at the peak of my driving career on Uber, I was grossing over 70k kilometres yearly between 2017-2019. That's an average of 6,000 kilometres per month. Right now, my dashboard reads over 300,000 kilometres and car is still strong, does not smoke and does not leak oil.

All these while, I used mobil 20w50. Please remember that I stated before that I service every 3,000 kilometres. I service at least twice in a month.

And lest I forget, I bought all my cars directly from their white owners. So the Odometer was not tampered with.

The way you preach about engine lasting long most times baffles me. If I may ask, how long do you plan on driving one car? My Corrolla is a 2005 model. That means the car has lasted over 10 years before I bought it. Its been with me for more than 5 years now.... That means its 15 years old already. You can see where am heading to right?

If not for poverty in Nigeria and Africa, why would a human being be thinking of driving a car that is over 15 years and be happy about it?

Bought your car directly from white owners..lol

deedee44:
This time you're wrong sir. I've seen and heard of many including my own and my neighbour's

05 camry shorten oil ? Other than worn out oil seal that might caused it etc .. Never heard of the engine like dat giving issues like that.. Keep in mind 2003 to 2005 camry were used for uber it was like pure water not once did I notice people say anything bad about.. It was the prefer choice for uber, before Corolla took over ....... The only camry that I know and experince oil shorten is camry 07. And it was a tokunbo.......

ksmart027:
I have used the said camry before, and it burns oil, a friend bought one too, and it also burn oil, both toks not naija used, so i am talking from experience not research.

More than 60% of tokunbo cars mileage have been tampered with.. An 05 camry should have at least minimum of 100k original miles. Am pretty sure you didn't do a vin check on the car when bought. You saw camry with 80k miles clean shape sound engine etc and you bought it ........

High mileage cars will always short oil no matter or better yet it will take time to do so .. Due to the fact of wear and tear of oil seals .. I bought a tokunbo elantra engine 90k miles on it ,personally myself about 1 year or more ago. When the engine was put into another elantra, it started shorten oil massively Ayo Bishop was the one I complain to .. He went straight to open the engine cover and low and behold the oil seal was worn out into pieces ,you can clearly tell , he replace it and till now the engine is doing very ok ,no more oil shorten... my point here is that your camry 05 had the same issue and you didn't bother to check the simple things like Pcv valves ,verify true mileage etc .. You decided to follow the bandwagon of camry they chop oil crew etc ....

AngryIgboDon:
20w50 also works well for cars with 5w30 specifications especially on camry and corrolla.

I have had a Corrola and a Camry for over 5 years now.

The oil I have been using on them both are Mobil oil 20w50. It also works great.

If your pocket can't buy the recommended 5w30, please stick to 20w50. It also works. It is not palm oil.

Many people I know also use 20w50 and it works well for them. Even many people here I believe also use 20w50.

The secret to using conventional mineral oils like every other oil is servicing when due because it is not as treated as the Mobil 1. Thats the secret.

I don't use any mineral oil above 3,000 kilometres.

This does not in any way mean I am endorsing 20w50 over the recommended oil. If you can afford the recommended 5w30, please do go for it. All am saying is that 20w50 also works great... At least for me.

If your engine is drying oil, best find out what makes it to dry oil. Be certain there are no leakages or your oil seals are not broken.

Meanwhile in a city like Lagos where you can stay in Traffic for over 14 hours daily under hot sun, what other lightness of oil are you looking for again? How does wrong oil usage cause oil to dry up? If your engine can dry up heavy oil, what makes you think it won't dry up recommended lighter oil?

You went from Don diddy to don dummy .. You went uber is slavery, drivers are slaves .. To you owning a farm ,from misinformed to confuse and out of touch , to Honda Civic are worse cars ever ,without ever driving 1 .. People like you are the reasons I don't buy or will ever buy used naija cars.......

When it comes to vechicle. Car owners should always follow vechicle manual.. You don't know better than the engineers that created the vechicle.. 20w50 is a thick oil ,you are making the oil pump work harder than it is supposed to be . Thereby causing wear and tear on the engine..
Am going to break down your ignorance and incompetence below ...... You stated you have been using 20w50 for 5 years now ..........


Ok let us get to simple logical facts here.. Those 5 years that you have been using 20w50 engine oil .. How often do you drive your car and how many miles do you put on it ?.. My belief is that you leave and stay in Lagos and maybe twice a year or so you drive down to your village. Now with the Lagos traffic and you having others cars to drive (allegedly). I doubt you put up to 8k miles a year on that that has been using 20w50... For a car to break down ,it will take time and time , Toyota engine can take abuse overtime.. So my point here is your use of 20w50 oil does not convince me that it is correct oil to use .. By the time you drive the car constantly enough will than know if it is correct oil to use or not .. The wrong use of oil will take time enough to show its ugly result.. When a car is going to spoil, it goes through a process.... Go and sit down bro ...And stop giving advice here anyone that takes your advice are doing it on their own risk .....

ksmart027:
You should have use mobil 2000 5w30 conventional oil which goes for 6k, it's better than that 20w50. As for your engine, that car is known for burning oil, just keep topping and you are good to go.

Let us think and research before giving advice.. The camry that the young drives is 05 camry.. They are very strong engine ... They do not short oil whats so ever ..below are the camry year to avoid .......

ifec92:
Thanks for your response
After I got the car, my mechanic recommended Total 20w50...and I tried changing it once to Mobil but same issues...
Please what can I do as presently I don’t have money for New engine as I lost my job and uber/bolt is what I’m doing at the moment to keep myself together ..

Sorry about your situation bro... if you read my post very well again.. I stated that you more than likely bought a naija used camry .. Most naija used cars are grossly abused.. The previous owners or owner must have known that the engine was going bad and decided to get rid of it before it becomes obvious......

Your options are very limited , you have few options here.

1. You can get a second opinion to verify that truly the engine is gone . And that replacement of engine or ringing is the only way forward..... But only risk here is that naija mechanics ringing will only last up to 6 months before the engine finally gives up the ghost... so you can try and risk it .. Ring the engine and hustle to save money with tokunbo engine before that 6 months expire... the cost of tokunbo of that engine can cost up to 350k naira,don't quote me on that ,call engine seller to verify actual cost...


2. One funny guy stated that you should continue topping the oil etc .. And those camry are known to burn oil like etc .. And you stated that your camry is 05 .. Have been selling cars for years, 05 camry are not known to short oil.. Whoever tells you that are unfortunately very and very incompetent... 2007 to 2009 camry are known to short oil .. It was a factory defects, all the camry 03 to 06 that I sold in the past had excellent engine. Those engine were almost bullet proof and they can handle abusive owners.. But my very first 07 camry that I sold, it was obvious that it short oil. ........good luck bro ,think am before you make a final decision. Best of luck

Babadee1900:
I gave my submission based on what he wrote.

The engine is already burning (thicker) oil; 20w50.
No point advising him to revert to the recommended oil which is lighter...bet it won’t stay up to two weeks before it dries up.

Whatever decision the User takes, I only wish him the best.

I am not recommending him to revert to recommended oil , base on what his mechanic said, that if the engine continues to have oil shortage , ringing the engine is the next option .. I than stated that ringing an engine is 50/50 risk , the ringing can last up to 6 months if he is lucky, I than said it is better to buy a conform ,conform tokunbo engine and than use the recommended oil henceforth

Babadee1900:
What level does the oil drop to before you are forced to service?

Since you are using 20w50 oil grade, servicing at 6weeks is ideal IMO (remember it’s not the recommended oil for the car). You don’t want to keep that oil in the car for months without changing it.

In fact if you are using the car for UBER and you use 20w50 oil, I’ll advise that you change the oil every month.

20w50 is the wrong oil whether using for uber or not.. 20w50 is a very thick oil to begin with.. You are causing the oil pump to pump oil harder than it is supposed to be.And thereby causing wear and tear on the oil pump and engine.. Now if at all a thicker oil should be used at all 5w40 would have made more sense than 20w50....


You mention oil should be change every month if using 20w50 for uber...This is why I don't feel bad for car owners at all...

An uber driver can average about at least 3k miles or more a month .. 4liters of 20w50 will cost about 5knaira, so when doing oil change it is highly recommended to change your oil filters too which can cost at least 2k for original oil filter and depending on mechanic will charge at least 2k to 3k for oil change servicing.....

Now that you think it is better to use imported oil like Mobil 1 Extended performance and change oil every 6k miles to maximum 10 miles... When you do this you save money in the long run and not waste money on engine replacement? ....

ifec92:
My people...I greet all of una
. I humbly need y’all help
I bought my car camry 2005 4plugs around May this year but I noticed the engine oil get dry up over time( I’m forced to service the car every 6weeks rather than toping the oil)..the recommended oil is 5w30 but it’s quite expensive so I go for Total 20w50

My mechanic said I’ll have to ring the engine if the problem persist(That will cost me over 60k according to him)
Please what might be the cause? And please what is the possible solution??
Your suggestions / Advice will be highly appreciated

My brother you will need to face reality o.. That engine is gone and dusted .. 20w50 is the wrong engine oil , and am pretty sure you bought the car naija used.. The previous owner must have known that the engine was on its way out ,so they sold the car before any potential sucker (Buyer) will notice any engine problem ..( I sell cars and I have cars on ehailing). So trust me I know what am saying......

Ringing the engine is a waste of money and time.. If your mechanic decides to ring it , you are taking a 50/50 risk coz the ringing might last 6months if you are lucky.....


Time to face the truth.... You better off getting a tokunbo engine in Ladipo, finding 1 that has not been worked on and than sold as tokunbo is another issue by itself.. Either way good luck and once you are lucky enough to get conform, conform tokunbo engine,. .make sure you use the correct engine oil... wish you luck, you will need it