₦airaland Forum

Many Nigerians lose money every year because they skip basic vehicle checks before making payment.

Some of the most common car scams include:

1. Odometer rollback
2. Fake customs papers
3. Accident vehicles sold as accident-free
4. VIN/document mismatch
5. Collecting deposits before inspection

Personally, I believe VIN verification and document checks are among the most overlooked parts of buying a used car.

Which of these scams do you think is the most common in Nigeria today?

Source: MondeRides

@Nairalanders.
A LEAN MIXTURE and a RICH MIXTURE refer to the air-fuel ratio (AFR) in an internal combustion engine:

✅ A lean mixture has more air and less fuel than the ideal stoichiometric ratio (14.7:1 for petrol). It burns cleaner, improves fuel economy, and reduces CO emissions but can cause engine overheating, knocking, and power loss if too lean.

✅ A rich mixture has more fuel and less air than stoichiometric. It provides more power (useful during acceleration or cold starts), keeps the engine cooler, but increases fuel consumption and emissions like unburnt hydrocarbons and CO.

Modern engines use sensors (like the oxygen sensor) and ECUs to maintain the right mixture for different operating conditions.

Always insist on a professional pre-inspection purchase before you buy that car .

And don't forget to look out for political scams as well as the season is approaching.....that 5k you're selling your vote for will only feed you for 1-2 days....that tribalism you carry for head wouldn't differentiate you from the hands of high food and energy prices or the hands of bandits.....be wise!!!.

Dealers who import cars and drive them for years without registering it and then sell them as tokunbo is the worst by far. The issue is that other than taking care of the outward appearance of the vehicles, they rarely run maintenance on them so you essentially buy a car with a clean document but dead inside.

The system is too porous that is why some people can get away with such scam

Thank you. This is informative enough.

Based on my experiences, I will just rearrange the list in the order of priority of risk and danger of you actually loosing your money, as:
2
4
5
3
1

AS A FORMER CAR DEALER.. i say KUDOS to ME, i didnt RUN ANY OF THESE he mentioned, but u see that " AC WORKS WELL, JUS TOP THE GAS" format, e no far FROM MOUTH, wen i see GREEDY CUSTOMERS wanting to PAY LESS for GREAT DEAL.
well i do more of TOKS but at SOME POINT CUSTOM VAT begin flash me SHEGE and 9ja TOKS STANDARD became ppl's CHOICE..... na IDME boys were my BEST SMOOTH CUSTOMERS, they SPEND good to GET GOODS, but u see

all THESE AJO PPL or COOPERATIVE, C-£VIL S£RVANTS i dodged dem like PLAGUES, i almost became BEGGER and P@UPER by there ways

chatinent:
Even though you are typing in English, this looks like Swahili.

are u THRIFT ADMIN or u are next in QUEUE for this MONTH PACKING, 20k to PACK 2M?

very useful especially that odometer roll back

VHILL:
The system is too porous that is why some people can get away with such scam

Exactly,But with a verification system. It's less likely to happen

senator2k9:
@Nairalanders.
A LEAN MIXTURE and a RICH MIXTURE refer to the air-fuel ratio (AFR) in an internal combustion engine:

✅ A lean mixture has more air and less fuel than the ideal stoichiometric ratio (14.7:1 for petrol). It burns cleaner, improves fuel economy, and reduces CO emissions but can cause engine overheating, knocking, and power loss if too lean.

✅ A rich mixture has more fuel and less air than stoichiometric. It provides more power (useful during acceleration or cold starts), keeps the engine cooler, but increases fuel consumption and emissions like unburnt hydrocarbons and CO.

Modern engines use sensors (like the oxygen sensor) and ECUs to maintain the right mixture for different operating conditions.

Always insist on a professional pre-inspection purchase before you buy that car .

Well said.
An inspection is definitely important

NaijaHelper1:
Dealers who import cars and drive them for years without registering it and then sell them as tokunbo is the worst by far. The issue is that other than taking care of the outward appearance of the vehicles, they rarely run maintenance on them so you essentially buy a car with a clean document but dead inside.

Well said.
The outward appearance can sometimes make you feel a car is genuinely ok until you drive it
Inspection is important

Still not enough to make sane Nigerians vote an agalu failure into government. Just not possible !

Put forward a Prof Charles Soludo, a Dr Allex Otti, an Engr. David Umahi and I can beat my chest that they have my vote unconditionally !

Mattswaggz:
And don't forget to look out for political scams as well as the season is approaching.....that 5k you're selling your vote for will only feed you for 1-2 days....that tribalism you carry for head wouldn't differentiate you from the hands of high food and energy prices or the hands of bandits.....be wise!!!.

We inspect cars in Abuja.

Corruption driven economy.

McLizbae:
Thank you. This is informative enough.

In the order of priority of risk and danger of you loosing your money, I will just rearrange the list as:
2
4
5
3
1

Powerful insight. I totally agree

Monderides:
Which of these scams do you think is the most common in Nigeria today?

Source: MondeRides

The sort of crimes people get away with in Nigeria are the kind of crimes that put people in jail for a long...long..long time....this is sad😥 😳!!!

Wealthoptulent:
AS A FORMER CAR DEALER.. i say KUDOS to ME, i didnt RUN ANY OF THESE, but u see the " AC WORKS WEEL, JUS TOP THE GAS"
e no far FROM MOUTH, wen i see GREEDY CUSTOMERS wanting to PAY LESS for GREAT DEAL. well i do more of TOKS but at SOME POINT CUSTOM VAT begin flash me SHEGE nad 9ja TOKS STANDARD became ppl CHOICE..... na IDME boys were my BEST SMOOTH CUSTOMERS, they SPEND to GET GOODS, but u see

all THESE AJO PPL or COOPERATIVE, C-£VIL S£RVANTS i dodged dem like PLAGUES, i almost became BEGGER and P@UPER by therways

; .The nation itself is making it unbearable

lapintoz:
Still not enough to make sane Nigerians vote an agalu failure into government. Just not possible !

Put forward a Prof Charles Soludo, a Dr Allex Otti, an Engr. David Umahi and I can beat my chest that they have my vote unconditionally !

What's "agalu failure"? .....Anyway, na you know all this gibberish way you day talk....I don talk my own.

They will sell you dead engine and tell you because vehicle is not hot .
Motor go dey misfire

Even though you are typing in English, this looks like Swahili.

Wealthoptulent:
AS A FORMER CAR DEALER.. i say KUDOS to ME, i didnt RUN ANY OF THESE, but u see the " AC WORKS WEEL, JUS TOP THE GAS"
e no far FROM MOUTH, wen i see GREEDY CUSTOMERS wanting to PAY LESS for GREAT DEAL. well i do more of TOKS but at SOME POINT CUSTOM VAT begin flash me SHEGE nad 9ja TOKS STANDARD became ppl CHOICE..... na IDME boys were my BEST SMOOTH CUSTOMERS, they SPEND to GET GOODS, but u see

all THESE AJO PPL or COOPERATIVE, C-£VIL S£RVANTS i dodged dem like PLAGUES, i almost became BEGGER and P@UPER by therways

Let me share my car scam experience. In 2017, I needed a black sedan and I checked online for something and saw a chap selling a 406 Peugeot 406. What struck me was the price at just 550k naira. I called the attached number and the chap confirmed the price. I asked him to bring it to my location the following day but he said he needed money for 'fuel'. I sent him 20k naira and he called some minutes later after I had already told him that I sent it, and asked for evidence. I sent him the screenshot of the payment receipt. He thanked me and asured me he's bring it the following morning.

That morning, I called (or he did) and told me that they had an issue, that they needed some money to settle customs. I realized that was a scam. I told him I won't be sending any more money, that he could use the one I already sent for petrol for Christmas for his family. He tried persuading me but I cut the call. I did somje checks on Jiji, the platform where I saw the ad and dis some reverse search for his number and saw that it was linked to some reported scams.

Sometime around noon, I got an alert on my phone. It was a payment reversal alert. In fact, he never got the payment. Talk about a coincidence.

Research to know what to look out for in the vehicle you intend to buy. Don't totally rely on our local mechanic's advice on the state of the vehicle because some of them collude with the seller for peanuts to scam you.

This is a real and concise car talk.

Igbophobia:
Let me share my car scam experience. In 2017, I needed a black sedan and I checked online for something and saw a chap selling a 406 Peugeot 406. What struck me was the price at just 550k naira. I called the attached number and the chap confirmed the price. I asked him to bring it to my location the following day but he said he needed money for 'fuel'. I sent him 20k naira and he called some minutes later after I had already told him that I sent it, and asked for evidence. I sent him the screenshot of the payment receipt. He thanked me and asured me he's bring it the following morning.

That morning, I called (or he did) and told me that they had an issue, that they needed some money to settle customs. I realized that was a scam. I told him I won't be sending any more money, that he could use the one I already sent for petrol for Christmas for his family. He tried persuading me but I cut the call. I did somje checks on Jiji, the platform where I saw the ad and dis some reverse search for his number and saw that it was linked to some reported scams.

Sometime around noon, I got an alert on my phone. It was a payment reversal alert. In fact, he never got the payment. Talk about a coincidence.

Woww.thanks for sharing.

professore:
This is a real and concise car talk.

Thank you so much sir.
Will do more

I know that quite a number of cars in Nigeria today are accident vehicles, or Salvage as we call them here in the US. That odometer rollback is also a real deal and people have to be very careful not to fall for this scam.

A friend of mine here asked me for advice on a vehicle her dad in Nigeria wanted to buy from a "friend", and was even about to make a deposit. It was a 2011 Sienna with 56k miles. I was immediately suspicious and told her to give me the VIN number. Upon checking, we found out that the vehicle was rolled back from 223k miles, and was salvage too. She called her dad NOT to buy the car.

Wealthoptulent:
AS A FORMER CAR DEALER.. i say KUDOS to ME, i didnt RUN ANY OF THESE he mentioned, but u see that " AC WORKS WELL, JUS TOP THE GAS" format, e no far FROM MOUTH, wen i see GREEDY CUSTOMERS wanting to PAY LESS for GREAT DEAL.
well i do more of TOKS but at SOME POINT CUSTOM VAT begin flash me SHEGE and 9ja TOKS STANDARD became ppl's CHOICE..... na IDME boys were my BEST SMOOTH CUSTOMERS, they SPEND good to GET GOODS, but u see

all THESE AJO PPL or COOPERATIVE, C-£VIL S£RVANTS i dodged dem like PLAGUES, i almost became BEGGER and P@UPER by there ways



are u THRIFT ADMIN or u are next in QUEUE for this MONTH PACKING, 20k to PACK 2M?

The so-called "greedy" customers was what made me stop the business. They will tell you they want a car with full options, less than 100k miles, but the price they will tell you ehn, you will not even want to waste your time and efforts.

My wife told me that the way I quote prices for potential non-customers is what scares them away, but why would I quote 10m naira for a full option, recent year Toyota Camry or Lexus RX350, shipping included?

metalgear11:
The so-called "greedy" customers was what made me stop the business. They will tell you they want a car with full options, less than 100k miles, but the price they will tell you ehn, you will not even want to waste your time and efforts.

My wife told me that the way I quote prices for potential non-customers is what scares them away, but why would I quote 10m naira for a full option, recent year Toyota Camry or Lexus RX350, shipping included?

I can relate to this.
They want full option car for peanut price

metalgear11:
I know that quite a number of cars in Nigeria today are accident vehicles, or Salvage as we call them here in the US. That odometer rollback is also a real deal and people have to be very careful not to fall for this scam.

A friend of mine here asked me for advice on a vehicle her dad in Nigeria wanted to buy from a "friend", and was even about to make a deposit. It was a 2011 Sienna with 56k miles. I was immediately suspicious and told her to give me the VIN number. Upon checking, we found out that the vehicle was rolled back from 223k miles, and was salvage too. She called her dad NOT to buy the car.

Wow!
Just imagine .
There's no transparency anymore

senator2k9:
@Nairalanders.
A LEAN MIXTURE and a RICH MIXTURE refer to the air-fuel ratio (AFR) in an internal combustion engine:

✅ A lean mixture has more air and less fuel than the ideal stoichiometric ratio (14.7:1 for petrol). It burns cleaner, improves fuel economy, and reduces CO emissions but can cause engine overheating, knocking, and power loss if too lean.

✅ A rich mixture has more fuel and less air than stoichiometric. It provides more power (useful during acceleration or cold starts), keeps the engine cooler, but increases fuel consumption and emissions like unburnt hydrocarbons and CO.

Modern engines use sensors (like the oxygen sensor) and ECUs to maintain the right mixture for different operating conditions.

Always insist on a professional pre-inspection purchase before you buy that car .

How many Nigerians even give a damn about the CO2 emissions of their car, na only oyinbo people dey check that one

metalgear11:
I know that quite a number of cars in Nigeria today are accident vehicles, or Salvage as we call them here in the US. That odometer rollback is also a real deal and people have to be very careful not to fall for this scam.

A friend of mine here asked me for advice on a vehicle her dad in Nigeria wanted to buy from a "friend", and was even about to make a deposit. It was a 2011 Sienna with 56k miles. I was immediately suspicious and told her to give me the VIN number. Upon checking, we found out that the vehicle was rolled back from 223k miles, and was salvage too. She called her dad NOT to buy the car.

Personally I won't mind buying a car whose mileage was rolled back so long as the engine is still in good shape, highest I replace the engine after 2 or 3 years.

But you see salvage, accident or flood cars na those ones I dey fear pass because when they start having wiring issues you will nearly run mad