₦airaland Forum

caesaraba:
Funny enough, with a few clicks of the button, one can order a car from yankee and get it here without all this NL pre-order bruhaha all by himself, then get a clearing agent to finalize the process upon arrival. Very simple process.

onatisi:
best move . I still don't see any tangible rationale is pre ordering a car when u can get it in nigeria or cotonu at almost the same price !!!! Anyone wanting to do auto business should be able to buy the car ,ship it down to nigeria and resell. If the dealer likes he may even do it at 100% cash on delivery basis with added cost . All such dealers need to do is verify the financial capability of such customers to pay when the car arrives .

onatisi:
thank God someone is seeing the point. Most auto pre order dealers stay and live in nigeria and all they do is get on the net do their research and pay for the car. What many customers needs to do is to spend time researching on how to ship which is even pretty easy . The point is majority of nigerians simple don't like taking responsibility for their actions and are always looking for someone to take that risk for them .

onatisi:
best move . I still don't see any tangible rationale is pre ordering a car when u can get it in nigeria or cotonu at almost the same price !!!! Anyone wanting to do auto business should be able to buy the car ,ship it down to nigeria and resell. If the dealer likes he may even do it at 100% cash on delivery basis with added cost . All such dealers need to do is verify the financial capability of such customers to pay when the car arrives .

Fhemmmy:
And how would a dealer determine that or what before the ride arrive in Nigeria, the customer had gone to buy another, what happened o the vehicle and the dealer's money tied down.... please, no insult.... justba question.

Eyop:
Verifying the financial capability of any customer before the dealer commits isn't safe because it takes up to 31days or more to complete a pre-order transaction. If the dealer engages based on your point of verification,what happens when the car lands and the customer is no longer in a better position financially to complete the transaction? The best is making use of an ESCROW service so that both parties are sure that they are safe.

caesaraba:
That's why even though we fought inspiredm vigorously on the saga with revulution, I couldn't stop asking why she didn't buy a car herself and send it home since she is based abroad. Hopefully one of these people will summon up the courage and place an order themselves, ship it Ro/Ro or containerized and then get it here on 9ja soil then create a thread to show others how it's done. I would have done that but sadly I don't feel the burning need to tell people, "This car was pre-ordered from America." So Cotonou and Berger works just fine for me. All one needs to buy and replace is the 'Indomie' which Cotonou dealers usally remove from the car exhausts and that's just 12K. We never ripe for something, make we no force am.

caesaraba:
That's why even though we fought inspiredm vigorously on the saga with revulution, I couldn't stop asking why she didn't buy a car herself and send it home since she is based abroad. Hopefully one of these people will summon up the courage and place an order themselves, ship it Ro/Ro or containerized and then get it here on 9ja soil then create a thread to show others how it's done. I would have done that but sadly I don't feel the burning need to tell people, "This car was pre-ordered from America." So Cotonou and Berger works just fine for me. All one needs to buy and replace is the 'Indomie' which Cotonou dealers usally remove from the car exhausts and that's just 12K. We never ripe for something, make we no force am.

onatisi:
good question ,that is where an escrow service comes into the scene . 3 or 4 solid reputable pre order dealers here can float an auto escrow service which will cater for that need . The customer pays the money into the escrow account ,and the dealer ships the car, the car is inspected by the customer,dealer and escrow rep . Once there is no problem ,the dealer gets his money ,and the client gets his car. Ppl won't even mind to pay extra for such services once it eliminates the issue of scams and fraud .

caesaraba:
Sound point Eyop. Alibabab and Aliexpress use escrow and you won't see unresolved complaints on the NL import thread.

Eyop:
The best is making use of an ESCROW service so that both parties are sure that they are safe.

Fhemmmy:
That is the buzz word, what I define as a problem is not what you would.... I order for a car from dealer A and I later see you onatisi, a good buddy of mine, who turn out to be a dealer... after discussion and would love to patronize you or you just came back from USA with a machine that is even more bad than what I had ordered from dealer A... you would be in town for as long as my ordered car will take to land and me ns you cruising the machine around town.... in my mind I am already loving your car and decided will buy it....
You are a Nigerian and human as well as me, finish the rest and again remember "Problem " is subjective.

Talking of fraud and all the stuff happening, really sad that someone will wake up in the morning and scheming how to take someone else's money but most of the time buyers allows themselves to fall into the mess... if you are smart enough to be online, do your due diligence before you part with your money....

Fhemmmy:
That is the buzz word, what I define as a problem is not what you would.... I order for a car from dealer A and I later see you onatisi, a good buddy of mine, who turn out to be a dealer... after discussion and would love to patronize you or you just came back from USA with a machine that is even more bad than what I had ordered from dealer A... you would be in town for as long as my ordered car will take to land and me ns you cruising the machine around town.... in my mind I am already loving your car and decided will buy it....
You are a Nigerian and human as well as me, finish the rest and again remember "Problem " is subjective.

Talking of fraud and all the stuff happening, really sad that someone will wake up in the morning and scheming how to take someone else's money but most of the time buyers allows themselves to fall into the mess... if you are smart enough to be online, do your due diligence before you part with your money....

Eyop:
Once both parties commits to Escrow service,there won't be a problem except the dealer defaults,then the deposited funds will be returned back to the buyer. Escrow isn't done verbally but a lot of paper work is involved. Even when buying properties worth millions of dollars,Escrow is also used to execute such transactions. So i see no problem making use of an Escrow.

onatisi:
good observation once again.it is true we can never overlook the nigerian factor in this regard ,but u still haven't got my point still. I have actually protected the customer as well as the dealer in my approach . I will simplify the procedure . I onatisi sees a car u are advertising ,let's assume the car is an avalon 2013 model , I like the car and enters an agreement with u . You must provide all details about the car ,vin and all other details about . It will be included in the contract between me and you. You can't change the car once I have paid for it . Once I pay into the so called escrow account ,you are bound to deliver that particular car within an agreed time frame .once the car arrives ,it will be delivered to the escrow office where inspection will take place to verify that all details are correct . Once this is complete ,the customer can't say he wants his money back because you have fulfilled yours .

onatisi:
good observation once again.it is true we can never overlook the nigerian factor in this regard ,but u still haven't got my point still. I have actually protected the customer as well as the dealer in my approach . I will simplify the procedure . I onatisi sees a car u are advertising ,let's assume the car is an avalon 2013 model , I like the car and enters an agreement with u . You must provide all details about the car ,vin and all other details about . It will be included in the contract between me and you. You can't change the car once I have paid for it . Once I pay into the so called escrow account ,you are bound to deliver that particular car within an agreed time frame .once the car arrives ,it will be delivered to the escrow office where inspection will take place to verify that all details are correct . Once this is complete ,the customer can't say he wants his money back because you have fulfilled yours .

Fhemmmy:

Read my scenario better and tell me how you define problem, you are the buyer and if you want to see a problem, you will surely see one all because you now intentionally wanna back out of the deal.... I could give you loads of instances of where escrow was used and buyers fumbled... mind you, please note... I am so against fraud but when we dealing with our people, care must be taken.

If you take close look at all the cases on Nairaland, it has been greed which could be from the dealer as well as the buyer....

Eyop:
I understood your post. Except for a Nigerian factor [/b]or may be the Escrow service that was used wasn't a good one, I see nothing wrong with Escrow

Fhemmmy:
You see most of the nonsense because most buyers of stuff on alibaba knows the price of what they want... let's call a spade a spade nd don't compare buying 100$ items to 5m Naira ride....

Fhemmmy:

Are you aware some company won't even do escrow to Nigeria, some company will only do delivery as far as their own border because they know once good enter in Nigeria it is "on your own" that Nigerian factor is the problem and till we All deal with it nothing can change.

kakakibuy:
You couldn't have said it better. This in my opinion is the future of Pre-order. I am working on this and I hope in the very near future, I'll be able to provide this service for my clients.

Fhemmmy:
I must admit that I am loving your analysis.... but here is what I want you to see, I fhemmmy entered already into a deal with dealer A and will take 4 weeks to deliver and ontisi is in town with a badder machine that I fhemmmy wanna buy.... as a Nigerian that I am and too much sense, I will sure look for everything in the book to back out of the deal upon inspection nd if God wanna bread my butter, there is a scratch onbthe car during clearing in Lagos or the bad boys stole the keys and dealer A has to make another keys in Nigeria for the car or something.... I will find a fault that I might have not found if onatisi ride was not an option for me....

caesaraba:
The process of making an import is pretty straight forward innit? 100$ or 5M naira. If I wanted to buy a car from a US dealership, wouldn't the price be stated on the website? I'd say oga Fhemmy, I saw this GMC truck for 5M naira. I'll pay and and u do the shipping for me. Now what your fee? Then we'll settle. All this stuff of paying 30% which later increases to 120% is what causes the issues we have. I'd be glad to pay 100% to a dealer who has a verifiable biz point on the ground in Nigeria, sign a contract and then go to about my normal business knowing that I've got a ride coming. ...and that is exactly what most importers in Apapa would collect. Why? They have a solid structure on ground which they wouldn't pack up run away from due to my 5M deal. Not a case of some dealer who has auto shops in the 'air' asking people to pay 10% to get a car of 5M delivered. NL Pre-order Auto dealers really have to think up how to create an ESCROW service fast in-order to unlock the mind-blowing potentials of this pre-order thingy. Shey u get my point? Cos 98% of the folks already have 100% of the cash before they place an order for a car and would gladly pay a trusted 3rd party the full sum while waiting for their delivery. It's not rocket science. SEUN for don use an make money sef by just setting up the service and charging 3% holding fee.

kakakibuy:
You couldn't have said it better. This in my opinion is the future of Pre-order. I am working on this and I hope in the very near future, I'll be able to provide this service for my clients.

onatisi:
once again this is a wonderful observation . Yes ,like I said earlier the nigerian factor can't be overlooked . The basis for refund and deal cancelation will only be on basis on the machine failing mechanical test . Like false mileage ,false vin or even color etc. But if the car passes all basic mechanical functions test and the only defect are cosmetic ,the client will have to wait till the dealer sells the car before collecting his money back . Therefore it is the responsibility of the buyer to demand every single detail of the car and the responsibility of the seller to provide honest answers .this is because all correspondence between both the shipper and the client will be documented for record purposes.

Fhemmmy:

That part makes a lot of sense.... in fact, I would rather sign a document that says the buyer would look for a buyer, because I can't handle such stress of buyer calling daily to know if the ride is sold.

onatisi:
there is nothing special about the nigeria situation that can't be addressed but the first thing is the coming together of 5 or 6 reputable solid dealers . And believe me bank will support this idea. You won't even need to use ur own money because the banks know that the money u are borrowing has already been paid !!! It is a win win for the dealer . You are part of a company that handles 100% cash on delivery ,but the client first pays. The banks won't mind extending loan facilities to dealers under this umbrella ,after 2 months the whole deal is through and the bank get its money,the dealer gets his and the client gets his car.

calculusx:
[size=14pt] Its an apparent lack of decency, that makes a man to enter into the city with a rural attire. It is sad for people like kingsautos who know next to nothing in Auto Business to once again rubbished the pre-order trend.

I read some comment here and all I can say is some things are easier said than done. Some Nigerians order for cars from The US at the comfort of their home and everything went fine while some are too ashamed to tell their story online. United State is so big that its IMPOSSIBLE to buy Cars anywhere except you wish to buy sight unseen.

Aside that, Haulage from the point of purchase to sea-port in some states cost $1,000 and above. Many Nigerians have run to me for help forgetting basic logistic issues to put into consideration before making purchases in The US. That said, I pity dealers who rely solely on pre-order deals because the complaint is too much of a many.

I'm not so much surprised abt what is happening on NL. Escrow or no Escrow, Nigerians are too smart. We all know the extent some Nigerians can go just to back out of a deal with unnecessary complaints. Besides, Who pay for the Escrow Service?

To someone that suggested buying through Family, Uncle, Cousin, Friends who you believe is living comfortable in the US may not have $500 in his checking account and you entrust him with $10,000, my brother, who will you report to? Nairaland? lol... I have seen this happened to a friend who was fortunate to secure a US Visa after some months and he visited his Uncle, that story isn't for Today.

The basic and simple thing every buyer should do is due diligence before engaging any dealer in pre-order deals. Let us not also forget GREED play a major role why people get scammed. How can you expect to buy a 2007 Model Toyota Camry at landing cost of #1.6m considering the present exchange rate? Do people think we make so much profit? Buyers can always get a fair deal but not too good to be true deal. My once cent of advice
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Weigher:
you are not clean yet except you answer my question. You said in your previous thread that you have pre-order from fhemmymotors, kaakibuy,auctionexport and you listed as genuine, how true you have really done business with them? Clarify

Eyop:
Compliments of the day Chief. It's rather unfortunate that so many con artist claiming to be car dealers are messing things up for credible dealers on this forum. To me, Pre-order from the USA or Europe still happens to be the very best way of buying a car when compared to going the Cotonou route except one wouldn't be patient to wait for the duration it would take for the car to arrive here in Nigeria.

For those that don't have the means of doing the transaction on their own i.e searching for the car online via several websites and effecting payment through a trusted source in the USA to enable the shipper carry on with his or her own task,they can contract the services of a credible dealer by doing due diligence prior to engaging. In business,there are risk but one should endeavour to make it minimal because life itself is full of risk. Some of the imported goods were paid for 100% before the company shipped.

Of course it is not 100% guaranteed that even family members won't disappoint and if such happens,you won't expect such an individual to come to Nairaland to complain but to resolve such outside this forum.

On the issue of Escrow,once a car dealer starts and everything goes on well,the news will travel and others would implement that in their various business and as for the Escrow charges,that would be factored into the transaction by the dealer and i see no reason why the buyer wouldn't accept such because security of his or her funds should be of priority for such individual.

The way i see pre-order,others may not see it that way. Some people may not be comfortable with 100% payment for reasons best known to them but my own style of pre-order is different.

Greed like you mentioned is another factor here because some people just love awoof and at the end,they get scammed because how do you explain buying a 2007 Corolla for #1.2million? May God help us.