₦airaland Forum

biggiyke:
Wednesday morning, I was in Badagry with the towing van by 8am. He charged me 45k!!! I was willing to pay anything to get my car out of Badagry. I suspected the watermermaids were on my case.
By now, I realized that the small village off the Badagry-Seme highway was actually a resting spot for cars that have been cleared and awaiting delivery to their owners. Right before me, different cars were arriving and leaving. No one get problem. Na only my own carry French-speaking witch cross border.
We managed to couple the alternator, borrowed battery from one of the waiting cars and started my baby again. Still not charging, and now, oil and water oozing out from the ruptured oil cooler. We took a risk and drove it up the ramp and into the flat bed of the towing truck. Im still amazed at how lucky I was, cos this operation could have resulted in a blown head gasket at best, or a knocked engine at worst. As soon as my baby was parked on the bed, we switched off the engine and secured her.
Oya na, oga Hiliary, wey d custom paper make I carry my wahala dey go? He called the driver with the papers, switched off!! We couldn't reach the driver from 10am till I left Badagry by 4pm.
I came back home again, without my car, 7 days after I bought her.
Words cant explain how I felt. All the initial excitement of buying a car had dissipated.
Well, the towing van had no choice but to sleep over at Badagry, of course we renegotiated the price to 55k.
Around 11pm, Hillary called me. Hillary, o gini kwa? Will you deny me sleep at night as well? He said the driver with the paper was back from Cotonou and with my permission, they can start coming down to Lagos that night.
I agreed and despite the towing driver expressing his discomfort with towing an unregistered vehicle by 12 midnight, they hit the road.
1am, sleep no gree come.
2am, I wake my wife, we begin pray.
3am, I wake my son, he join for prayer.
4am, I woke my cousin, he join
5am, I woke my mother-in-law, she join.
6am........


To be continued

iguita:
By that 6am, you for call me sef make I join you pray. That you baby deserves all the joint prayers she can get to hit the road. Glad all your efforts are not in vain. Biko, invite me come owanbe thanksgiving make we block the next road wey bruatai go pass.

biggiyke:
I paid Hiliary's Cotonou agent for the Cotonou clearing and also paid Hillary himself for the Nigerian clearing. He assured me that my car will be with me by Saturday morning. I just set my mind to Monday so that I wont develop high BP if he fails to deliver on Saturday. I arrived Lagos safely that Thursday night.
All of Friday, I just hold myself make I no call am. True to his words, he called me Friday night around 7pm that my car had been cleared and was on the way to his house in Badagry. I was so excited. He promised to deliver first thing Saturday morning.
On Saturday, I was up b4 6am. Let me digress a bit. You see, I had already sold my car to a friend, so I was sharing my wife's car with her. You know how it is with women. All my paroles were suspended . My neighbours have been asking what happened to my car. Some of them don dey gossip say e be like say things don red for me .
So u can understand why I was super excited. I was gonna show off my 2012 BMW X3 xdrive28i!!!! I called Hillary, said his driver was already on his way to my house. This was around 7am. I was in cloud9. Oh boy!!!!!
8am. No call, no car.
9am. No call, no car.
Nna meen.
I called Hiliary.....

To be continued.

Wen you guys did he show you is office at Seme.
Or at Cotonou.

biggiyke:
The govt of the Benin Republic, aka Cotonou, appreciates the importance and value of the auto importation business to their economy. Thus, they try to encourage importers, mostly Lebanese, to import cars to West Africa via Cotonou port. It will interest to know that this Cotonou auto market services not only Nigeria but other landlocked West African countries such as Mali, Burkinafaso etc.
One such way of encouraging the auto import business is to reduce the financial burden of the importer by transferring the duty payment to the customer.
Most of these Lebanese import hundreds of cars monthly. Imagine paying duty on each and every car and then the car sits for weeks or months waiting for a buyer. Rather, the importers do not pay duty. They simply move their vehicles from the ship to the market.
When finally any car is sold, the buyer will pay duty. This frees up capital for the importer.
In my case, I paid 500,000cfa (196,000naira at 1,000cfa/392naira exchange rate) for the Cotonou clearing.

I hope by these few points of mine, I have proven to you that I can also be educative. Thank you.

lazeal:
Thanks for the info on Cotonou clearing. What about the NCS clearing which allowed you take the car to Nigeria, how much did you pay for that? Thanks

biggiyke:
the Nigeria clearing varies based on the year, type and model of the car. for example, a 2010 Toyota highlander will cost more than a 2010 Toyota corolla to clear based on the size of the vehicles.
in my case, I paid 550k to clear my 2012 BMW X3.

JustGuy:
That's serious! And please how much did you spend in whole acquiring the car? Alternator inclusive. Thanks.

biggiyke:
well, i didnt intend to share that info, but since u asked, here is a breakdown of total cost.

actual cost of purchase; 14million cfa @N392/1000cfa = N5,488,000
cotonou clearing; 500,000cfa = N196,000
nigeria clearing; N550,000
agent fee: N30,000
total cost; N6,264,000

i wouldnt include the alternator (N80,000), oil cooler (N25,000), labour (N20,000) and towing (N60,000) as these are miscellaneous expenses.