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Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou - Car Talk (3) - Nairaland

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Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Demrich(m): 3:44pm On Aug 20, 2016
oluwashedy:
Ogbeni cuz of VIN na him u quote the entire post
i tired oooo

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by OlujobaSamuel: 3:54pm On Aug 20, 2016
Mcslize:


Bro clarify me. Does it mean if a car is purchased here in Nigeria one won't need to pau custom clearance fee?
you still need to, you know most cars passing through coutonou are smuggled after purchase by those that help bring it into the country, so most times, there is no customs clearance, while using it, if discovered by customs that you don't have clearance, they will seized it.

2 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by OlujobaSamuel: 3:55pm On Aug 20, 2016
musicwriter:


Of course, the car could be seized, if your Dad's friend didn't get papers to shown it was clreared from a Nigeria port.
I know, was responding to the guy that said after driving for a while in NIGERIA, they can't seized it again.

2 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by AutoJoshNG: 3:59pm On Aug 20, 2016
soletar:
hi AutoJosh,

I really appreciate your educative posts here. please how much would a Toyota Camry 2010, preferably black with leather seats cost? the full costs? Can you assist in this regard? THANKS

Between 3m and 3.5m. You can contact me anytime so we can go through the various options and processes together.
Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by AutoJoshNG: 4:09pm On Aug 20, 2016
Gentlepapi:

PLEASE WHICH SITE DID YOU USE TO RUN YOUR VIN CHECK AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

AutoCheck. You can send the VIN to me.

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Incrizz(f): 4:17pm On Aug 20, 2016
bravolad:
Spot on @OP especially point 1 of the advantages. The dealers are not desperate to sale. They just tell u their price and walk away, no coarsing, preaching or overzealous nature of the Nigerian sellers.

However, they are usually dishonest about the state of the cars. Hence, it''s absolutely imperative to run a vehicle history report (VHR ) prior to making payment for any car.

Paying for Nigeria Custom Duty is a simple process but the NCS in conivance with agents have made it to appear a difficult process in order to extort buyers.

Once buyers can get valuation and walk into any bank and make payment themselves, the myth and difficulties associated with duty payment would have been debunked.
Champion the cause man. No one else can do this but you grin Visit the Comptroller with your proposal. Let him understand that the credit goes to him and Buhari if successfully implemented.

3 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by AutoJoshNG: 4:18pm On Aug 20, 2016
greggng:



You talked about vin check any free software for checking it? Can you pls educate me on how and were to check car vin online. Meanwhile my nebor can bring in any car, minor accident and non accident. Any one interested should contact me let's talk business

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Cuteboi98(m): 4:20pm On Aug 20, 2016
lonelydora:
How I wish I can just close my eyes and open it, and that Accord in the pix is in my compound. grin

Indeed.. U have a dream!

3 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Jobabori(m): 4:26pm On Aug 20, 2016
AutoJoshNG:


Between 3m and 3.5m. You can contact me anytime so we can go through the various options and processes together.
New one or tokunbo or are you just scaring us?

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by moluwaseun: 4:26pm On Aug 20, 2016
@autojoshng Can you kindly assist with price for Toyota Highlander 2004 and 2005 the one with third row, From Cotonou ( Total price) thanks
Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Godwin616: 4:27pm On Aug 20, 2016
project8:
can someone explain to me disadvantage of reducing car mileage? does high mileage affect perfomance of s car? and is there any maximum mileage for a car to influence d car performance?
Yes, the higher the mileage the weaker the engine. Is like having an options to buy a car that has just covered 500km and another that has covered 5000km. Effectively, your cost of maintenance will be higher on the latter. That means you need to further negotiate the cost down or else you will be cheated. The dealers reduce the mileage to deceive prospective buyers in order to give the impression that the car is still relatively new.

4 Likes 1 Share

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Nobody: 4:38pm On Aug 20, 2016
Sorry to ask guys, who keeps records of a car's mileage.? Is there some component in the car that records the distance it has covered in it's lifetime? And how is it possible that you can access that information on the internet?

2 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by DAVE5(m): 5:13pm On Aug 20, 2016
lonelydora:
How I wish I can just close my eyes and open it, and that Accord in the pix is in my compound. grin


Did ur eyes not see d Lexus that my own eyes saw.... If given dat lex I'd spit on dat accord... Lol

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Nobody: 5:18pm On Aug 20, 2016
Save yourself the stress and heartaches of fairly used, abandoned, tokunbo cars. Cars that have been used and dumped by the owners. Buy good brand new Nigerian made top class cars from naijas own, INNOSON MOTORS. No importation palavas. Just pay, and go

2 Likes 1 Share

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Nobody: 5:19pm On Aug 20, 2016
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Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by saintjoel(m): 5:20pm On Aug 20, 2016
bravolad:
Spot on @OP especially point 1 of the advantages. The dealers are not desperate to sale. They just tell u their price and walk away, no coarsing, preaching or overzealous nature of the Nigerian sellers.

However, they are usually dishonest about the state of the cars. Hence, it''s absolutely imperative to run a vehicle history report (VHR ) prior to making payment for any car.

Paying for Nigeria Custom Duty is a simple process but the NCS in conivance with agents have made it to appear a difficult process in order to extort buyers.

Once buyers can get valuation and walk into any bank and make payment themselves, the myth and difficulties associated with duty payment would have been debunked.

No one disturbs you from going into the valuation units tp obtain values for vehicles you've bought into the country cos to people like you who've always been against what we do as agentsit seems you all believe that we make millions from what we do.

Right now,agents are on strike at seme border and it has gone on for two weeks because of the high handedness of customs, which importer will leave their homes or offices to straighten things out with customs,rather all of you would've started paying huge amounts of money,all in the name of paying duty. When agents moved the motion of deducting four years from the actual year of declaration,you didn't see that but you'll rather come to nairaland to rant.

The reason why customs still allow agents is just because of accountability,in Nigeria of today where there are even fake alerts, customs believe it's better when the only have a handful of agencies dealing directly with them rather than anyone just walking into the bank to make payments. Most times when your vehicles leave the port or border and there are alerts on the jobs, it is this agency that cover up for you to prevent customs from walking into your compound to impound your car. If you feel agents are making money, you can go to Abuja and book an appointment with the C. G and register an agency of you can afford it. Even the valuations units that you're talking about, it's agents that work there and without them, customs will cut your neck before you can import /export but for their effective monitoring.

There's no dispute about it, there are bad eggs in every organisation and soon this bad eggs will be weeded out, since customs now enforce the "one agency, one DTI" rule,no if any agent uses your agency for false declarations,your agency and DTI will be locked up and it has created ways for effective monitoring. If you feel it's all about obtaining a value and just walking into a bank, you're on a long thing, we're all trained in our different jobs, I can't just stand up one day and resume work in your office without been trained, likewise you can't also stroll into an agency and you start work.
Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Nobody: 5:20pm On Aug 20, 2016
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Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by saintjoel(m): 5:36pm On Aug 20, 2016
DISADVANTAGES

1) Difficulty to run a VIN check: This will not be an issue if you have internet data on your phone. However, it is a major issue for so many people who make payment for cars without having information about its flooded history or rolled back mileage. I inspected some cars in Cotonou 3 weeks ago and only realized that the one we liked the most had its mileage reduced from 258,000 miles to 125,000 miles. Thank God we went back to Seme border to get network to run the VIN checks.

[
[/quote]


Thanks so much for trying to shed more light on what we do in Cotonou and at the border.

Let me also start by taking your points one and after another.

You can now run VIN checks inside COTONOU, the reason why many importers can't run VIN checks as at no way is just because they cant afford it.

I've always be in contact with the owner of autocheck.com but to my dismay,anytime I tell importers that it'll cost almost 3-5,000 naira to run checks on a car,they just scram.

So to solve this issue, if a buyer as shown serious intent to buy, all i do is go into the parks with my mechanic to run physical checks on cars. Then I copy the vins and send all of them to nairaland, the auction export thread and after they've run the checks for free, I advice my clients based on what the report says.

What we basically look out for is rolled back odometer,flooding,impacts etc.

We also have sim cards that prospective buyers can also use inside COTONOU for internet connection and also there are hotels with wifi too.

A sample is shown below for a 2009/2010 corolla with leather seats, 14,000 mileage.

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by odimbannamdi(m): 5:39pm On Aug 20, 2016
project8:
can someone explain to me disadvantage of reducing car mileage? does high mileage affect perfomance of s car? and is there any maximum mileage for a car to influence d car performance?

Am interested in this question

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by saintjoel(m): 5:50pm On Aug 20, 2016
AutoJoshNG:


2) Relatively high import duty for cheaper cars: There is a myth that all cars from Cotonou are cheaper than cars which are cleared via Lagos ports. This is actually false especially in the case of cars that are relatively old. e.g a 2003 Toyota Camry is usually cheaper if imported through Apapa sea ports as against routing it through Cotonou because you would pay double duty to two separate Governments in the latter.


YES, duty for underage cars is now on the high side because of the new policy and exchange rate but for cars from 2005 -2016,you can purchase through Cotonou and also ship vehicles from 2010 too.

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Nayok(m): 5:53pm On Aug 20, 2016
lonelydora:
How I wish I can just close my eyes and open it, and that Accord in the pix is in my compound. grin



Very simple, , do you remember Oyenusi or Mufu Oloosa oko? Those guys can be of help especially Oyenusi, am very sure of their jazz.

Just gat to b contact them in he'll first.







Check my signature and thanks me later *football fans*
Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by saintjoel(m): 6:06pm On Aug 20, 2016
AutoJoshNG:


3) Nigeria Customs’ palava: Customs’ issue is the king of all the challenges you can face when bringing your car into Nigeria from Cotonou. The issues ranges from vehicle seizure to exploitation. I do not hope for my enemy to experience this as those Custom guys are not smiling no matter who you are or who you know. They even seize vehicles that belong to their fellow custom officials as well as that of top military officials. The simplest way to save your car from being seized is by using a reliable and trustworthy agent and ensuring your car is taken into the Nigerian Customs’ compound at the border for proper duty assessment and payment.

4) Restricted movement: Most Nigerians who successfully bring in cars with compromised import duty from Cotonou usually count their gains at the time of purchase. However, this excitement fades away quickly as they begin to watch over their shoulders especially when travelling interstate. Some even travel without their cars due to fear of custom officials.

Oga Josh, "ko si ibi ti won ti n ko Adie ale",there's nowhere in earth that people dont pack chickens at night. Just pay a visit to Federal operations unit in Ikeja and to your surprise, you'll discover that even vehicles and containers coming in through TINCAN/apapa are been seized daily too.

Also,there's no place that agents dont pay compromised duty but the main thing is paying at least the lowest value of whats charged by F. G.

The reason why must vehicles are been seized now is just because of greed. An importer decides to bring in a vehicle through the port/border and agent A charges N480,000 but he now decides to give agent B for N350,000 without asking what and what will be involved.

Agents are also human and they have mouths to feed, if I charge you N480,000 and you tell me that another agents decides to pay N350,000,will it pay me if I loose the job?

Just last week, I charged a lady N480,000 for an 08 Camry but she gave another agent for N300,000 and because the car got to Abuja without hassles, she thought it was the end of the story. It's the same lady that will later turn back to blame agents when the car is impounded for underpayment.This and many more are cases we agents face daily.

The main thing isn't to be "Penny wise but pound foolish",if you've a sincere agent and he has charged your with clear explanations, please pay.

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by saintjoel(m): 6:27pm On Aug 20, 2016
AutoJoshNG:


5) Possible damage when vehicle is in transit: A typical example of penny wise is when you save some bucks by bringing your car in from Cotonou but the cost of damage sustained to your car is commensurate to or higher than the anticipated savings. Some car crossing agents who smuggle cars without the owner’s consent still had a shootout with custom officials a few weeks back.

My verdict is for you to only bring in your car from Cotonou if you have a trusted hand who will not smuggle/fly your car and ensure full import duty is paid after proper assessment at the custom’s office.

Let use this to sum up whole Issh. I wonder why people will spend millions to purchase a vehicle and later drop them for people that claim to be agents all in the name of cutting cost.

An example is shown below,a car was bought for N2m and the buyer handed over to a so called agent that promised to do the duty for N300,000. As at now, the agent has refused to pick the buyers call and even the buyer doesn't know the fate of his car.

People like this will later come out to the whole world that they gave the job to another agent and people wont bother to ask for details, how can you give a job to an agent that you don't even know his/her office,just because you want to cut cost.

If you want to buy from Cotonou, always check the agents history before doing business with him/her,many people parading themselves as agents aren't agents.

2 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by adisarasaq(m): 6:34pm On Aug 20, 2016
musicwriter:
The current economic situation have damaged the Naira, so cars are actually cheaper in Nigeria now.

On paying duties and not paying duties, the only time to worry about undutied car is when its on the way crossing to Nigeria. Once the car arrives Nigeria nobody knows where the car come from. I'm sure 50% or more of cars in Nigeria come from Cotonou. Some year ago, I bought a car from Cotonou and few days in Lagos police stopped me and found some Cotonou clarance papers still inside. I was so foolish not to have removed them. But, all I did was settle.

you settle because police doesn't have business with where your car comes from as far as it's not stolen, I only pray you don't get arrested by the Nigerian customs

4 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by saintjoel(m): 6:35pm On Aug 20, 2016
musicwriter:
The current economic situation have damaged the Naira, so cars are actually cheaper in Nigeria now.

On paying duties and not paying duties, the only time to worry about undutied car is when its on the way crossing to Nigeria. Once the car arrives Nigeria nobody knows where the car come from. I'm sure 50% or more of cars in Nigeria come from Cotonou. Some year ago, I bought a car from Cotonou and few days in Lagos police stopped me and found some Cotonou clarance papers still inside. I was so foolish not to have removed them. But, all I did was settle.

Let use an accident free 2009/010 corolla (,leather seats) for example.

Purchasing from Cotonou is as follows :-

Purchase cost + cotonou duty + Nigerian custom duty = Total purchase cost.

The car shown below has an asking price of 4.3m cefa.

Which means the following :-

3.8m cefa (purchase cost) + 500,000 cefa (Cotonou duty) + N480,000 (Nigerian custom duty*** using GHE new rate of N313 - 1,000 cefa****)


4.3m cefa * =N=640 = =N= 2,7500,000 ( total purchase cost in naira) plus N480,000 = N3,230,000

*** NOTE THAT THE ASKING PRICE MEANS THAT YOU CAN STILL BARGAIN FOR A LOWER PURCHASE PRICE AFTER INSPECTION, IT ALSO MEANS THAT THE CAR CAN STILL BE BOUGHT FOR N3m OR lower. Now tell me which Nigerian car dealer will sell a keyless grade one, accident free for that amount in Nigeria,after importing into the country at the rate of N380 - 1$ and paying duty at N313 - 1$.

Policemen don't have any right whatsoever to ask for your duty papers, if it's true that they searched your car and wanted to arrest you for having Cotonou papers in it, they just wanted to scam you and that's why I find it so hard to believe. I've been driving vehicles from Cotonou for years even without plates and as long as I show them my valid driver's license, they always leave me alone.

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Gentlepapi(m): 7:11pm On Aug 20, 2016
AutoJoshNG:


AutoCheck. You can send the VIN to me.




Thanks for the info. I just sent you a PM for your number
Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by Emeka71(m): 7:18pm On Aug 20, 2016
So somebody has to go through a lot of stress just to buy a car.

3 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by chibecan: 7:39pm On Aug 20, 2016
Gentlepapi:

PLEASE WHICH SITE DID YOU USE TO RUN YOUR VIN CHECK AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Whatsapp or call Chibuzo on 08096577304 for instant Autocheck Vehicle History Report

1 Like

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by elvis07: 7:54pm On Aug 20, 2016
Pls wat will be the cost of clearing a salvaged tittle 2010 range rover vogue if shipped to cotonou. Ur response will be greatly appreciated.
saintjoel:


Let use an accident free 2009/010 corolla (,leather seats) for example.

Purchasing from Cotonou is as follows :-

Purchase cost + cotonou duty + Nigerian custom duty = Total purchase cost.

The car shown below has an asking price of 4.3m cefa.

Which means the following :-

3.8m cefa (purchase cost) + 500,000 cefa (Cotonou duty) + N480,000 (Nigerian custom duty*** using GHE new rate of N313 - 1,000 cefa****)


4.3m cefa * =N=640 = =N= 2,7500,000 ( total purchase cost in naira) plus N480,000 = N3,230,000

*** NOTE THAT THE ASKING PRICE MEANS THAT YOU CAN STILL BARGAIN FOR A LOWER PURCHASE PRICE AFTER INSPECTION, IT ALSO MEANS THAT THE CAR CAN STILL BE BOUGHT FOR N3m OR lower. Now tell me which Nigerian car dealer will sell a keyless grade one, accident free for that amount in Nigeria,after importing into the country at the rate of N380 - 1$ and paying duty at N313 - 1$.

Policemen don't have any right whatsoever to ask for your duty papers, if it's true that they searched your car and wanted to arrest you for having Cotonou papers in it, they just wanted to scam you and that's why I find it so hard to believe. I've been driving vehicles from Cotonou for years even without plates and as long as I show them my valid driver's license, they always leave me alone.

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by omamokta: 7:57pm On Aug 20, 2016
Cotonu guys are very good in removing car indomie . Am a witness

2 Likes

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by pleasureosondu(m): 8:15pm On Aug 20, 2016
lonelydora:
How I wish I can just close my eyes and open it, and that Accord in the pix is in my compound. [b][/b[i][/igrin
pls close ur eyes. Its not too late

2 Likes 1 Share

Re: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying Your Car From Cotonou by AutoJoshNG: 9:11pm On Aug 20, 2016
Gentlepapi:


Thanks for the info. I just sent you a PM for your number

Hello GentlePapi,

I am unable to view the message you sent despite showing on my profile that I have a message from you. It may be easier to contact me via my webpage in the signature.

Regards.

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