₦airaland Forum

Buhari1:
Try these guys. They are experts in Mercedes vehicles and a lot cheaper than Mercedes Abuja etc and have more experience. They fixed my 2009 GL 450 which defied all attempts by several so called Mercedes service centres. The main guy there is UK trained and has a workshop there since 1999. He is also a Mercedes trained technician with over 20 years experience. They will surely fix your car.

This is their number.
Donbrite Autocare 081 62907680 or 081 22711058.

I have tried these people at donbrite and the are very excellent in their job. their boss was very precise withe his diagnosis and analysis of my car problems and it has now been resolved and my car that was giving me a serious headache now drives perfectly. They are very very good.

NAMESABI:
It's is a standard workshop with full diagnosis. Give them a try. @9free.

Aside from assisting me to buy my Lexus Rx350, these guy at Donbrite really know everything about cars. They have all the diagnostics computers and equipments to repair anything wrong on a car. The boss, (Engineer Donald) is UK trained and very professional in his attention to details. He will advice you on any issue and give you all the options available to suit your pocket. (especially necessary in these hard times) and their charges are very reasonable. As a matter of fact, you will get value for your money in your car repairs. They also performed a full service on my car and it drives so well. I have finally stopped jumping from one mechanic to another.

kaeforum:
@ smile berry

Sorry for your loss, as you have discovered, your best bet when buying a used guy is to go with an experienced mechanic who will inspect the car for you.

Dont go with your own mechanic, look for a reputable mechanic who has no vested interests, it only costs a token ; you will be glad you did.

Thanks @ kaeforum.

Thats why i have now employed the services of the cardoctor himself and im quite impressed with his attention to details. He would point out some things that you may never believe was wrong.

I met with Cardoctor (Engineer Donald) today. he has a big auto mech workshop here in abuja and they repair mainly modern cars. He turned out to be a very meticulous person and has a lot of knowledge about everything concerning cars. A university graduate from the UK and has been working on cars for close to 30 years (as he said). Thats almost my own age. Anyway, we went to check on a few Toyota Camry cars that I have sourced from OLX and jiji including one which i saw along Kubwa express way.

The first one was 2012 Camry in Gwarimpa. Despite the lovely appearance of the car in the pictures, it had been involved in a front accident and repaired. (the seller told me that it has never been in an accident before but Cardoctor was quick to shut him up and showed him all the areas that the car had been bashed including the passenger rear door which was out of alignment. The windscreen too has been recently changed and gum all around it. Paintwork was also new but badly sprayed with drips everywhere but it will take someone like Cardoctor to point them out. Airbag light, VSC and injector light was on too. We had to abandon that one.

Second was the one on Kubwa express way (i almost thought that i have found my new love when i saw it). 2013 but had also been in an accident and the Cardoctor himsel had noticed it even before we got to the car. Afew items were hanging loose in the engine and you can see where some plastics had been repaired. Everything else seems to work fine and cloth interior is so clean. though we didnt drive it but the price was just too high for me.

Cardoctor charges per car which i think his charges are reasonable considering what one might save in future repairs as well as avoiding my previous nightmares. I will be viewing another one tomorrow with him.

Thank God almighty for a section like this. My previous car was a Toyota Camry 2008 Xle 4 plugs. I fell in love with it the moment i saw it on line in July this year. Everybody say its a good car. The car was being sold in kaduna and i live in abuja. I took an office colleague of mine who seemed to know more about cars to kaduna to inspect and buy the car. Everything seemed okay. Paintwork was like new, leather interior was clean and still looked new, tyres were new, a/c chilling and engine was sweet. I did not hesitate to pay for the car after a little haggling. The sellers in kaduna seemed very honest and told me that that was the best car of its type that i will ever find. i obliged and made a full payment after diving a short distance. (There was fuel scarcity then in kaduna so they refused driving too far from their car selling place).

We got the car registered the following day and drove the car back to abuja with my colleague at the wheel. He told me the car was a good buy and i was happy.

My happiness started slowly coming to an abrupt end when driving home from work one day, i noticed that the sound of the exhaust was slowly growing louder.

The following morning, It struggled to start but after a few kicks it started with the noise from the exhaust now sounding like it had come off. I was so scared it will damage the engine and i immedeiately drove the car to my fathers mechanic. On reaching his workshop, he went underneath the car and saw that the exhaust has broken off where it was welded before. I was curious as why such a new tokunbo car would have a recently welded silenser. I left the car with him because i was already running late for work. He then called me about an hour and half later and told me that the catalyst has been removed from the car exhaust and welded back. I couldnt understand what he was talking about but to replace it eventually cost me N80k. When i called the seller and told him about the issue, he claimed he was not aware of it. I sent him a text that im going to sue him and get the police involved. Since then he has not been answering my calls.

To cut the long story short, i have spent over 300k on this car.
1. New ac compressor with condenser
2. catalysts and silencer
3. Wheel bearings
4. electrician

They also discovered that the car was involved in an accident and was repaired and painted. no wonder the car was looking new. Ac packed up dash board was creaking.
It was a 2007 model and they sold it to me as 2008. Also when i did a check it turned out that the car was LE not Xle and the leather seats were sown here and not factory fitted. Finally there was this irritating rattling noise from the back that nobody was able to detect and repair. I decided to get rid of it at a big loss for what i bought it for. I almost lost my mind because of this incident.

@ cardoctor;
Thanks for this thread.
Im thinking of buying another Camry. maybe a newer model like 2013 and i dont want to make the same mistake again. i Will definitely get in touch with since you do a PPI on any car i find.