GAZZUZZ:
engines and sludge.

There have been times when I inspected vehicles, they ran well and engines were smooth, no smoke, no rattles, but sadly the engines were filled with a lot of sludge.

What is sludge.

Engine with sludge


Engine without sludge





When the vehicle you are about to buy has fans wired directly, thermostat removed, and owner uses 20W50. The chances are that engine is sludge filled.

To verify open oil refill cover, and with a flashlight peep into the valve cover area. If it is dark and greasy you know what you are getting into, so factor it into long term cost.

If it is clean, lucky you.

You can also judge from the oil dipstick, vehicle owners that do not pay attention to oil changes always have very dark stained dipsticks.

GAZZUZZ:
Regional brands and Mechanics.

Opel vehicles are not very common in the south south, you might find only a handful in. The south-east

But enter Kano, abuja, jos bauchi Gombe

They are all over the place and are used commercially.

Do not buy a cheap mechanically sound car, only to find out you will Have to place order from a different state and wait a couple of days for parts as simple as brakepads, water pumps, struts, exhaust parts, starter motor alternator.....

It can be very frustrating. It is worse when there is only 1 mech in that town that fixes that model, his shakara might be plenty


Note: Not every one is technically and can hold spanner, There are some who prefer to watch while others fix.

Pure evil

ApolitiCal:


Please sir,
What can you say about a particular year model car being upgraded to another year model. Eg... 2007 camry upgraded to 2010 camry.??

GAZZUZZ:


its just upgraded accessories, engine transmission and other major parts still remain the same.

luxy44:
All you stated here is applicable to tokunbo cars too. There's a reason a naija used is cheaper than tokunbo.

Personally when I'm buying a naija used car, I checked d prices of the failed parts in the market, compare the expenses with the price of tokunbo of the same car.(add miscellaneous and still retain the tokunbo-naija used price margin). Having it in mind that even when buying a tokunbo car, you still have to fix one or two things!

I prefer a car with a clean first body to a car with a good engine but "bad" body!

GAZZUZZ:
Regional brands and Mechanics.

Opel vehicles are not very common in the south south, you might find only a handful in. The south-east

But enter Kano, abuja, jos bauchi Gombe

They are all over the place and are used commercially.

Do not buy a cheap mechanically sound car, only to find out you will Have to place order from a different state and wait a couple of days for parts as simple as brakepads, water pumps, struts, exhaust parts, starter motor alternator.....

It can be very frustrating. It is worse when there is only 1 mech in that town that fixes that model, his shakara might be plenty


Note: Not every one is technically and can hold spanner, There are some who prefer to watch while others fix.

Pure evil

obekediamondfuto:


I am so glad that u guys r beginning to see things my way. a lot of times i have complained about some brands.... responses I will get will be ..... buy original part and the sort, as if people love fake parts. problem is proximity and availability of both parts and technical know how......

FreshMekanik:
Learning. Oga Gazzuzz God will continue to bless you.

FreshMekanik amen, we thank you

NgcoboP:

Are you condemning 95-99 civics? Luvinhubby must here this

GAZZUZZ:
The best buys are from users and Not Cardealers.


Cardealers are wired to say Vehicle is in perfect condition Even if a problem is glaring. Sadly Most Car dealers Have very little defect history of the Cars they advertise.

GAZZUZZ:
Automatic Transmissions and transaxles.

When I am really interested in buying a car, I always go along with a little money to buy petrol.

The resason is simple, you get to drive with a sense of entilement, and no complaints from seller.

Transmission colour should be bright pink when new, and turns brown when old. When it becomes black you are on a border line, a drain and refill might work, or might cause issues. Some transmissions are sensitive to very dirty oil e.g camry 2007-2010 V6/I4, they are also expensive replacements.

Some other transmissions are not sensitive and replacement cost is cheaper than a smart phone E.g kia rio 2006-2011 (25-35k toks)

Now short drive tests might reveal nothing in a defective gearbox, but hard driving on long stretches of roads 10-20km might reveal a slipping or jerking transmission, especially for transmissions that behave well when cold, you should test all drive patterns (Hard, slow, stop and go.) with that you should be able to tell if you have a good transmission.

Also learnt to count gears. If a Gearbox is 5speed, and it is not CVT, you should be able to feel 5 shifts and notice RMP changes as gears shift.

Ensure you have a small scanning device that can scan transmission.

Also ask educated questions about oil transmission oil changes, it will be sad if a car drives fine and oil is bright pink only for it to fail after 3 months of use because abro atf was poured into a 2008 toyota camry transmission.


Same with transaxles, when test driving wind up, turn off the music and ac and listen to any abnormal sounds.

GAZZUZZ:
Please stop derailing thread with requests

Imarnuel04:
I always suspicious when I see seekers posting car was "used by a banker". How does that add value to the car?

fabulous925:
I need a 2010/2011 gwagon a Nigeria used clean and neat needed urgently

GAZZUZZ:
this thread will I dedicated to helping potential car buyers on what to look out for and decesions to make before paying for a nigerian used car.

frugal:

The only thing I want to know is when is the best period to get good deals? November/December or January/February?

GAZZUZZ:

GAZZUZZ:


www.nairaland.com/attachments/5498553_image_jpeg9f360c5ab7736510df54c882e9dbf188

frugal:

The only thing I want to know is when is the best period to get good deals? November/December or January/February?

GAZZUZZ:


www.nairaland.com/attachments/5498553_image_jpeg9f360c5ab7736510df54c882e9dbf188