I am an executive at Direct Belgium, a car importing service based in Texas, USA. We specialise in the bidding, purchase, trucking, and shipping of cars from the USA to Nigeria. I initially intended to start this thread in the autos section but decided otherwise, so as not to entertain trolls. You know them. The ones that'll come to your thread just to disrupt flow of current. No be say they wan talk anything important.

Anyway I'm gonna be posting my past and present experiences in this business, my ups and downs, funny and oh my God moments, anything that comes to mind. Also to help purchase cars for you, whether for Uber or personal use.

P.S.: Posts will not be chronological, so bear with me.

P.P.S: Hit me up on the Whatsapp number in my signature. Let's talk business!

I went to pay for the shipping of a car yesterday and I was billed additional $35. I got irritated and asked what it was for and they told me that it was a “rejected title”.

I’ve never heard of this before but I learned about it yesterday. We learn everyday �

To those wondering why they should invest in car importation: My father’s friend who got into the business back in 2016 started with 2M and by borrowing money to clear the first container in 2016. Last year he moved 16 containers worth at least 160M...

I was there with him in Lagos back in April 2018 when 2 of his 40 feet containers landed. At that time I had lost nothing less than 3M in car trade and he opened my eyes to some things I wish I knew when I started.

Also check this out and tell me if I'm being paranoid. Whenever I go to withdraw big $$$ from US banks, they make me provide various forms of ID, answer many questions, take my passport inside, call their fraud depart, ask me some more questions and lie to me that they don’t have enough cash.

I’m not sure if it’s coz I’m Nigerian

I needed to ship a container back in March 2018. All I just had to ask was one person “Bro I need people wey want ship cars come naija” and I got 5 dealers. Come on! Finding things to do is very easy! Don’t be lazy! Go out there and be resourceful. Also in this present Nigeria you can't afford to be doing one thing and hope to live a fulfilling life from it. Diversify! With a 2m investment you can make 35 to 40k per week on Uber/Taxify/Bolt. And the best part is you still have your initial investment (your car).

It took a 'trusted' friend to swindle me of N3.7m for me to wisen up to the fact that friendship and family shouldn't apply where business is involved. Abi that one no be yahoo?

Still on this Yahoo issue, a shipping company in US no longer accept cash deposits or online transfers because yahoo boys instructed clients to pay into their account and their account got closed. Over $200k line of credit was lost! We no dey try for this country at all. Because of a few unscrupulous elements Nigerians abroad have to deal with discrimination and disfavor. Sigh.

So two people have reached out to me since I started this thread yesterday. One of them wanted to know the best car to use for Uber. I answered him and I thought to share the answer here as well:

- the Hyundai Elantra comes to mind.
- Kia Rio
- the one I prefer the most, Toyota Corolla  (2005 and 2007 esp.)

 I love the Toyota brand ehn, but the Corolla 2007 and 2005 have to be my favorites where Uber is concerned. Especially the Sport! With N1.8 - 2.2m you can get this beauty and still make money on top am. Probably the most reliable car ever made.

2007 Toyota Corolla Sport

Mileage: 159k
Location: California USA
Estimated Price: 2.15M
Estimated Arrival: June 30, 2019

Let's bid on this car for you

I've gotten request to ship to Jamaica (3 times with one being a 2015 Jeep Wrangler), 1 to Ghana and inquiry to Senegal.

Not understanding how custom works in these countries is frustrating. I asked a couple of my Jamaican friends and they said Custom duty is quite expensive.

There's a live auction right now.
Everyone bidding on these cars are all licensed auto dealers. They will put about $500 in servicing this car and sell for $4500 at their dealership. Cool right?

When I give you an estimate, I dont care about adding ridiculous markup. I have fixed fees!

I quoted a client an estimate of 2.1M for this 2007 Toyota Corolla Sport

The car ended up selling for $2900 with a total landing cost of ₦2,164,000.00

It was just ₦64,000 above my estimate.

I tell people that these cars are not as cheap as they think. Unless it's accidented

Our goal is to helping clients get reliable cars from US at LOWEST COST POSSIBLE.


It might shock a lot of people to know that I make just $300 on some cars. $500 on most cars and $1000 on luxury cars.

There are certain cars I see on auction and I tell the customer to go ahead and buy them without waiting for auction day to bid.

You see these cars and with previous data history of similar car, you're sure the car will sell higher than the "Buy now" price. Don't waste time!

But some customers still want to get it "Cheaper" and on auction day, they regret not buying now.

Lots of people are seeing that same car. Most times, the car might not even make it to auction day as someone else might buy it. Some other idiots might place high bid on auction day just for the hell of it.

Charted the 2016 Toyota Camry and found that the last 100 Toyota Camrys sold at auctions at an average of $13,550.

This excludes fees, with the lowest being about $10200. Went to a diffierent auctioneer and I’m seeing some for $12500. That’s a whole $1k in savings

P.S. this is for non accidental 2016 Toyota Camry, AKA clean title. You can get the salvaged one at lower price. I can help you with this as well.

There are 4 cars here. All are 2016 Toyota Camry but the cheapest has a Total Landing Cost of 4.8M and most expensive has a Landing Cost of 7.4M. Why the difference in prices? Short guide on how cars make it to Nigeria. Leggo!

(A) 4.8M
(B) 5.9M
(C) 6.2M
(D) 7.4M

This is Car A.

A low mileage (23k miles) rear accidented 2016 Toyota Camry.

From this pic, you can see the impact is on the rear and that the accident didn't affect the hood or engine.

It's auctioning off at $5k with total landing cost of N4.8m.

Most times, dealers choose to buy this type of car or cars that have a side impact accident as they are SAFER THAN cars with FRONT ACCIDENT.

On arriving Nigeria, they fix this car with about 600k, making it a little above 5.3M and sell for 7M (avg price in Nigeria)...

This is Car B.

A FLOODED 2016 TOYOTA CAMRY selling at N5.9m. When you look at this car, it looks perfectly fine.

There are people who have made millions off of dumping these flooded cars in Nigeria at lower prices that beat that of dealers who buy clean cars.

Usually unsuspecting customers buy these cars at lower prices and happily drive home only to spend the next few years at mechanics wondering what's wrong with their cars.

I always advise people to run a VIN check mainly to make sure they are not buying flooded vehicles.

Here is C

2015 Toyota Camry LE with a minor side dent and selling for N6.2m.

For customers on a budget, I usually advise them to go for cars like this coz of two reasons:

(1)They don't have to worry so much about fixing it.
(2) The minor dent has caused the value to drop badly!

And this is Car D. A 2016 Toyota Camry in PERFECT Condition selling for N7.4m!

While you might think this is expensive, I'll like to let you know that this is about the cheapest price you can get a similar car without dent. In fact the average price at a U.S dealership for this car is ₦8,964,000.00

Next time you want to beat a dealer's price down because one Okorie in Cotonou is calling you to come and collect one for 700k, just know that this dealer might be selling your peace of mind. There's nothing wrong with A and C if you're on budget. Completely avoid B!

If you're on budget and you're not a dealer, ask for minor dent. The worst thing you can do as a buyer is buying a flooded car because of its cheap price and how clean it looks.

That water that has washed its dirts away has also damaged its electrical and mechanical systems, so go figure.

Did you know that during Christmas period there's almost always a surge on Uber and Taxify, EVERYDAY? IJGBs(I just got back) are back with flexing money, and who do they employ to drive them around? Certainly not Yellow cabs or okada. Uber drivers make so much money during this period that some even take a mini-leave afterwards, while still paying their weekly remittance to Oga.

Check this thread on Uber owners and riders to understand what I'm talking about.       https://www.nairaland.com/2653841/uber-partner-lagos-please-share  

Look at the numbers posted during that Christmas period and you'll be surprised. It's always funny when people treat Uber drivers like shite because of that entitlement mentality Nigerians have: "I'm paying you so I have the right to look down in you." Forgetting that these people might actually make more than they are. Somebody is taking home 40k profit a week to make a 160k monthly salary and you with your 100k contract job is feeling superior because you work in bank. Lol okay.

It takes about 6 weeks for cars to be purchased and shipped to Nigeria. Today is May the 3rd, so if you order your car now, by June ending you should be looking at it real life. If you start driving it on the Uber platform in July, I promise you'll have made at least a million naira by the end of this year. Bold prediction but believe me I've seen this first hand. No investment opportunity will give you such returns on investment in such a short time. So why leave your money to be 'chilling' in the bank when you can be making a lot more from it? Why, Tunde, why?

I took a $120 Lyft round trip to go pay for a car, only to get there and see the seller with another buyer. Idiot seller had the nerve to ask me to increase our agreed deal so he can sell to me. The other buyer did and bought the car.

I need to sue! Who’ll refund me the money I paid for Lyft And this is the second time this is happening. Both of them being long trips. Not fair at all.

I need to start going with dagger, so if this shit happens again I go chuk the person small

Anyways, Available For Sale!

Model : 2016 Mercedes Benz C300 4Matic In AMG Sport Package
Location :Lagos, Nigeria ��

Price : N13m

For More On This Vehicle Or Any Other Mercedes Benz, Please text me on the Whatsapp number in my signature.

Meanwhile this is the car that a client is telling me that he wants to buy for N2.5m, shipping and clearing included and pay on delivery.

I sincerely wanna know if these people just troll me or they really think they can get these things at such prices.

On today’s episode of ridiculous demands, a client wants to use 1.8M to buy a 2016 Ford Edge. Shouldn’t I just take the money, buy the engine and ship it to her? ☺️

Meanwhile another client just received the cheapest Lexus ES350 I ever sold. Everything, including painting cost him just N2.65m. This is why I advise people with budget to buy cars that don’t look too clean. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them on Tuesday.

It’s hard to get a very clean (no dent) car if you’re on a budget, so if you can let me advise, maybe you should get that 'scruffy' corolla for N1.7m. You'll thank me later.

Asking for a clean car when your budget is low, is almost impossible. Don’t justify it by telling me “it’s in the US, I thought it’ll be cheaper”

Yes it will be a lot cheaper but you have to buy it the way other dealers buy their cars. If you want a very clean car, then have a very clean no budget money.

Talk rich, spend rich.

This is one of the cars I have bought in the past. It comes with a very expensive story of how the auction company tricked me into buying a badly accidented car. Ever since then, I do a thorough search before buying a car for a client. If I get enough likes on this post I'll post the story tomorrow.

Want to know how expensive a Mercedes Benz is? The car i talked about earlier has 4 sensors (parktronic w/active parking assist) in the front.

I bought 4 of them for 200k. A sensor costs 50k.

The 4 of them were stolen in tincan wharf when the car got to Nigeria. The main story I promised earlier is still to come.

Do you know what it means when an auto dealer in Nigeria, who has been in the business for over 10 years and moves bullet proof luxury cars, messages you

Like this is a whole BIG BOY asking me to help him find a car from one secret private US dealer auction company!

Auto dealers in Naija know I’m not a threat to them. Initially this guy saw it that way, when I first told him abt our model, last year. But I told him to see the bigger picture, that the market is big enough and all I just want is to be partners to dealers.

Months later, he’s a prospect.

When I say being partners to dealers, I mean being their reliable US auto supplier. Lots of “dealers” in US are funny mahn. They’ll take your money and disappear. One even deleted his Twitter after he scammed me. Many auto dealers in naija know it’s hard to find a reliable contact.

That is simply what my brand Direct Belgium NG is building. A reliable brand to get cars directly from US auctions at lowest cost possible. Be it clean or salvage car or any car you want us to bid for you.

I’ve been burnt before. I understand the pain. I’m here to solve that.

Lots of cars are about to be auctioned off. Car traders are weird people. Perhaps we have to be the only people who cherish natural disasters. Of course I never really liked natural disasters until I started buying cars from auction. A good trading season is when there are huge influxes of cars in auction companies. So basically lots of accidents. What could lead to such? Natural disasters!

One of the best year for most car dealers in the past 10 years, was 2017! The hurricanes that hit America were something else. From hurricane Harvey, to Irma, to Maria, destroying thousands of cars in mainly Florida and Texas!

As if that wasn’t enough, there were snow storms that destroyed lots of cars in the west coast and in states like Georgia. Every new day in auction were accidented vehicles and flood damaged vehicles. That was my first year giving flood cars a try, I might explain later. During that period you could see a 2014 Toyota Camry auctioning off for just $4000  because there were enough for everyone.

For comparison, this is 2019 and you barely see a 2016 Camry selling for double of that $4k which is $8k. In fact, you can’t even see same 2014 Camry selling for $5k!

Yesterday I was just thinking of how expensive cars have gotten lately and couldn’t help but praying for God to send just a small natural disaster. Something light. Just to bring the prices of cars down a bit. Na too much to ask

I bought my first flooded car (2012 Mercedes-Benz C300) in 2017, due to the hurricanes in the US that yr and of course Texas has saltwater.

Lots of people saw this as an opportunity to change their cars, get brand new ones. Others saw it as opportunity to get rid of it for $$. And there are people who saw it as opportunity to get out of their car note which has enslaved them.

So what did people do? File a flood claim with their insurance company! If I was in US, I’d have done same too!

Like there were people that had cars that the flood didn’t even cover the tires of the car yet they filed for a flood insurance claims. Insurance companies were very busy and of course couldn’t verify claims quickly.

Guess who’d change the car in this case? Insurance company. So I was in various auction companies reviewing the flood level of cars. While thousands of cars had flood level that soaked the seats of the car (very dangerous level), some had flood levels that didn’t make it above the tire of the car.

While I observed, I saw this 2012 C300 with very low flood level that runs and drives and I was wondering why it was considered flood damage for it to be auctioned off. That was when the American in me kicked me and it hit me that people just took advantage of the hurricane.

Immediately, without thinking twice about it, I clicked on buy now and got the C300 at a fooking good deal. Trucked it to a mechanic in Houston and the good guys confirmed that the car was very safe and shouldn’t have been considered flood damage.

Will I do this again? Maybe. Maybe not.


There’s this support system older generation of Nigerian men doing business have, in Houston. I love it.

Needed something and in one call, I was directed to someone who has it. The person knows all my uncles. One of my uncles told me to mention his name and get even better discount. These are people who know that they are in another man’s country and need the help of one another to survive.

Meanwhile our generation is selfish, full of drama and look down on each other.

I remember quoting N7.5m for a client for one 2015 Toyota Venza. The client said that it was too much and he'd rather buy from Nigeria. He asked that I help him find some but all I found was above 9.5M! Now he's asking me for the 7.5M Venza but it's already sold.

God please touch this customer's mind and increase the funds in his bank account. When he asks questions, it’s usually alert that I get.

Clearing cost reach N2.8m sha

Banks now do yahoo yahoo on their customers now too. Basically you buy a flight ticket online, pay using their debit card, and they try to get you to leave yoir money with them while you travel. Diamond bank did me dirty in 2017 as soon as I bought a fly ticket to US. While on the phone, they said my debit card was tampered with and they’d close my card and online banking while they figure it out. I suspected foul play.

Quickly logged into my online banking and moved all my money to a different bank before the lady removed the online banking and debit card. The next day was my last day in Nigeria and I couldn’t rectify it before I left Nigeria...

After like a month, they returned my small money they took. Of course that came with threats issued to the bank. However, I couldn’t touch the money till I got to Nigeria because I had no way to do so.

FCMB tried same with me right before I left Nigeria. I got my flight ticket and was meant to leave that weekend. My debit card and online banking mysteriously stopped working. Lots of money got trapped in the account. It almost cost me my relationship with my banker friend.

In these 2 scenarios I noticed the bank wanted a means of having my money stuck in my account while I was gone.

There’s no coincidence about it. The Diamond  Bank issue wasn’t the mysterious debit alert but them trying to prevent me access to my money while I was gone.

Mazda Mazda 5

Auctioning on Monday

Estimated Total Landing Cost: N1,807,000
Estimated Arrival: July 30, 2019

If you want this car, get in touch now!

lalasticlala farano mynd44 dominique can you please move this thread to Autos?

Update: Then don move am.

If I told you this car has been completely submerged under water before, would you believe me Of course you wouldn't. It looks clean and flashy and sweet. It might even drive with or without few repairs, but what about a month along the line? A couple of months? A year? It saddens my heart when dealers buy flooded cars and come to Nigeria to sell for low prices. Most times that car will give you one problem after the other until you're forced to sell it to another unsuspecting victim or just park it.

I was pissed yesterday because I posted an 05 Corolla Sport, 110 miles on it, for 2m and one anu mpam in the autos section was telling me that even if I reduced the price to 1.8m nobody is going to buy. Funny thing is I actually sold it via Twitter to someone that recognises value. I used to think Nairalanders just troll about these things but maybe these guys are serious. Is Nairaland the wrong market for me? I'll just pack my load and go back to the Twitter I know abeg. Can't be stressing myself unnecessarily.

Or is it that you people are used to Nigerian used cars and flooded cars from the U.S.? How can you see a car in premium shape and want to buy it for peanuts? In fact one thing I have learned in life is to run from cheap things. Believe me there must be an underlying cause for it's cheapness.

Let me prove to you why my cars are cheap: I bid on these cars on mostly private auctions, truck them to the nearest port, ship them and add a fee of $300, $500 or $1000 depending on the type and price of the car. So basically my profit is that $300 fee. Nothing else. So when I tell you a car is 1.8m and you want me to sell for 1.7m, do you realise you want to  rob me? Basically I just did all that work for free. Are you an armed robber?

They've moved me to Autos. I don't know how to feel lol

You requested for front page and now! No worry just prepare for answering every question that comes

peacefulhome:
You requested for front page and now! No worry just prepare for answering every question that comes

I don't even think I'm welcome here. In this autos section. lalasticlala please move me back to diaries. Pleaaaaase. Na small pikin been dey worry me.

paroh137:


I don't even think I'm welcome here. In this autos section. lalasticlala please move me back to diaries. Pleaaaaase. Na small pikin been dey worry me.

Lol, abeg oh I can not laugh alone oh. Honesty the objective could be temper with , just pray you get back to diaries for you to be more focus and !!!!!! You know na

I mean no offence honestly.

Your post is kind of all over the place that it makes it hard to follow.
Are you a Nigerian?
What exactly is it you do and how long has it been going on?

Thanks

I am looking for an auto body shop near who can do repair the car dents easily. Any suggestions?