Eyop: My brother, i quite agree with you and is not as if you cannot see the vehicle with that budgeted amount but the question that you should ask yourself is what will be the condition of the vehicle (W203) you are buying? My own version of a clean ride will be different from another person's own. A certified clean ride is one that both the interior,exterior,mechanical,electrical etc will not require you to do anything and the mileage will be very reasonable. I have a friend that went to Togo to purchase a 1997 Mercedes C200 which landed Lagos Nigeria for #1,150,000 and the vehicle was super in all aspect because it was buy and drive.

You can even go online(some of the German used car websites) to find out the cost of some of these cars(a very clean one that has a good service history and will not require any further repairs) from there you can be able to know if your budget is realistic or not. In cotonou a very clean one will not land Lagos at that amount because the Lebanese selling cars will also want to make money from their sales and they won't invest so much money in a certified clean one to enable them sell very fast.

If for W202 then i am very sure that you will get a good one that is clean in and out but for a W203,i doubt if you can achieve that but all that depends on the individual buying anyway cos your own version of clean may not be clean to me. Mercedes Benz is not like a Toyota or any other Japanese that you can gamble with in terms of the mechanical and electrical features so my advice is get certified clean ride that your budgeted amount can carry. Good luck...

au.hanson:


I'm baffled myself, because i use to know the price of these cars to be on the high side few years ago, not untill i called a dealership here in nairaland based in Lag(whom i wouldn't want to disclose name here) and he confirmed the 1.2 mill Bench mark, although we didn't make the purchase again due to several factors that came up. But what really informed my opinion was that of this friend who bought his and brought to my office to celebrate with me. I know what is a clean car i'm not new to it, and i know when a car is made clean, i can distinguish between repainted vehicles and follow come, but what further baffles me was that of a friend too who landed e36 bmw 318 for 320k as overall cost from Cotonou for his personal use, he is a dealer too. He further confirm that he could land w203 c200k for me at 1.2m mark price too. This is my puzzle, he knock off all my points that these cars are expensive; according to him that no body even wanted to buy them overthere, that Nigerians went for toyota, especially camry 98/99 model and the highlanders even when i pointed prices in some popular site of the autoworld to him. He disclosed that to be a waste of time and money for what could be found here at far less price so i rested my arguement afterall i am not a dealer...

au.hanson:


I'm baffled myself, because i use to know the price of these cars to be on the high side few years ago, not untill i called a dealership here in nairaland based in Lag(whom i wouldn't want to disclose name here) and he confirmed the 1.2 mill Bench mark, although we didn't make the purchase again due to several factors that came up. But what really informed my opinion was that of this friend who bought his and brought to my office to celebrate with me. I know what is a clean car i'm not new to it, and i know when a car is made clean, i can distinguish between repainted vehicles and follow come, but what further baffles me was that of a friend too who landed e36 bmw 318 for 320k as overall cost from Cotonou for his personal use, he is a dealer too. He further confirm that he could land w203 c200k for me at 1.2m mark price too. This is my puzzle, he knock off all my points that these cars are expensive; according to him that no body even wanted to buy them overthere, that Nigerians went for toyota, especially camry 98/99 model and the highlanders even when i pointed prices in some popular site of the autoworld to him. He disclosed that to be a waste of time and money for what could be found here at far less price so i rested my arguement afterall i am not a dealer...

Gee2728:
One auto dealer on this NL was sounding a warning that if som1 approach u with a 2010 range rover sports for #2.5mil, run away quickly cos somthing is fishy. Even if its all clean and engine sound it may be s stolen car. Truth be told if u put a C200k(#1.2mil) side by side a C200k(#2mil) ur eyes will tell u the truth even if ur ears dnt want to hear it.

Gee2728:
One auto dealer on this NL was sounding a warning that if som1 approach u with a 2010 range rover sports for #2.5mil, run away quickly cos somthing is fishy. Even if its all clean and engine sound it may be s stolen car. Truth be told if u put a C200k(#1.2mil) side by side a C200k(#2mil) ur eyes will tell u the truth even if ur ears dnt want to hear it.

Eyop: Exactly but the problem is that due to greed some people will still fall for that. Take for instance if someone should tell you that he can get you a 2008 C300 with a mileage less than 100K at #2.5million which we know that the vehicle sells for about #5million or more for a good one,will you believe such a person?

Eyop: Yeah i understand brother. I am a regular person too in Cotonou so i can still tell you that these vehicles are expensive. I am not going to argue on the issue of getting it at that amount because it all depends on the seller over there. Take for instance if that W203 has stayed for so long without a customer coming for it in Cotonou and the white man there has some consignment at the port,he may decide to fling that ride to enable him get some money to enable him clear his goods because it's a smart move as a business person rather than for him to incur charges.

I was in Cotonou some months ago and the same thing happened when my agent alerted me that there's a Benz that a Lebanese wants to sell at a very cheap price but unfortunately that wasn't the brand i was going for so that didn't scale through for me so it doesn't mean that it happens all the time.

But also bear in mind that these cars are gotten from either USA or Europe and we all know the prices online via various websites so for someone to tell you that he can get you a W203 version of Benz for #1.2million can most times raise red flag except for reasons like i mentioned above.

Gee2728:
One auto dealer on this NL was sounding a warning that if som1 approach u with a 2010 range rover sports for #2.5mil, run away quickly cos somthing is fishy. Even if its all clean and engine sound it may be s stolen car. Truth be told if u put a C200k(#1.2mil) side by side a C200k(#2mil) ur eyes will tell u the truth even if ur ears dnt want to hear it.

Gee2728:
It wld be easy for the house to help u if u cld post some pictures.

ziccoit:

Thank you all. Honestly I doubted the possibility of getting W203 180k at the stated price (1M). It was a friend of mine (female) who called me that her friend whose uncle is in US send a c-class 180 2003 model and she has negotiated the price on my behalf. I was like oh! 1M clean title 2003 180k for 1Milla!

Three things were on my mind;

1. May be there was a kind of mixed up and misinformation about the car's year and model

2. The car has some serious mechanical and electrical issues or it was not clean tile afterall

3. It is a stolen vehicle

I got the guy's number and we spoke at length. He insisted I travelled down to his place for inspection but I declined insisting that I need to have some pictures before committing my time and resource to traveling. Lo and behold, I got the pics yesterday and the supposed 2003 mercedes benz c180 kompressor was actually a 1997/98 mercedes benz c230T. I was furious but not disappointed since I was actually cautious and on guild right from the onset.
I simply tell the guy that if he gets to sell it more than 750k he needs to give praises to God that nobody would buy that for 1milla. He was just looking at me like a fowl.

So that is my story.

Eyop: Well thank God that you were not so desperate about the propose transaction from the onset all because of the cheap price. According to your message you stated that your friend mentioned that the car was 2003 C180 sent from the USA which from that time you would have already concluded your facts because there's no C180 trim in the USA may be in Europe.

Also the seller can get a buyer for that ride for #1million or more if it has a clear title and very clean because like i mentioned in my previous post that someone i know bought that same year in Togo for #1,150,000. Except the seller's own isn't clean then you can say that because even in Cotonou i doubt if you can get a very clean one (Customs duty inclusive) for that #750k.

ziccoit:

Thank you all. Honestly I doubted the possibility of getting W203 180k at the stated price (1M). It was a friend of mine (female) who called me that her friend whose uncle is in US send a c-class 180 2003 model and she has negotiated the price on my behalf. I was like oh! 1M clean title 2003 180k for 1Milla!

Three things were on my mind;

1. May be there was a kind of mixed up and misinformation about the car's year and model

2. The car has some serious mechanical and electrical issues or it was not clean tile afterall

3. It is a stolen vehicle

I got the guy's number and we spoke at length. He insisted I travelled down to his place for inspection but I declined insisting that I need to have some pictures before committing my time and resource to traveling. Lo and behold, I got the pics yesterday and the supposed 2003 mercedes benz c180 kompressor was actually a 1997/98 mercedes benz c230T. I was furious but not disappointed since I was actually cautious and on guild right from the onset.
I simply tell the guy that if he gets to sell it more than 750k he needs to give praises to God that nobody would buy that for 1milla. He was just looking at me like a fowl.

So that is my story.

ziccoit:

Yes. 2003 180K gave it away then I was rationalizing it perhaps the man could have got it to Nigeria accross Europe.

I'm afraid what I saw in those pics couldn't be a clean title o.

I am not surprised a clean title facelift W202 can go as high as you stated. W202 is believed as the last engineered MB. So many people are after the model.

ziccoit:

Good for your ride!

BTW, kindly let us in on the cost of the various parts you purchased. This will go a long way in changing the wrongful impression that "all MB are expensive to maintain compare to japies" school of thoughts.

Thanks.

Gee2728:
'As the last engineered MB' I agree with you, the seat in my 2000 W202 are without a crack like they came out of the factory last month. That car is built rly tough. Have seen a W204 that the leather on the door handle has started tearing, MB tech of late is mainly profit driven.

aikerism: I wanted to change my W202 fuel filter and this was brought after the mech placed a call... I took a pic of it but when he came out from under the car he rejected this and said they should bring one that has a certain number on it. When that one was brought it was looking exactly like this one buh he claimed there is a difference.

Both sell for N2,000 anyways...
These purchases where made from Apo Mechanic Village, Abuja.

smartchoice: I need to know more about the E430! If you don't mind...

aikerism: I wanted to change my W202 fuel filter and this was brought after the mech placed a call... I took a pic of it but when he came out from under the car he rejected this and said they should bring one that has a certain number on it. When that one was brought it was looking exactly like this one buh he claimed there is a difference.

Both sell for N2,000 anyways...
These purchases where made from Apo Mechanic Village, Abuja.

smartchoice: have you ever checked gudu markt?

aikerism:


Uncle Smartchoice,
I have not checked there for MB parts before... Have you? I just felt I would have a wider market to choose from @ Apo...

smartchoice: Apo is wide true but there are two main dealers in Gudu markt...I bought the same fuel pump relay and fuel pump from there in January after patrolling Apo mech villa without satisfaction. I still call from time to time to get a fair price of commodities.

matson:

You are right. I have patronized both guys at Gudu and you will definitely get good parts from them. Cant remember the name of the last dealer I bought headlamps from, he is a light-skinned soft-spoken guy in Gudu. And he seems really professional with fair price. I might be wrong but think they sell only new items.

Eyop: Exactly but the problem is that due to greed some people will still fall for that. Take for instance if someone should tell you that he can get you a 2008 C300 with a mileage less than 100K at #2.5million which we know that the vehicle sells for about #5million or more for a good one,will you believe such a person?

xerotop:

Pls Stop decieving people. Greed is d major problem with most car dealers.
How can a 2008 c300 cost over 5m? All dis dealers and greed.
I bought my 2009 c350 for $15000 and shipping cost with all expenses is about $1500. I have called some clearing agents on nairaland here and i have been told to budget about 700k naira.
Pls do the calculatn.
Thats a c350,2009. So how on earth will 2008 c300 cost 5m.
The problem wit most dealers is putting all there lifes pronlem on selling jst one car

xerotop: @ eyop
Am so sorry if am a bit harsh sir,jst disturbed d way our dealers make things difficult for car buyers. At times when i look @ cars prices on d auto section, it gives me goose pimples. Someone planning to make over 2million on d sale of 1 car? Haba. Greed of d highest order.
Pls accept my appologies never meant to be harsh on u sir.