Siena:

This has been a long time coming, and is more than overdue.

I agree with reducing the number of cars advertised for sale at the roadsides. Virtually every where you look, there are vehicles for sale, and people bargaining. This includes service stations, shops, garages, and just about every free space you can think of. Every street corner looks like a market place, at any given time of day or night. Not nice!

Of course, the law could state people are free to advertise their cars for sale in their own compounds, but we know what would happen, Nigerians being the way they are. They would park vehicles for sale on the roadside in front of their houses, and claim that piece of land belongs to their property, so is within their compounds. They would also park cars for sale in all their friends and relatives compounds, or in front of them. You give an inch, they'll take a mile.

Besides, it's not a bad idea to have a bit of regulation with regards to motor vehicle sales. Right now, anyone can sell any number of cars as a privateer. When a deal turns sour, the buyer has little room to seek compensation. The seller will merely say "I no be mechanic, I no know say d engine done knock, I no know say the automatic transmission don die". Often, these sellers vanish without trace, so of course the buyer loses out. As a private seller, it's easy to get away with selling vehicles not fit for their purpose, as a registered dealer, you're under obligation to provide a reasonable product or service.

It'll be interesting to see how this new law will be implemented, how it affects those with imports for personal concumption, and those selling their own cars.

aloy-emeka:

Don't they have for sale cars parked at every corner in the US?

BizBooks:

No, they don't. You are free to put a "For Sale" sign on a car parked in front of your house in the US. But if you try to turn it into a business, your neighbours will promptly report you to City Council (assuming you are doing that in a residential area). You may end up paying thousands of dollars in fines.

BizBooks:

No, they don't. You are free to put a "For Sale" sign on a car parked in front of your house in the US. But if you try to turn it into a business, your neighbours will promptly report you to City Council (assuming you are doing that in a residential area). You may end up paying thousands of dollars in fines.

aloy-emeka:

Don't you think that this move will give auto dealers too much power through their unions and they can easily hike the price of vehicles at will and impose unnecessary fees to potential buyers?. I strongly believe in deregulation of the market. All of uis should reserve the right to sell whatever we want in our own properties as long as it is legal. Don't they have for sale cars parked at every corner in the US?

phuck_NL:

They really need to clarify a few things here oo.
So if i buy a car from the US, i would have to go look for a dealer before i can register my car??
If after using this car, i decide i want to sell it to my brother inlaw, sister inlaw or whatever, i would still have to go to a dealer to register it?
There better be a clause allowing individuals to sell whenever, however they want because this will be infringing on our RIGHTS. You can not prevent me from selling/buying. LAGOS state has no right to impose such. LAGOS state can only impose such if i am a COMMERCIAL sales person.

0lumide:

For you not to see cars parked in malls' parking lot with forsale signs in the US, you must either not be in the US or your live your entire life in Beverly Hills

Costee:

To answer your first question, if you imported a car and is signified by your name on the Bill of Laden (BL), I don't think you require any dealer before you can register your car for a plate number.
Question two, if you are selling a car with a plate number, it's already registered. So feel free to sell to your siblings, et al.
The point is, if you say you have an imported car, why is your name not on the documents (BL)? It could only mean you bought it off a dealer, and a dealer needs to be registered to be recognized as such by the law. Is there anything bad in that?

BizBooks:

Why do people like to argue just for the sake of it. We are talking about people selling cars on residential streets and you are talking about malls. A mall in the US is the equivalent of a Nigerian market. Some big malls even have car dealerships on location. So there is nothing wrong in selling cars in a mall.

If you know of residential streets in the US where cars are sold, name that street here. You cannot even find a provision store, hair salon or barber shop in a US residential area not to talk of car dealers.

0lumide:

YES THERE BARBERSHOPS IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS

BizBooks:

A barber shop in a residential area in the US? Give us the address so we can view it on Google Earth. Apparently you are confusing residential area with mixed-use district.

0lumide:

YES I KNOW COUNTLESS STREETS IN CHI CITY WHERE PPL PUT THEIR CARS FOR SALE AND PARK IT ON THE STREET!

0lumide:

mehn dude, when I get the address, I'll post it,

Siena:

This is where the issues lie. If someone sells 5 cars a month "in his / her own compound", would you class such a person as a private seller, or a trader? In the US, there are cars parked in certain places, depending on the neighbourhood, displaying "for sale" signs. If the neighbours complain, it becomes an issue. The same applies to the UK. In Nigeria, privileges are abused, and it's not uncommon to see a whole street lined with cars for sale.

In congested areas like Lagos, where do residents then park? Where do taxi cabs pull over to pick up, drop off passengers? They simply stop their cabs in the street, impeding traffic. People moan about congestion in Lagos, yet they compound things with their roadside automobile trading. Sure, there should be a means of owners of cars selling their vehicles privately, but Nigerians will take a mile if offered a yard, and before you know it, we're talking about a flourishing automobile business being run from the house next door.

BizBooks:

After saying:

You have now resorted to this:

Maybe you live in the US but it seems you don't know much about their zoning laws.

ziddy:

^^
Lagos State is just looking for ways to increase their IGR. They're not trying to protect buyers, decongest roads etc like some people are arguing, anybody who believes that doesn't know the first thing about how Nigerian society works.

The tragedy in this whole affair is that the significant percentage of these monies end up being stolen by these same corrupt government officials while the man in the streets groans under the burden of illegal taxation.