princedant:

Muza asked a question about buying cars from tincan, is it cheaper?

johnwell:

Ever since I've joined NairaLand, I've not seen a discussion so educative like this.

One thing I know about this is "Life is full of choices; there's no free choice in life, to every choice there's a price tag on it"

Personally, I think buying from Cotonou  or Nigeria is individual choice with his/her own reasons, but one this is certain:

Using shortcut with fake documents is like a credit card, enjoy now & pay later but going through the normal clearing process is like a debit card , pay now & enjoy later. Abi na lie?

femmy2010:
Cars and SUVs older than 15year old are not officially allow to come into the country meaning duty can not be paid on them.
"

Ejike3:

Does it mean that I can buy a car of over 15 years from coutonou, smuggle it into Nigeria and customs will not ask me questions after  that?

adedayo79:
My first experience buying a car from cotonu in 2007 was off nl though but was a very sad one and wouldnt wish my enemy to go through same emotional torture i went through.
Paid for a car but i only got half refund back after many months of trouble making and stress.
I did muster up courage last year and used the service of a nl cotonu dealer and it has been smooth sail since.
I have recommended many of my co-workers to the dealer and he has always performed,one funny thing is that i have never met this sincere cotonu dealer till date and yet he performs.
I think it boils down to the type of dealer we use.

ColeworldMD:

Pls who is cotonou dealer?

femmy2010:


Seized vehicles would be auctioned to the general public at the end of every year.
Duty can not be paid for vehicles already in the country.

erico2k2:

Bro buy your car from Lagos forget that place.

ColeworldMD:

U know u can go there urself & clear it through the boarder urself at the customs office genuinely. Although most ppl smuggle

erico2k2:

Bro I know in that way U will spend more than Lagos.I have been shipping cars to Nigeria from US.Europe for 14 years now I can beat my chest and tell U it's a no deal.I ha e shipped cars to cotonue. Togo and Nigeria. And cleared there as well.we do it in transit.those in the Biz know what I mean.I found out the diff is less than N300. More risk than Lagos.

ColeworldMD:

Thanks for dat! I want to buy car at the moment. I have 1M, what's the best deal I can get? I don't mind naija used, just neatly used.

femmy2010:


The same Oshara toks would be driven from Our bad Apapa road to your abodes in other parts of Lagos.Lol.

Gbengaodutona:
I have been to cotonou twice to purchase cars.
Firstly,we bought Mazda 323 for my brother which cost us about 1m cf then,about 4 years ago.After purchase they only gave us a receipt which was written in French language.
2ndly,some months ago,i went there to buy gulf 3 station wagon,four wheel drive which cost 900000 cf equivalent to about 255000 in NIGERIA currency,total cost of purchase +clearing+bringing it home resulted to 630k,
but b4 delivery,,my BP rises to maximum,simply because i took 400k to cotonou,i bought the car but Money for clearing is not available,my car spend up to a month b4 it could be delieverd,i was only given one receipt that you cannot present to anybody that they will understand,if i go back there i can't recognise the dealers shop,its only prayer o.now i can't go interstate where custome is.But i am enjoying my car in Lagos and gun.Its a taugh experience for me.
My advice for anybody that want to go there and buy,if they said their car+clearing+bringing it home cost 1.5,go there with at least 1.7 i am sure your car will be delieverd,in between two to three days

tEsLim:
Bought my 1996 V6 VW Passat from Cotonou it was hell and like bad luck. By the time it was driven down to Lagos they already damaged the transmission. I waited for 2 weeks before it got to me in Lagos. I saw how they drove cars while returning to Lagos on my own. The "fayawo" boys as they used to call them drove very rough. And it was rainy. They even had to cut some other car's seat-belts  to to another car that got its ABS/brakes all locked down and wheels wont move. I dislike the VW because the car parts where and are still so expensive I sold to my friend but I always tell him to sell it since he'd replaced transmission more than twice ,  I did replace transmission too.

Well on my way back I saw cheap apples and frozen chicken/turkeys and liquor i bought some because i chattered a vehicle that took me to and fro with my friend and agent But then I started disliking buying apple/chicken and other imported frozen foods because i started thinking they sometimes spend months in Cotonou before being smuggled to Nigeria

Since then I've only used Lagos cleared , i.e brand new Kia and lastly an 08 Honda Civic

I would advise anyone who wants to buy a car to buy it in Nigeria at the ports and pay his /her duty at tha bank by his/herself in order to be on the safe side.
Most vehicles brought in from Cotonu are smuggled into the country by touts and smugglers and NO duty is paid on such vehicles.
Most of the time the vehicles are smuggled through foot paths and you could find your vehicle being intercepted by the customs in the hintrland and seized.
These touts/smugglers will alwys pay all tha taxes in Cotonu but will refuse to pay the same in their homeland Nigeria.
They will take your vehicle through all kinds of terrible bush path roads in order to evade payment of duty,however the problem is that the customs ASSYCUDA system is now all over the country,so if you claim to have paid duty in Warri,if the documents are intercepted in Sokoto the computer will reveal if duty was actually paid into the coffers of the Federal government.
Please always ensure you pay your duty by yourself at any designated Bank to avoid regretting later.
It may be cheaper to buy a vehicle from Cotonu but the dangers are enormous.
BE WARNED: A word is enough for the wise!

Gbengaodutona:
I have been to cotonou twice to purchase cars.
Firstly,we bought Mazda 323 for my brother which cost us about 1m cf then,about 4 years ago.After purchase they only gave us a receipt which was written in French language.
2ndly,some months ago,i went there to buy gulf 3 station wagon,four wheel drive which cost 900000 cf equivalent to about 255000 in NIGERIA currency,total cost of purchase +clearing+bringing it home resulted to 630k,
but b4 delivery,,my BP rises to maximum,simply because i took 400k to cotonou,i bought the car but Money for clearing is not available,my car spend up to a month b4 it could be delieverd,i was only given one receipt that you cannot present to anybody that they will understand,if i go back there i can't recognise the dealers shop,its only prayer o.now i can't go interstate where custome is.But i am enjoying my car in Lagos and gun.Its a taugh experience for me.
My advice for anybody that want to go there and buy,if they said their car+clearing+bringing it home cost 1.5,go there with at least 1.7 i am sure your car will be delieverd,in between two to three days

saintjoel:
I now see that many people commenting on this thread are novices when purchasing vehicles from cotonou and clearing them through the border.

When it comes to entry points into Nigeria,there are various entry points like land BORDERS and sea ports,there are CUSTOM commands also at these BORDERS with a mandate to check smuggling and also process DUTY for vehicles and goods shipped through cotonou and other countries.

People are always quick to lay the blame on agents plying their trade around the border and I also laughed when someone claimed you can just walk into a valuation unit to obtain values anf also walk into the bank and pay DUTY without acknowledging the technicalities surrounding DUTY payment by licensed clearing agents and I'm so ashamed that till now,none of the so called agents on NAIRALAND has come forward to defend what we do.

Every CUSTOM document you get from the border comes with what we call a C-number (CUSTOMS VERIFICATION NUMBER) and it is like a pin,the type you use to recharge your mobile phones,every vehicle that has original papers has it's own C-number and it is also used for verification by customs or any other person.

What happens is that so many people are always gullible when it comes to purchasing from cotonou,I've seen instances where people will tell me that the qoute I've given them as an agent is expensive,some will tell you that they gotten qoutes like 08 Camry for one million naira,these people fall into the hands of fraudulent agents at the end of the day but when the want to tell people close to them,they'll blame every other person plying his/her trade along the border without explaining that they were the gullible ones.
https://www.nairaland.com/1460599/clear-containerized-goods-vehicles-ease


https://www.nairaland.com/1245239/cheapaccident-free-cars-4rm-cotonou

https://www.nairaland.com/1572889/custom-duty-payment-made-easier

These are topics that has always dealt with purchase,shipping and CUSTOM DUTY PAYMENT through cotonou without hassles.

I think the reason people are still in the dark about purchase or shipping through cotonou is just because many of the so called agents on NAIRALAND have refused to come forward and settle issues,many of them are just ordinary people advertising as agents and this is part of what makes people believe that we are not legit.
https://www.nairaland.com/2148498/cotonou-dealers-importers-agents-thread

If you want to purchase/ship through cotonou,make sure you start the whole process through a credible and reliable agent,also make sure you don't fall for the fallacies of a 2010 camry been sold for N700,000 or CUSTOM DUTY for a 2013 gl450 is N650,000. Things like this will make you fall into the hands of fraudulent people out there.

The papers attached are some documents obtained from SEME BORDER and the vehicle was moved from SEME to Benin in edo state without hassles,even the owner has a testimony on nairaland.

erico2k2:

I think the argument here is about the cost.if you check cotonuo the people importing and selling cars there are not Nigerians.

saintjoel:



There are so many Nigerians purchasing from cotonou and they'll still purchase,the margin depends on which vehicle you are buying cos not all vehicles are cheap through cotonou,tekm me where you can get a 2008 Camry le for N1.960m and the Camry shown below was bought through my agency,moved with CUSTOM DUTY paid to festac for N1.960m.When it comes to shipping of vehickes through cotonou,can you ship a 2014 Benz E350 for N1m ( NIGERIAN DUTY) + 185,000(COST OF TRANSIT IN BENIN).

I AGREE THAT THE TAG "CHEAP" MIGHT NOT WORK FOR EVERY VEHICLE FROM COTONOU BUT AT THE END,EVEN IF IT IS JUST A MARGIN OF 20,000 NAIRA,IT WILL STILL BE DIFFERENT.

erico2k2:

You my friend should know me from yrs ago.we have crossed path b4.I'm saying Nigerians do not ship cars frm USA to cotonou for sale.I'm on about people like me in diaspora. I will gt bck to U as I'm held up at wrk cos of match. Let me gt home.

saintjoel:


And I will tell you sir,most of the jobs I've been processing at the border presently are vehicles shipped through cotonou and they were shipped by people residing in America and other countries.A sample is shown below for your perusal.

saintjoel:



There are so many Nigerians purchasing from cotonou and they'll still purchase,the margin depends on which vehicle you are buying cos not all vehicles are cheap through cotonou,tekm me where you can get a 2008 Camry le for N1.960m and the Camry shown below was bought through my agency,moved with CUSTOM DUTY paid to festac for N1.960m.When it comes to shipping of vehickes through cotonou,can you ship a 2014 Benz E350 for N1m ( NIGERIAN DUTY) + 185,000(COST OF TRANSIT IN BENIN).

I AGREE THAT THE TAG "CHEAP" MIGHT NOT WORK FOR EVERY VEHICLE FROM COTONOU BUT AT THE END,EVEN IF IT IS JUST A MARGIN OF 20,000 NAIRA,IT WILL STILL BE DIFFERENT.

erico2k2:

I just re read this where did you get the idea that it will cost N1m to ship an E350 transit Benin?? or are you talking plus cost of buying it?

saintjoel:


IT IS N1M AT THE NIGERIAN END WHILE IT WILL COST 500,000 CEFA OR IT'S NAIRA EQUIVALENT TO PAY FOR TRANSIT THROUGH BENIN TO THE NIGERIAN BORDER.

erico2k2:

hey don't get me wrong I'm not trying to spoil or hark your Biz,I know you clear cars from Benin, those people who ship to cotonou do it first and last time only as shipping from US to benin and shipping to lagos cost same thing $1200 dollars, this is standard for all SUV and saloon cars.Now in ur own view tell me the benefit of shipping to cotonou when it cost same to ship to Lagos .?? lets forget cost of shipping from the US and purchasing from the US, how much would you clear and deliver a 2010 toyota highlander to Benin?lets do the maths cos I believe in figures.

erico2k2:

N1M from where to where, from US to Benin republic? Let me let you know it cost $1200 to ship from USA to Niger republic transit benin republic