Why Nigerian Cars Are Not Sell-Able After Use

Nigerians are no doubt sets of wonderful people, no matter where we are in the world, we can adapt to any situation and weather condition, our tenacity has made us excel in all ramifications that even the international world seems not to understand us again, every of their prediction has been defeated that at times they wondered, what manner of people are these… We are spenders, and we love the good thing of life. Cars are such of things an average Nigerian see as a must have even if it means to take a loan, steal or by any means to get it. We are an import driven nation, anything import catches our attention. AutoReportNG did an investigation as to why Nigerians cars are not sellable after the owner must have gotten tired of the car or maybe he has a new one, and he decided to free his garage. Please note, not all cars are not re-sellable, but, almost 70-80% of the cars are not in any way re-sellable that even if you have to resell it, it will be in the form of a scrap thereby losing its monetary value and uses. These facts are what we see mostly as the cause, you may add yours in the comment box.

1. Bad Roads

Nothing makes a car wear out faster than a bad road, even if you buy the latest and costliest car in the world, it’s just a matter of time before the car becomes a scrap. In a country of ours where good roads seem to be a privilege and not a necessity. I have seen rich men who have exotic cars but can’t drive it because the road to their home is a death trap, I then asked, what is the essence of buying it then when you know your road is not good.

2. Bad Maintenance Culture

A philosopher once said the easier way to kill a black man is to put the solution of an ailment in a book, they won’t read it! Nothing deforms a man faster than one who does not read or has a lackadaisical attitude. It’s only a Nigerian man who won’t service his car until when the car breaks down. My neighbor hardly puts water in his radiator until when the car gives a warning sign. If the owner of a car lacks a proper maintenance of his car, it’s only a matter of time before the car becomes a shadow of its self. Maintenance includes the body of the car, the upholstery, engine among others. A mechanical engineer once said, you must service your vehicle at least, once in 2 months, so asked yourself, when last have I maintained my car?

3. Mechanics

Shout out to all our fantastic mechanics, people like Kazeem, Morufu, Chukudi, Abdulahi, etc. What can we do without these guys? These guys can make or mar the destiny of your car. They are always our last resort and people we can call at any time to fix our car, and they will be around, but have you asked for your certification? The damage being done by these mechanics can not be overemphasized, yes, they may seem reliable, affordable and always timely, but when you carefully study the way and manner they operate your car, you will run away from them. Some may manipulate some parts so as to make the profit for another one thereby destroying the core part of the car. My uncle’s car becomes a scrap after his mechanics exchange some parts from the engine and the engine knocked off.

4. Spare Parts

There comes a time where your car will develop a mechanical fault or when it has to undergo tear and wear, and when the components are not readily accessible, it’s as good as nothing in the first place. When the spare parts of a vehicle is scarce, it makes the vehicle redundant and not ready to use, selling a car with no spare parts will take an eternity to see a buyer, except if there is a match or maybe you sell it off as scrap.


5. Nigeria Drivers (Taxi, Danfo, Keke Napep, Trailers, Okada)

The Yorubas has a saying that a man who wears a white cloth/linen should not go to where they are selling palm oil. The literal interpretation of this is that a nobleman should distance himself from shady or questionable acts. Nigerian drivers are set of crazy sets of folks, at times you wonder how come these ones got their driving license because of the way and manner they drive. Danfo drivers don’t mind turning your Range Rover Vogue to a nightmare, the fear of the abokis driving the trailers is definitely the beginning of wisdom, when they face you, you won’t know when you divert into the bush. Many car owners have met their waterloo in the hands of these set of people which makes their cars completely right off.


Addendum:
Poverty is considered to be one of the main factors why Nigerians hold on to a car for some long. Imagine someone who bought his first car at the rate of 500,000 naira and the car has gone up to 5million naira, where do you expect such a man to see that type of fund? He would rather continue using the one he has with him instead of selling it off and he will start over again.

Do you have a different opinion from the ones mentioned above? Please comment below and lets learn together.