Buying my first ride in Lagos Nigeria

Welcome to 9jaAuto Dairy,  my name is Richard, am a techie, fuel head, data and cloud guru. 

This blog is birthed out of my passion for automobiles.. motion engineering moves me and have always left me fascinated , the history, speed and how technology evolved so far, the resulting competition/market share between the German, Asian, European and American manufacturers.  Next is the future,.. we will get to that but I want to drop this here.... you all should watch out for Hyundai - the Korean giant.

I was ready to buy my first car in 2014, making the choice from the many brand and models in the market was very difficult especially when my wallet size is not as big as I had wished for.  I had just ₦500,000.00 and was hopeful that I could get a my first car and expect it to serve me well while it lasted. 

So I went online, installed jiji.ng, searched out the list on Nairaland and other auto dealership sites, I believed all my close friends and relatives helped in recommended some dealers both in and outside Lagos.  My search opened my eyes to see the deceit and foul play in  car sales where only a few sales persons were readily to sell you issue free cars against the lots who were only out for their cut on any successful sales.  Some dealers were totally a waste of time, a few scammers tried to get me by offering really good looking cars at crazily cheap prices. It was not a funny experience.  

Three months gone in to 2014 and I was yet to get any car I like or any that met my budget, every ride I fancied was met with negative feedback from from friends and acquaintances most of whom directly or indirectly suggested I considered upgrading my budget and go for the all popular and pricey (2002 - 2006) Toyota Corolla or Camry.  I had my reservations about Toyotas, I needed something interesting in an out like their Lexus offering but on a budget. Mechanics kept selling the Toyota's reliability till I realized the Japanese brand would hardly ever expose the incompetent mechanic since these cars would take all the beating and still take their drivers from point A to B.  My younger brother had driven one from Abuja to Lagos and back with a smoking engine still the car was easily restored and rode as new.

Deep down I knew Toyota was not for me, I could have topped my budget and still go for other brands but I am the newbie buyer/driver who was not ready to put all my investment or go borrowing to get my first car and more importantly I was going to start my first years driving in Lagos so I anticipated bashing or get bashed.. and didn't want a be bashed and written off..  Toyotas all seemed dated and yet yet very expensive. The German Audi, American Ford and Swedish Volvo brands I had my eyes on were within my budget but since I discovered many mechanics were not willing to support these brands due to an alleged electrical issue and difficulty in accessing their parts, I was discouraged.  

The new resolve was to focus on the Asian brands, checking for models with general technical support and after market parts sales/availability in Lagos. I ended up comparing Toyota against Nissan, Honda and Mazda brands; The Camry, Mazda 626/Millennia, Nissan Maxima and Honda Accord all V6 options (2001 - 2003).  Toyota ticked all the boxes for reliability and fuel economy but I took it off my list due to price, The next was Nissan with then Mazda falling fourth both are also fuel economic cars with good tech and better driving experience in paper. Buyer reviews had highlighted complaints and pains with major recall issues pointing to Toyota and Honda but nothing major for Mazda and Nissan. The only complaint that kept popping up for Nissan was sensor related issues. Finally I settled with Nissan Mazda's timing maintenance issues in the reviews sounded like a big deal, besides Mazda Millennial and that the 626 were no longer in production.

2002 Toyota Camry

2002 Nissan Maxima

2002 Mazda Millennia 

2002 Mazda 626

Nissan Maxima was a sports sedan and fitted with either the very reliable 2000 3.0ltr v6 with the VQ30 engine or the upgraded 2002-2003 3.5ltr v6 VQ35 engine. The upgraded Maxima had better looks, grill, horsepower and rim sizes.  I test drove two from different owners and finally settled for the VQ3.5 2002 Nissan Maxima for ₦420,000.00, leaving me enough change to fix the faulty AC, front bumpers and perfect the documents in my name. It turned out to be a good deal since the car already has a great body, good transmission and a sound engine. 

2002 Nissan Maxima

I drove this car for 4 years, had replaced the engine in the second year, learnt a lot and enough about cars with it and finally sold it to another youth who wanted a cheap used car for half the initial cost price in 2018.

Subsequent posts will share the journey afterwards.. How I managed to maintain and keep my maxima running for another 4 years and tips to keep your dream car on the road an off the mechanic workshop.