Most modern people reach a moment in their lives when they are ready to buy their first car or upgrade their old one. Unfortunately, prices in the car market continue to grow, which means not many people can afford to buy a brand new car. Buyers in Nigeria have a wonderful solution, which is buying a used car. These days there are two ways to purchase a used car: you can either go to a local dealer, or choose an individual seller. Last week we talked about the pros and cons of buying a used car from a dealer, and now get ready for part two, where we’ll find out if you should buy your new car from a private seller.
Pros
Freedom of choice
Car dealers usually have a limited number of cars in their stores. Walking into most used car dealerships in Nigeria, you’re likely to see several popular models of Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Mercedes Benz, and Lexus. If you’re looking for a specific model, especially the one that is rather old, you might not find it in your local dealership.
Buying a car from a private seller is completely different. In order to find your dream car you can go on JiJi, where you will discover thousands of ads from real sellers with cars that match your demands. Take a look at cars on JiJi, and you’ll quickly realize that looking for a car online gives you much more freedom to choose your ideal car.
Lower prices
Compared to prices set by car dealership, buying a car from an individual seller will help you save a considerable sum of money. Besides, prices for cars on JiJi differ from one Nigerian city to another. Check out cars for sale in Lagos, Abuja, Oyo, Rivers, and other cities, to find the most suitable offer, and you’re guaranteed to pay a lower price if you buy your car from a private seller.
Negotiation opportunities
One of the best things about buying a car from an individual seller rather than a dealership is that you can always try to negotiate the price, ask for a discount, or wait for a better offer from the seller. This is usually impossible at car dealerships, where the prices are set and cannot be lowered. If you don’t want to overpay for your new car, try negotiating with a private seller.
Find out about the cons on page 2
Cons
Paperwork
A major benefit of purchasing a car from an official dealer is that he will likely do all of the paperwork for you, so that in the end you will only have to read the papers carefully and sign them. When a car is sold from an individual seller to an individual buyer, the buyer is usually the one who has to prepare all of the paperwork, which means that if you don’t have any experience with legal papers, you will likely have to pay extra to a lawyer to prepare the papers for you.
No warranties
Buying a car from a dealership usually comes with a few perks; most importantly, a warranty for the car. In case the car starts malfunctioning shortly after you’ve purchased it, the dealership will either replace the car, or pay for it to be repaired. There is no such thing as a warranty when you’re dealing with an individual seller, meaning that as soon as you pay the price, sign the documents and take the car to your home, you cannot expect the seller to cover your repair expenses if the car goes out of order.
Dealing with an unknown person
Car dealerships are usually officially registered and follow the Federal Trade Commission rules. Thanks to these facts you can contact the authorities in case something goes wrong with your purchase and let the officials take care of the problem. The thing with individual sellers is that usually all you know about them is their phone number and their name. If you meet in a neutral territory and you don’t know where the seller lives, contacting him with further requests and complaints, or asking the authorities to deal with a problematic situation, will be rather hard, or maybe impossible at all.
