The majority of those automobiles you see on Nigerian roads are actually imported from abroad. Car importation is the major means of acquiring cars for Nigerians. Nigerians import cars from various countries and one of the common ones is from the United States of America (USA).
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Car importation from the USA is not so difficult, however, you need to be aware of the rules and requirements. It’s important for you to know that not all cars can be shipped from the USA to Nigeria. In fact, if you make a mistake and ship one of these types of cars, you might have a hard time getting your vehicles and may even end up losing money. So, if you are involved in car shipping from the USA to Nigeria, here are the types of cars you may have a hard time shipping:
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Cars Without An Original Title Document
Anytime you want to sell, register or import a vehicle, you need an original title document to successfully do so. The title document of a car shows the proof of ownership. This document contains vital information like the make, model, year, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of the car as well as the details of the owner of that vehicle. Before any car can be exported from the ports in the USA, the original Certificate of Title or a certified copy is required to be submitted to United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Failure to provide this document will cause unnecessary delays and might even cancel your car export process.
Before making plans to pay for a car and ship to Nigeria from the USA, make sure you enquire about the title document from the car seller. In cases where the state where you bought the car does not issue a Title Document, you can make use of the bill of sale or Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin (MSO) together with supporting documents from the state.
Cars With Lien On It
When a car has a lien on it, it means the car is partially owned by a lender(lienholder). The lender could decide to place a lien because the price of the vehicle is yet to be paid off, or the vehicle is used as collateral to collect a loan etc. In most cases, the lender could be a bank, financial institution, credit union or even an individual. Whoever the lienholder is, you will have a hard time shipping any vehicle from the USA that has a lien on it. Before such cars can be shipped, you will have to sort out or regularize whatever issues with the lienholder and have full ownership of the car.
Overaged Cars
Are you aware that there is an age limit to cars that can be shipped into Nigeria? In Nigeria, cars older than 15 years are not allowed to come into the country. In the international trade policy, vehicles older than 25 years are disallowed entrance into Nigeria. If you buy a car older than this age range, you will have a hard time even getting it exported from the ports in the USA. Frankly speaking, hardly anyone would want to buy a car that is older than 15years or worse 25 years even if they are on a budget.
Stolen Vehicles
Who would want to buy a stolen vehicle and ship it from the USA? Ideally, no one needs to be told not to buy or even export a stolen vehicle. This is because doing this is putting your life and security in danger to law enforcement bodies. The U.S Customs and Border Protection are particularly concerned about monitoring stolen vehicles and preventing their export from the country. If you fall victim to buying a stolen vehicle, you will definitely have a hard time shipping it and may even be considered a criminal suspect.
Problems With VIN
Exporting a car from the USA with VIN issues can cause delays in shipping to Nigeria. The VIN is the Vehicle Identification Number of a vehicle and it’s unique to every vehicle just like your fingerprints are unique to an individual. If irregularities are detected with the VIN of your car at the USA port, it will cause delays and may bring up some challenges in shipping your car to Nigeria.
Overloaded Cars
There are majorly two types of shipping methods- either RoRo shipping or container shipping. For most car importers, RoRo shipping is used because it is cost-effective. However, some people would prefer to load goods inside their cars being shipped by RoRo to save clearing and shipping costs. Doing this will cause your vehicle to be rejected for shipping at USA ports.
CONCLUSION
Before delving into car importation, make sure you are armed with the right knowledge. Take note of the above cars that can prove difficult to be shipped into Nigeria from the USA.
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