The Struggles Of Owning A Supercar In Nigeria

Have you ever wondered why owning a Supercar in Nigeria is a bad idea? Supercars seem to be pretty common in other countries but when it comes to places like Nigeria, they are very limited. The reason is that there are struggles any Supercar owner in Nigeria has to face. Although they are one of the most luxurious rides ever, they come accompanied by their unique challenges and struggles.

Supercars are exotic high-performing street-legal sports cars. They are usually expensive compared to other regular cars. The high cost is a result of the high-quality materials used for these cars’ interiors and exteriors. There are supercars you can get for millions of naira and those that run into billions.

In Nigeria, you’ll find these supercars because the country houses its own set of wealthy people. The most common supercar you’ll find in Nigeria is Lamborghinis and some Ferraris. However, what are some of the struggles the owners of these rides have to face?

Below are some struggles that accompany owning supercars in a country like Nigeria.

1. Ridiculous Custom Duty Fees

On a normal day, custom duties in Nigeria are off the roof. When the custom duty becomes cars, it’s even more expensive. But, this rises, even more, when the car in question is a supercar. Nigeria has a very expensive levy attached to supercars both new and fairly used.

For a brand new supercar, you’ll pay 70% of the cost of the car after shipping it in between $1000-$5000.

For instance, if you brought in a used Ferrari that cost about 80 million naira, you’ll be paying a customs duty of over 31 million naira. How ridiculous is that?

Now, imagine you’re buying a brand new Bugatti Centodieci and the cost is around 1.5 billion naira, the custom levy will be 70% of the 1.5 billion.

This major factor is one thing that deters many Nigerians from owning a supercar in the country. Now, you must be imagining how rich the few who have them in the country are.

2. It Goes Viral Very Fast

Because of how unusual supercars are in Nigeria, they go viral immediately after they land at the port. There are no hiding supercars arriving in the country. In fact, many port workers will first have their time with the cars before anything else.

This can be very annoying if you were trying to keep it hush. Another angle is that you’ll always be the centre of attention whenever you roll out with the car.

3. Increased Bad Fuel

Basically, there are three types of gas—regular gas, premium gas, and unleaded gas. You’ll find these types of gas in developed countries but, in Nigeria, we only have one.

Supercars have their fuel specification for efficient operation of the drivetrain. With the limited type of fuel, there’s in Nigeria, it leads such as supercars started underperforming. So, getting fuel is one reason supercars in Nigeria are limited.

4. Several Bad roads

The effect of bad roads on cars cannot be overemphasized. It even increased when it’s a supercar. One time, Dino Melaye noted that this was one of his challenges in driving a supercar in Nigeria.

Because the focus of supercars is majorly on aesthetics and performance, they get small ground clearance. The majority of them cannot go through road bumps, surfing through major Nigerian roads is a threat to them. Generally, all supercars in Nigeria have limited places to pass through.

5. Scarcity Of Maintenance Experts & Spare Parts

Because very few mechanics in Nigeria have knowledge of how to repair supercars, maintenance comes at a high cost. If you ever found an auto mechanic that repairs supercars, they’ll be charging in 5 figures.

What this means is that as a supercar owner in Nigeria, you’ll never have to push the car to its full potential in terms of driving time and engine performance so you can only service once a year.

Also, for the spare parts, you’ll have to consistently import them because it’ll be rare before you find them in any Nigerian market.

6. Low-To-No Resale Value

Most Nigerians’ interest in supercars is just that of admiration. Because of the struggles and challenges of owning one, finding someone to buy yours is almost impossible. When you do, people are always pricing it down.

Interestingly, a Toyota Corolla has a better resale value in Nigeria than a supercar.

Conclusion

It’s interesting to imagine that supercars people outside Nigeria pay millions of dollars to afford is a huge trouble for people in Nigeria. While that’s so, many Nigerians that own these cars still do their best to weather the storm.