Import US used car to Nigeria — full VIN check & history report for $4.99

Lagos tokunbo buyers get burned by hurricane-salvaged Teslas and flood-damaged Camrys every single week. Every Copart car shipped to Tin Can Island should be VIN-checked before the bid — not after it arrives at port.

🇳🇬
Nigeria
US$536M

in US passenger-vehicle exports to Nigeria during 2024. (Source: US Census HS8703 2024)

What our report shows

  • Full accident history from every reporting US state and insurer.
  • Title brand changes — salvage, rebuilt, flood, fire, junk and lemon-law buy-backs.
  • Copart and IAAI auction sale records, condition grades and damage photos.
  • Every reported odometer reading across the vehicle's US life.
  • Lien records and open-finance flags from US banks and credit unions.

Why this matters for Nigeria importers

Nigeria imported $536 million in US passenger vehicles in 2024 (Source: US Census HS8703 2024). Almost all of this flows through Tin Can Island and Apapa Wharf in Lagos, where it feeds the tokunbo (second-hand import) market that is the backbone of Nigerian mobility.

The two most expensive traps for Nigerian buyers are: (1) hurricane-flooded cars from Florida, Louisiana and Texas, sold at Copart for cents on the dollar and often dried out and re-sold as "AC fault"; and (2) salvage-branded vehicles re-titled in low-documentation US states. Both vanish from Lagos paperwork the moment the car clears customs.

Destination code "CO" (Colombia) and "NG" (Nigeria) listings at Copart are popular among Nigerian buyers because they avoid Florida's stricter title rules — but those routes are also the most common laundering paths for disaster-state vehicles. A $4.99 VIN report catches the original disaster-state title brand that the re-title process erases.

The third issue is re-sprayed color. A Mercedes that shows up at Lagos in "pearl white" but was red at Copart auction is a high-risk signal of accident-repair work. Our report shows the color recorded at every US state title event.

Try a VIN now — it's free

Paste any US VIN. Free decode. Upgrade to the full Nigeria import report for $4.99.

Try: 3PCAJ5M10LF102244

Tip: VIN is 17 characters (letters + numbers).
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Red flags specific to Nigeria

⚠ Hurricane-date flood damage
Cross-reference the Copart sale date with FEMA disaster declarations (Hurricane Ian, Helene, Milton). Flooded cars auctioned in the 30 days after the storm are almost always total losses.
⚠ Destination code "CO" or "NG" with re-issued title
Copart destination codes steer cars toward low-documentation resale — check the title issuance state for red flags (OK, KY, TX).
⚠ Re-sprayed color doesn't match auction photos
If the Lagos listing color doesn't match the US Copart photo color, demand the auction condition report. Our VIN report includes all US-reported color records.
⚠ Odometer rollback across three owners
A tokunbo 2020 Corolla with 35,000 miles likely had the odometer rolled back from 120,000+ — check every reported reading in our report.

Our report vs Carfax vs AutoCheck

Feature Our report Carfax AutoCheck
Price per VIN $4.99 $44.99 $29.99
NMVTIS title-brand chain ✓ ✓ ✓
Copart auction records ✓ — —
IAAI auction records ✓ — —
Full odometer history ✓ ✓ ✓
Instant delivery ✓ ✓ ✓

Retail prices as published by each provider; our price reflects the $4.99 tier and may vary by currency.

FAQ — importing US cars to Nigeria

Yes. Both Carfax and our report include Copart sale records, NMVTIS title history, and accident events. Our report is $4.99 vs Carfax $44.99.

Tokunbo is the Yoruba term for used-car imports, dominated by US auction vehicles. A VIN check before bidding catches hurricane flood, salvage, and rollback issues that the Lagos seller cannot see in their paperwork.

Check the Copart sale date. If it falls within 30 days after a named hurricane (Ian, Helene, Milton), assume flood damage until proven otherwise. Our report flags every Copart event tied to the VIN.

Oklahoma, Kentucky, Texas and Georgia (US state) re-issue titles without the salvage brand for export vehicles. We pull NMVTIS directly, which retains the original brand.

Yes. Paste the VIN into our decoder above. Pay $4.99 only after you see the red flags, or walk away for free.

Indirectly — we show every color field the US title system recorded. A color change between auctions is a strong indicator of accident-repair paint.

Yes. We process payments via Stripe (Naira supported) and major crypto networks (BTC, USDT). Naira-issued cards work directly.

Reports are in US English — title-brand codes and legal terms are US-standard. The site and checkout support English by default.

Importing to another country?

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