For the past two months, Abdulmajid Umar’s Toyota Tundra has been in and out of the mechanic village in Apo, Abuja. He had taken the car to a mechanic to fix a fault in the engine, but despite several efforts by different mechanics in the vicinity, the problem persisted.
“I had to take the vehicle to Kaduna and within a week the problem was fixed. Since the unfortunate encounter with the mechanics in Abuja, I never repair any of my cars in the city again,” Umar said.
Umar is among several Nigerians who though residing in Abuja, prefer to repair their vehicles outside the city, for different reasons.
“I have an Audi A7 and there are few mechanics in Abuja that can repair the brand, so I prefer to fix it in Kaduna where the mechanics are readily available,” said Abbas Galadima, a businessman in Abuja.
“There are many inexperienced mechanics in Abuja, many of who may claim they can repair the car but they can’t,” he added.
Galadima said it was difficult for him to find a mechanic within Abuja that could repair the gearbox of his car when it became faulty.
“Aside from the astronomical price rate, finding an original spare part is another challenge,” he said.
“I tried to change the gearbox of my car sometime in February last year and the mechanics in Jabi and Apo said it will cost about N290, 000. They said they will have to buy it from either Cotonou or Lagos. Apart from the gearbox fee, they said I will also have to pay for the shipping of the item.
“In Kano, this is entirely different. The mechanics already have the gearbox in their stores and at a cheaper rate. I bought my gearbox at N169, 000, and I had it fixed in my car, and it worked perfectly.”
Another car owner, Amir Wudil, who shared his experience with 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE, said despite the security challenge on Abuja-Kaduna highway, he still takes his car to Kaduna for repairs.
He said even though the security issue on the highway could be a hindrance, he finds ways to take his car through other safer routes to Kaduna for repairs.
Wudil also said mechanics in Abuja are more interested in the money they will receive for services rendered than customer satisfaction.
“To repair my car’s injector mouse in Abuja, mechanics receive N25, 000 as service charge. But in Kaduna, I pay only N10, 000,” Wudil said.
A female car owner, Whitney Emmanuel, said she repairs her vehicle in Abuja whenever it is faulty and always keeps her eyes peeled to ensure she is not cheated.
“When I got a car in Abuja, I was warned about the inefficiency and eyes for money behaviour of the mechanics so I took my time in settling for one mechanic after going round a few.
“I never leave my vehicle with them. I take away any part they change in case it is still good and present it the next time the same part needs to be changed. So far, I can say I’ve survived the mechanics and their antics to the best of my ability,” she added.
However, mechanics in Abuja have also explained why they charge ‘exorbitantly’ and how they have tried to retain customers’ confidence in them.
A mechanical engineer who has an auto shop in Gwarinpa, Malam Ibrahim, said there are many unprofessional mechanics in Abuja, and majority of motorists fall prey to them because they cannot pay the price for professional ones.
“Unprofessional mechanics have caused many car owners to suffer,” he said.
“While some mechanics are blatantly inexperienced, others take advantage of motorists by using inferior spare parts in their vehicles.
“However, typical of Nigerians, they prefer to take their cars to mechanics that charge less, instead of a professional. But in the end, they complain that their job was not well done. How do you expect someone who is not a professional to deliver a good job? Many times motorists in Abuja get what they bargain for,” he added.
But Abdullahi, a mechanic in Apo popularly known as Razor, disagreed that motorists prefer to repair their vehicles in Kaduna and other neighbouring states, due to lack of qualified mechanics in Abuja.
He said there are a lot of professional mechanics in the city that can handle any brand of vehicle, adding that repairing vehicles in Abuja is a matter of choice and not based on professionalism.
“The major issue drivers encounter with their cars in this city is overheating, given that Abuja can be very hot and cars tend to have this problem if the compressor or fan is not functioning well,” he said.
“There are many mechanics that can fix this problem, depending on the type of car. What it takes is for a car owner to ask where s/he can find such mechanics that specialise in her/his car brand.”
Toeing Abdullahi’s view, Sule Ahmed, a mechanic in Garki II, said although motorists could give the excuse of expensive spare parts as one of the reasons they prefer to repair their vehicles out of Abuja, the city does not lack professional mechanics that handle different brands of cars, as they always complain of.
“For instance, repairing a gearbox can be pricey in Abuja, and could influence motorists to take their cars to Jos, Plateau State, for repair, but when you look at the cost of living in Abuja, it is higher than that of Jos,” he said.
“Many mechanics in Abuja are not doing business on their own lands. The spaces they occupy are rented and the cost of renting a space in Abuja is higher than that of Kaduna or Kano. So you don’t expect mechanics in Abuja to charge the same rate,” Ahmed added.
Ahmed said although some mechanics in Abuja could add money on the price of a spare part if the motorist does not know the actual price, “such habit is not peculiar to mechanics in Abuja alone.”
“On the issue of spare parts of cars like Audi A7, Toyota Tundra, Acura, etc, their spare parts are not readily available inside the city. You have to go to Zuba. Some are even ordered from Lagos or outside Nigeria,” he said.
“It is these factors, when put together, that make spare parts expensive, and consequently the cost of repair of vehicles in Abuja.”
