As Nigerians write their plans and set goals for the new year, owning a car sits on the list of many.
For people who dream of ditching long, exhausting rides in Danfos, a budget of N10 million is a key to that next chapter.
Foreign used cars, popularly known as tokunbo, remain the backbone of private mobility in Nigeria.
New cars are priced far beyond the reach of the average Nigerian, while locally used vehicles often come with hidden histories. That leaves fairly used imports as the middle ground many people are forced to navigate.
A few years ago, a more stable naira and lower clearing costs meant that N10 million provided more and better options. Today, the landscape has shifted in profound ways.
What buyers are seeing today is not just higher price tags, but fewer good deals. This budget still buys a car, but not the kind of flexibility it once offered.
Nairametrics reported that Nigeria’s passenger car imports slowed in 2024, with the total value dropping by 14.3% to about N1.26 trillion, down from N1.47 trillion in 2023. The decline reflected weaker demand, driven largely by exchange rate volatility and economic pressures.
Importers and dealers are also grappling with sharply rising costs of clearing foreign used vehicles following recent policy changes introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service.
With this, the challenge for some Nigerians looking to spend N10 million or less is more than just picking a model off a list. It is about finding something in good condition that will last, without stretching the budget too far.
Here are the tokunbo cars Nigerians can get under N10 million in 2026
The Toyota RAV4 from the 2003–2004 model years is a compact SUV. It’s an attractive choice for buyers who want something more than a sedan but still manageable within a N10 million budget.
They come with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine paired with either a 4-speed automatic or 5-speed manual transmission. The 2003 version uses Toyota’s reliable 1AZ-FE engine, while the 2004 update continued with a similar setup offering about 147–161 horsepower with a good mix of performance and fuel economy. The SUV can handle both city roads and longer highway journeys with relative ease.
It has a balanced fuel economy for an SUV of this age, averaging around 20–24 mpg (city and highway combined) in real-world driving.
