Almost every spare part fitted to a car in Ghana passes through Abossey Okai, the spare parts market in Accra and the largest of its kind in West Africa. Thousands of shops, importing and selling parts for Japanese, Korean, European and American vehicles, supplying mechanics across the country.
If your car needs something, this is where it comes from, whether you go yourself or your mechanic goes for you.
Know what you are being sold
Three categories sit side by side on the same shelf, and the price gap between them is the whole conversation:
| What it is | When it makes sense | |
|---|---|---|
| Genuine | The manufacturer’s own part, in their packaging | Engine, brakes, anything safety-critical, anything expensive to fit twice |
| Aftermarket | Made by another manufacturer to fit your car; quality ranges from excellent to terrible | Most routine parts, if you buy a known brand |
| Used (“home used”) | Taken from a scrapped vehicle, often imported | Body panels, mirrors, interior trim, some electronics |
Ask which one you are buying and what it costs in each. A seller will quote whichever you seem to expect.
Go with the part, the number, or both
- Take the old part with you. It settles every argument about whether something fits.
- Bring the chassis or VIN number, and the engine number if you have it. Parts vary between model years that look identical.
- A photograph is not enough for anything with a serial or a stamped number on it.
Buying well at Abossey Okai
- Prices are negotiable, and vary shop to shop within the same street. Ask in three shops before buying anything substantial.
- Beware of being walked. Somebody who attaches himself to you and leads you from shop to shop is being paid a commission that is in your price. — goro boys, in the glossary
- Get a receipt with the shop’s name and number, and keep it. It is the only thing that makes a return possible.
- Ask about a guarantee on electrical parts - alternators, starters, sensors. Reputable shops give one, usually short.
- Pay on delivery of the right part, not on a promise to find it.
The cheapest part is rarely the cheapest repair
A part is a fraction of what it costs to have it fitted. A cheap sensor that fails in two months means paying the labour twice, and a cheap brake component can cost far more than that.
Spend on anything that is expensive to fit or dangerous to fail: brakes, steering, suspension, timing components, anything inside the engine. Save on what is easy to swap and harmless when it goes.
Tyres
Tyres are sold new and used across the city, and used tyres are an enormous trade.
- Check the date code on the sidewall: four digits for the week and year of manufacture. A tyre that has been in the sun for years is old, whatever the tread looks like.
- Look at the tread depth across the whole width, not just in the middle, and check for uneven wear, which points at the car rather than the tyre.
- Look for repairs, cuts and bulges on the inner wall as well as the outer.
- Buy in pairs at least, on the same axle.
Your mechanic and the parts question
Most drivers send their mechanic, which is reasonable - they know the part and the shops. The arrangement works when it is explicit:
- Agree whether you are paying for genuine, aftermarket or used before anybody goes shopping.
- Ask for the old part back. It is the simplest check that the work was done at all.
- Ask for the parts receipts. A mechanic buying honestly has no problem with this.
— Driving in Accra — Registering a vehicle — Importing a car — Finding a tradesperson