Two diesel Sportage units for my lot in Mombasa

Diesel SUVs move fast on my lot in Mombasa — they suit our roads and they’re cheap to keep running — so I buy them in pairs when I can. I asked Korea Car Master for two Kia Sportage 2.0 diesel units, and they matched both to my budget with the won price shown openly, so I knew I was paying the Korean market and not a markup.

For a dealer, the driving video is gold. They sent one for each car — I could see and hear each engine, watch it drive, and check the smoke on a cold start. You cannot get that from a description and three photos on an auction site. Both were 2020s, one at 87,400 km and the other a little higher.

Both cars graded well with no major accident history, and they disclosed the small things: one of the two had a replaced windscreen, which they told me before I paid rather than letting me find the sticker later. That is the kind of detail that decides whether I trust a supplier.

Each car was ₩19,900,000, about $14,700 FOB, with a $500 agent fee per car. The smart part was that they put both on the same sailing to Mombasa, which saved me real money on freight versus shipping them separately. Kenyan duty and registration I handle myself through KRA, as always.

RoRo from Incheon to Mombasa took about a month. Both cars arrived clean, exactly as graded, and were ready to sell with just a wash and the usual paperwork on my end. There were no nasty surprises waiting on the ramp.

Both sold quickly. This is now my regular way of buying — I send the spec, they send videos and the won price, we agree the fee, done. For a working dealer it removes the gamble, and that is worth the fee many times over.