You're in Bamenda, capital of the North-West Region, looking at a 2017 Toyota Hilux Double Cab, white, 145,000 km, imported from Belgium in 2019 according to the seller. The vehicle papers — the carte grise, the douane (customs) invoice, the technical inspection certificate — are all in French, the official language alongside English in Cameroon. The seller is bilingual and can explain, but you want to read the documents yourself.

Cameroon's vehicle administration is national. The Ministry of Finance through the Customs Directorate handles import duties, and the Ministry of Transport handles registration. Documents are issued in French as the primary language, with English versions available on request in some cases.

Reading the carte grise as an English speaker

The carte grise (vehicle registration card) contains:

  • Numéro d'immatriculation — registration number (plate)
  • Numéro de châssis — chassis (VIN) number
  • Marque / Modèle — Make / Model
  • Date de première mise en circulation — Date of first registration
  • Propriétaire — Owner
  • Type de carburant — Fuel type

The customs invoice (facture douanière)

For an imported vehicle, the customs invoice shows:

  • Valeur déclarée — declared value
  • Droits de douane — customs duties paid
  • TVA — VAT
  • Numéro de la déclaration en douane — customs declaration number

Pre-purchase checklist

  1. Carte grise in seller's name (cross-checked with seller's ID)
  2. Original customs invoice for imported vehicles
  3. Technical inspection certificate (visite technique) in force
  4. Independent mechanical inspection
  5. VIN verification at three physical points on the vehicle
  6. For imports: Bill of Lading and country-of-origin documents
  7. Same-day transfer at the Ministry of Transport regional office
  8. Photograph of the odometer at handover

Official sources

Why we care

Mekavo is free for car owners in Cameroon. From handover, log the carte grise, the customs invoice, every visite technique, every workshop receipt. When you sell — Bamenda, Buea, Yaounde, Douala — the next buyer reads your story rather than trusting your word.