And do not think that everything written below is an instruction on how to "successfully" trade in used cars, using the trustworthiness of individual buyers. After all, there are fewer and fewer of them, and the CEBIA service will tell the whole truth without any problems — no matter how artistically the dishonest seller tries to convince his potential victim that the car is "in perfect condition, in its original color and with original mileage."
At the same time, if such bikes are not uncommon on the Ukrainian market, and it may seem that there has been no such thing in Europe for a long time — you are mistaken. And letʼs even say to what extent — using examples from the Czech secondary market. However, the answers will be at the end of the text — write down your thoughts on each situation, and do not peek until the last chapter!
1. The car is "not broken"
Of course, you can set a fair market price for cars that have not been involved in traffic accidents (traffic accidents), because they do not have the disadvantages inherent in "beaten cars". But, if in general it is visually difficult to detect traces of body repair and recent painting, why not just "forget" to inform the buyer that the car received some damage? And if the conscience is not able to reach out to the fraudsterʼs mind, then in general it is possible to indicate in the ad that the car is "not beaten", and insist on this until a story with records of the carʼs accident past is printed.
- Question: what is the percentage of ten-year-old cars in Europe after an accident?
2. "Original" mileage
The price of cars of the same age, but with different mileage, can differ twice, or even three times, if the car is after service in a corporate fleet or a taxi, and the odometer has more than half a million kilometers. But — if it is "rewinded", then the price "returns" to the average market level. It is a pity that the condition of the car does not improve in any way, as well as its real value. Mileage "twisting" is the second most common "scheme" by fraudsters who sell used cars in the Czech Republic.
- Question: What percentage of cars (on the Czech secondary market) have "twisted" mileage?
3. If you donʼt buy, others will
What do the "buyers" who were caught lying say? After all, now it is quite easy to find out the official history of recording mileage, carrying out technical inspections, the participation of a car in an accident or working in a taxi — you only need to enter the VIN code of the desired car on CEBIA, and you will immediately find out what is known about it (and only after that you should pay for the report — this is the only service that first offers information, then charges for it).
If you donʼt buy it, others will" — this is what you often hear from a fraudster who just tried to sell you an "unbeaten, unpainted" and, of course, "original mileage" car. And he wonʼt forget to add that all other options on the market are even worse, and at this price you definitely wonʼt be able to find anything better. Do not wait for an apology and an offer of a significant discount on such a car — these people are stubborn enough and do not listen to the voice of conscience. And as long as there will be buyers on the market who take the word of every seller, similar "schemes" will exist until then.
- Question: on the Czech market, do cases of fraud occur more often with cars of local production (mainly Skoda) or with imported ones?
4. Car from the first owner
The first and only owner is a fully motivated reason to sell the car a little more expensive (if it is really in good condition), because you can learn all the details about it first-hand. And the owner himself is a certain indicator — whether he took care of the car, or vice versa — he will brag at what speeds he "flew" and how he drifted in supermarket parking lots.
The "first owner" is often mentioned in advertisements, but this is not always true. What will be the question in this section.
- Question: what proportion of ads (in the Czech Republic) contains a record that the car is from the first owner, and what proportion of such is actually the case?
5. My good friend is selling the car
Another option used by individual sellers. For example, due to certain circumstances, my friend (or even a relative) cannot do the sales himself, so he entrusted this matter to me. And I know that he took good care of this car and it is definitely in excellent condition. The same section includes the assurance "a woman drove this car" — which for some reason should be a sign of an extremely respectful attitude towards the car and extremely careful operation of it.
- Q: Is it safe to trust car-from-a-friend options?
Answers
Now itʼs time to test how well you know European markets using the five situations described above.
- About 60% of ten-year-old cars have records of participation in road accidents. It is not necessarily "total", there may be minor damage to the bumper or wing in city "trains", but insurers record all cases.
- In a third (more than 30%) of CEBIA checked cars, odometer "twisting" was detected.
- Four out of five ads contain misleading information, or vice versa – important information is missing that the seller is trying to hide. The shares for the domestic market and imported cars are about the same.
- In 48% of the ads there is a note "from the first owner". In fact, only 16% of such cars are on sale.
- Such assurances are invented only to divert the buyerʼs attention from what is important, and he refused to check the car, taking his word for it. However, this is how the main types of fraud are often masked — with road accidents, mileage and all others.
Read also: how serious damage in road accidents is sometimes hidden by sellers
We hope that you were able to answer most of the questions (or even all of them) quite accurately, and when you choose a car in Europe, you are unlikely to be lured into one of the "schemes" spread on the car market. Especially since you know the most important thing — before buying, no matter what the seller tells you, you should definitely check the car by VIN code, and you should do this with the help of the reliable CEBIA service , which has information about the history of millions of cars from Europe.
