Crashed and Damaged Vehicle Report for September
Crashed and damaged cars
MyVehicle.ie has released its crashed and damaged cars report for the month of September 2021. We hope that you are not one of the unfortunate car purchasers who bought one of these previously damaged vehicles.
Franchise Dealerships
During September, 317 vehicles were discovered to be written-off. This was an increase of 76 vehicles compared to the month of August when 241 compared to the month of July.
It is always a good idea to purchase a used car from a main dealer. Sometimes, though, even main dealers can get caught out and sell a used car that may have had previous undesirable history such as damage or even a
Make sure to get a full vehicle history check, even if you are buying a car from a main dealer. Not all car checks though, are the same. MyVehicle.ie has more damage data and alerts than any other supplier in Ireland.
It has become known that some dealers buy a vehicle on foot of a trade report by VMS (Vehicle Management System), our parent company, and then sell that very same vehicle to a member of the public with an inferior report from another history check supplier. That report by another history check provider may very well not show any damage alert at all on the vehicle.
Discrepancies at the main dealerships
Franchise dealers had 121 vehicles for sale which were discovered to have mileage discrepancies during September. During last month, 98 vehicles had some kind of mileage discrepancy. This is up by 23 from the previous month. This shows the importance of running a car check even when you are buying from a main dealer.
Independent car dealers
During the month of September we saw a huge increase in damaged vehicles sold at independent garages. This was up from 448 in August to 759 vehicles in September. This was a massive increase of 311 vehicles over the previous month of crashed or damaged vehicles sold at Independent dealerships.
Again, when buying any used car, always get a car check. Never just take a seller's word for it. A dealer may say that the car “just had a tip”. This may very well be code for; ‘it might have crashed and damaged before, but I have told you just enough to cover myself and I hope it doesn’t come back on me’.
Unscrupulous car traders are very prevalent in the used car market. The only way to protect yourself from buying a damaged or categorised car is to get a background car check.
Discrepancies at independent dealerships
As with car damage, there was also a sizable increase in the number of cars showing mileage discrepancies during September. In fact, discrepancies almost doubled compared to August.
On sale at Independent dealers were 290 vehicles, which was a huge increase over August when there were just 152 vehicles with some type of discrepancy displayed on the report.
In many more instances these discrepancies are never resolved and are found to be 'clocked' after investigation.
Private Car Sales Sector
The private car sector is where you will normally find the biggest problems and the biggest risk but during the month of September there was a massive drop in vehicles sold which were damaged.
During the month of September, there were 1,069 vehicles sold in the private sector which were previously damaged or written-off which was a massive increase from the 798 vehicles sold during the month of August, an increase of 271 from the previous month.
Remember that you have almost zero chance of any comeback or consumer rights after you have bought a car from a private seller and subsequently find out that there is an issue.
It also should be noted that many private sellers may not know anything about car history checks and may themselves have bought the car from the previous owner without knowing its true history.
The previous owner might also have not known about car checks and so a buyer in the private market runs a bigger risk than buying from a main dealer.
Mileage discrepancies in the private car sales sector
Many private sellers do not record mileage and many private buyers do not buy car checks so also do not record mileage for the record. In September, 249 vehicles were sold privately with some kind of mileage discrepancy, which is down from 293 vehicles on sale in August, a slight drop of 49.
Don’t be one of these unfortunate car buyers. Even if you have already bought a car, it's never too late to run your car background check. It is best to do it sooner or later and even after you have purchased the vehicle just in case you need to contact the seller for quick resolution.
Thousands of cars are showing a hidden past each month, so make sure you know what you are buying. Your pre-purchase research should be second-nature as it will prove to be extremely important. Remember...
Every vehicle has a past, check if it has a future!
Author
Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader
in automotive intelligence and vehicle
data supply to the entire motor industry.
He has almost 20 years experience in
building systems from the ground up.
As the Managing Director of Vehicle
Management System, he understands the
need and importance of trustworthy and
reliable vehicle history and advice to
both the trade and the public.
Follow me on LinkedIn