What is a Car History Check?
What is a vehicle history check and is it really worth it?
Every day in Ireland there are many people who unknowingly buy used cars that have either been previously written off, damaged, stolen, clocked or under finance!
On first look, everything may initially seem fine with these vehicles and many new owners are unaware of any outstanding and historical issues with the vehicle.
Normally it is only after several months down the road when the car starts showing problems and breaking down, that they realise something is wrong with the vehicle which results in bringing it to their local service garage.
When the car is checked out by a mechanic, it is only then that they find out that the vehicle has been repaired to cover over previous damage.
On inspection, the new owner may find that there has been extensive previous damage or that the current mileage on the vehicle does not tally with the wear and tear of certain parts.
With either of these scenarios, there is a major safety aspect to consider. If you’re unfortunate enough to find yourself in this situation, we would recommend that you have the vehicle inspected by a qualified vehicle assessor in order to ensure that the repairs have been carried out to industry standards or that the certain important parts in the vehicle have been changed, such as the timing belt.
If you think that either of these situations is bad, try having the vehicle that you purchased with your hard earned cash being repossessed by a bank or insurance company due to outstanding finance being owed or the vehicle being stolen!
At MyVehicle.ie we speak to people on a daily basis that have been the victim of a used car purchase nightmare That is why we strongly recommend that anybody buying a used car, should purchase a car history check from MyVehicle.ie in order to try and limit the potential risk.
MyVehicle.ie spends a great deal of time working with Special Investigation Units across various industry sectors in order to counter the scam of cars being refinanced and sold on by unscrupulous owners, and spend countless hours identifying vehicles that have been clocked or previously damaged.
To avoid these potential pitfalls we have highlighted below our main vehicle data checklist:
MyVehicle car history checklist:
- Outstanding finance – have all outstanding debts been paid off against the car?
- Has the car previously been categorised as an A, B, C or D write-off by an insurer?
- Is the mileage legitimate? Has the car been clocked? MyVehicle.ie has one of the most extensive mileage databases for both Irish and UK vehicle registrations that currently holds 100+ million odometer readings.
- Previous owners – MyVehicle will tell you how many previous owners a car has, the exact date each ownership changed hands, the length of time and the owner type Private, Garage, Company).
- Vehicle ID Numbers – allows you to verify the correct vital ID numbers associated to each specific vehicle such as the vehicle’s Chassis Number, Engine Number and the Vehicles Licensing Certificate (VLC).
- Scrapped vehicles – as with Cat A and B insurance write-offs, you don’t want a car that shouldn’t even be on the road.
- Damaged vehicles – has the vehicle ever undergone serious damage repair?
- Imported vehicles – some imported vehicles and cars built for foreign markets can be harder to insure or repair
- Previous taxi – was the vehicle ever previously registered as a Taxi or Hackney?
- NCT status – is that NCT certificate you’ve been shown genuine?
- Road tax – costs and renewal history.
- If you have been unfortunate enough to have been a victim of a car scam or an unsuspected buyer of a previously written off, damaged or clocked car, contact MyVehicle.ie for advice on what your options are.
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.
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