What is a Car Check?
Experts recommend a MyVehicle.ie history car check before you buy any used car, but what is a MyVehicle history check and is it really worth it?
Every single day there are people in Ireland unknowingly buying used cars that have either been previously written off, previously damaged, stolen, clocked or under finance!
In most cases, everything initially seems fine with these vehicles and the new owner takes pride in driving their new purchase. It’s normally only several months down the road when the car starts making a strange noise and then they bring it to their local service garage. They’re informed that the vehicle has been repaired to what looks like 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 are 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 we speak to people on a daily basis that have been the victim of a used car purchase nightmare and wherever you go in the Ireland you’re never far from a horror story, which is why experts strongly recommend that anybody buying a used car, purchase a car history check from MyVehicle.ie in order to try and limit the potential risk.
MyVehicle spend 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 history check checklist
✔ Outstanding finance – have all the debts against the car, or debts in which the car was used as security, been paid off? If not, it still belongs to a finance company.
✔ Write-offs – has the car previously been categorised as an A, B, C or D write-off by an insurer.
✔ Mileage – is the mileage legitimate? MyVehicle parent company Vehicle Management System (VMS) own and operate an extensive mileage database 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 for advice on what your options are.
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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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