Majority of used car buyers don’t check history before buying

The majority of used car buyers are not checking history on vehicle before purchasing, according to new data from the RAC.

Data shows 10% of buyers will check history.

The data from the RAC Car Passport service showed that out of a sample of over 21,000 checks almost one quarter (23%) highlighted serious issues with a vehicle’s history that should be of significant concern to any buyer.

These included: one in eight with outstanding finance (12.5%); one in 10 (9.4%) which had been recorded as an insurance write-off; one in 100 (0.8%) which had a colour change; one in 1,000 recorded as having been scrapped (0.1%); and one in 2,000 that were marked as stolen (0.05%).

A separate study of drivers who had purchased an RAC Car Passport data check found that one in three (33%) decided not to purchase the car they were looking at based on the information they received in the report.

Happily, two thirds (67%) of motorists went on to buy the vehicle that they had originally been smitten by after completing the check and almost half (48%) of these had the confidence to complete the deal in under 48 hours.

Robert Diamond, RAC Car Passport managing director, said: “These figures reveal the risks used-car buyers are taking by not obtaining a simple car data check to uncover any suspect history their intended purchase may be hiding.

“Buying a car can be a stressful experience because of the sums of money involved so it makes sense to find out as much as you can about a car’s history as it may just save you thousands of pounds.”