If you don’t, you stand to lose the car your money or worse!
Some very good reasons
Police interest Every 20 minutes a stolen car is offered for sale to an unsuspecting buyer. 450,000 cars were reported stolen last year. If you buy a stolen car you may never legally own the vehicle and it’s most unlikely you’ll ever get your money back.
Finance Approx. 1 in 4 cars checked showed outstanding finance; 66% of new cars are bought on finance. If you buy a car that has outstanding finance you may never legally own it and the finance company may seek to repossess the vehicle until it goes to court. You can never sell the car legally as it may still be owned by the finance company. If the seller claims the outstanding finance has been settled you need a letter from the finance company declaring they no longer have an interest in the vehicle. To save this hassle car data check it first!
Write off* About 1 in 25 cars checked turned out to be insurance write off’s. You can’t always tell by looking at a car if it’s had serious accident damage, vehicle repair centres can make tell tale signs hard to spot. Apart from the fact you might be driving a death trap cars registered as accident damaged or ‘on the register’ are generally worth half as much and will be difficult to insure and hard to sell on in the future.
Clocked 5% of cars checked showed mileage discrepancies. A car that has spent it’s life on the motorway may look in better condition than a car that has done a fraction of the mileage around town, but wouldn’t you rather know the true mileage and value the vehicle accordingly? Cars can end up in auctions or on pitches that look mint but unless you have the mileage checked you’ll never know for sure.
* Cannot reveal a write off where the car has been self or third part insured
