CarVertical: In which countries are the miles filmed the most? Slovakia is no longer – Poradňa – Auto
Tapping odometers is not a thing of the past. This lucrative scam still attracts unscrupulous sellers. Customers in Latvia and Estonia face the greatest risks. But Germany is not doing well either.
Odometer – check Mileage is still a popular scam. Customers often overpay the core value by as much as 25 percent.
The CarVertical platform, which aims to test the history of cars in Europe, has tried to find out how the rate of fraud with mileage varies between countries. She has based her studies on almost 900,000 vehicle history checks since 2021. Based on her data, Latvia seems to be the “most active” in this regard. In this country, up to 24 percent of the cars present have changed data on the “odometer”, ie almost every fourth. Romania ranks second in this negative ranking. One in five used cars, or almost 20 percent of the cars checked through CarVertical, had misleading mileage data on the tachometer in the country.
Slovakia is doing well
However, the other Baltic states do not boast either. The third country with the largest share of counterfeit kilometers is Estonia, followed by Lithuania. Russia and Ukraine are also among the countries with a higher percentage of vehicles that have been tampered with. The situation in some Central and Southern European countries looks better, but even in transparent markets this fraud has not completely disappeared. For example, in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, one in ten customers is a victim of bottling. The situation is even worse in Poland and Hungary.
Read more We are still cheating on MOT. He lies on every third
In our northern neighbors, the share of cars with twisted kilometers climbed to 12 and in the southern ones even to 14 percent. Surprisingly, Germany (13.91 percent), Switzerland (12.7 percent) or Italy (11.34 percent), ie advanced economies where you would not expect this type of fraud, are worse off than Slovakia. According to MatV Buzelis, director of communications at CarVertical, mileage fraud costs us billions of euros every year. With cheap shopping, people think they have saved, but in fact much more for repairs. They often overpay 25 percent.
See rankings of countries by mileage
Car Vertical – turning odometers Car Vertical – turning odometers
Few cars mean higher risk
“The main sources of used cars for the Eastern European markets are Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. At the same time, cross-border transactions with used cars are the most risky, as data are often manipulated. “Mileage turning is a so-called, invisible crime.” According to some scientific reasons, in Europe alone, it causes economic costs of more than nine euros a year, ”explains Buzelis. The problem is that the authorities can effectively track down the criminals who manipulated the vehicle in this way, and the sanctions for the same crime are unclear.
Read more Curled kilometers on a used car? The correctness can be verified in the register
While some Western European countries are known to impose heavy fines on tachometer frauds or even face imprisonment, in weaker markets, where vehicles tend to be older, there is usually no means of dealing with such problems. Caution should also be exercised today, as used car sales are facing a significant shortage of vehicles due to the chip crisis. Customers are then willing to buy cars they have not previously considered, without any control. Just to get to the car. “Few cars on offer are a reason to choose any car. Checking history is still important and can get rid of a lot of problems, “Buzelis added.