The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has launched a new report advocating for an online portal that would grant second-hand car buyers free access to essential car history information, including write-off status and mileage readings.
Allowing consumers to more easily access this information would help limit the number of dangerous, clocked, or poorly repaired cars on Irish roads.
Before buying a used car, consumers must have access to important information about a car’s mileage, past accidents, safety recalls, and import status.
Currently, much of this information is collected by the State but is either inaccessible or available only for a fee from commercial car history providers.
Twenty other EU member states, including Belgium, Estonia and Poland, offer public access to car histories, with the UK, New Zealand and Australia also giving consumers access to essential car history information.
Brian McHugh, Chair of the CCPC, said
“The State can and must close the knowledge gap for consumers.
Thousands of consumers contact the CCPC helpline every year when things go wrong with second-hand cars. CCPC officers carry out regular investigations, inspections and enforcement action, but arming consumers with information is the most efficient and cost-effective way to help safeguard every second-hand car sale in the country.
What’s more, sharing car history with buyers will protect all road users, helping to keep dangerous cars off Irish roads. It is in the public interest to have an open, free and accessible State database of essential car history information.
Much of this information is already collected by the State. Some of that is made available to traders and car history providers, but not directly to consumers. We also know that information available from car history providers can be incomplete. Consumers deserve better.
We need the State to capture key car history information and share it with consumers for free. A car is one of the most expensive purchases a consumer will ever make, and buyers need accurate information so they can get value for money and a safe and reliable vehicle for them and their family.”
The CCPC receives around 40,000 contacts from consumers annually.
A significant volume of contacts to our helpline each year are from consumers who did not receive relevant information on a used car before purchase, or who got inaccurate information about a used car from the seller (2,156 from 2021-2023).
There were 259 contacts relating to potentially clocked cars19 while 520 consumers contacted the CCPC about cars that may have been previously crashed and/or written-off.
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A significant proportion of consumers in Ireland therefore encounter serious difficulties in accessing accurate information about the condition of used cars.
Here's an insight into the real-world impact of unknowingly buying a car that had been previously crashed:
''Purchased a car from a private seller. Bought the car based on the info received from a car history provider. Paid €30 for the report and then bought the car. About a month ago I got a phone call from my insurance broker, and they said that the car had been written off and I would have to get a mechanic to sign off on it in order for it to be insured.
Paid €200 for an engineer to look at it and he said that it was written off. The seller has been the only owner of the car. I am out of pocket for €2,500.”
“Bought a previously imported car from another consumer in Ireland. After a warning light displayed on the dashboard, the car was brought to a mechanic to check it over. Turned out the car had been previously crashed. The airbags had been deployed but were then not replaced and therefore no longer worked. The car cost a significant sum of money to repair and was unknowingly bought in a dangerous condition. I didn’t know I could pay for a car history check report.''
''Bought a car from a dealer 12 months ago. I tried recently to trade it in to other dealers and they would not take it, saying it has an insurance alert on it. I checked with a car history provider, and they informed me the car was a Category D writeoff. When I bought the car I was not informed of this. I have asked the dealer if I can trade it back with them, but they won’t reply.''
The inability of consumers to identify whether a car has been clocked, crashed and/ or written-off before purchase is particularly concerning given the detriment which a consumer can experience on buying such a car, including to their safety and that of other road users.
In 2024, the CCPC received 3,192 contacts to its national consumer helpline specifically concerning issues related to second-hand cars.
These contacts related to a range of issues including clocked cars, previously crashed cars, excessive repair/resolution times, and recurring faults after repair. Other consumers reported issues with misleading advertising and mis-selling.
