Metrics of used car market transparency index
Based on 6 main criteria, our in-depth study ranks 25 countries from the most to the least transparent
Global average: 4.48%
Percentage of odometers clocked
Mileage rollbacks can increase a car’s price by up to 25%. In some cases, odometer tampering doesn't only mean overpaying for a vehicle, but also putting your security at risk – cars with a higher mileage can have serious flaws.
Global average: 79,841 km
Average odometer rollback value
Forged mileage costs a lot of money in the long run, as you’ll have to heavily invest in maintenance. More kilometers rolled back means more costs and a greater risk of getting in an accident.
Global average: 40.07%
Percentage of damaged cars
The more damaged cars on the road, the higher the chances that you’re sitting in one of them. Fires, floods, and severe accidents significantly cut the value (and safety) of a vehicle, so wrongdoers don’t want you to know about any accidents before buying.
Global average: €4,403
Average damage value
The higher the average damage value is, the higher the chances that a particular country is full of unrepairable, unsafe damaged cars with hidden defects. To get more precise results, we excluded minor damages under €500. We also looked at the GDP per capita in chosen countries to account for differences in purchasing power.
Global average: 49.71%
Percentage of imported used cars
Vehicles that migrate from one country to another are much more likely to have a fake history. Estimates suggest that used cars traded across borders within the EU are up to 4.5 times more likely to have their mileage manipulated. A high percentage of imported cars in a country also signifies a higher number of damaged vehicles with forged histories.
Global average: 9.82
Average age of checked cars
The older the car, the less information about it. In the past, there wasn't much data on vehicles available in digital form, making it much more difficult to learn the true story of a car.
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About
carVertical’s Market Transparency Index measures the level of potentially hidden or false information provided to a customer when buying a used car. We conducted this research in the 25 countries where carVertical has been offering car history reports for at least one year.
This research relies on data from actual car reports bought by our customers over a period of 12 months, from October to September each year. We’ve only used data from reports we consider high quality according to our internal quality standards (e.g., a quality report must have at least three odometer reading records).
We consider a car as imported when it has history records in countries other than the country the report was bought in.
When counting the relative damage value, we excluded minor damages under €500, such as a broken side mirror or small scratches. To compare the situation in different countries, we divided the average damage value by the GDP per capita.
carVertical’s Market Transparency Index is based on 6 factors, totaling a maximum score of 1.2. Since their predicted impact on market transparency may differ, carVertical data experts assigned these factors different values.
1.2Total score
0.3Percentage of odometers clocked (%)
0.15Average odometer rollback value (km)
0.2Percentage of damaged cars (%)
0.2Relative damage value *We divided the average damage value by the GDP per capita within a country.
0.3Percentage of imported used cars (%)
0.05Average age of checked cars
Media contacts
For media inquiries, please contact us at press@carvertical.com . We are always happy to share more information about our studies, provide additional statistics from our databases, or set up a personal interview.