Pavel

Laurynas Boguševičius

Gergo Almasi

Karolis Bareckas

The Market Transparency Index is our annual study conducted in 25 countries to determine the level of transparency in their second-hand vehicle markets. We ranked each country and analyzed current market trends by using the following metrics:

Percentage of odometers with falsified readings

Average falsified mileage (in kilometers)

These metrics are essential for understanding market transparency, as they indicate the level of risk for buyers of used cars. The higher these figures are, the lower the level of transparency in the market.

Here are the most (and least) transparent used car markets in Europe.

Avoid costly problems by checking a vehicle's history. Get a report instantly!

Used cars have dark secrets 

The UK maintains its position as the most transparent market

, the UK remains the most transparent used car market among all the countries in our research. Only 2.1% of cars in the UK had falsified mileage, and 17.8% of vehicles had been damaged.

Unlike continental Europe, the UK primarily uses right-hand drive cars. As a result, only 2% of vehicles checked on carVertical in the UK were imported. Since high import rates are usually associated with higher levels of scams, the UK's peculiar position favors car buyers.

The top 5 most transparent countries also include Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden. When it comes to clocked cars, Switzerland has a share of 2.1%, followed by Germany (2.8%), Italy (3.5%), and Sweden (4.1%).

In terms of damaged cars, Italy stands out with only 12.6% of damaged cars, followed by Sweden (18.3%), Germany (23.8%), and Switzerland (55.3%).

Car buyers in Western Europe and Scandinavia are less likely to encounter mileage fraud or hidden defects. Stricter laws, newer cars, and other factors ensure that buyers can trust the vehicle’s history and quality more.

Slovenia is the only Central European country that made it to the top 10, which only proves how wide the gap is between different regions in the continent.

Car clocking and hidden damages are still prevalent in Eastern Europe

The least transparent countries in the study were Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Estonia. These markets also ranked lowest last year. A high proportion of cars with falsified mileage and 

, an aging vehicle fleet, and significant import rates contribute to these markets being considered highly non-transparent and risky.

Since scammers are rarely penalized for falsifying mileage or hiding defects, this harmful practice is likely to persist for a long time.

The highest number of mileage fraud cases among European countries was recorded in Latvia (11.1%) and Ukraine (9.6%). The largest proportion of damaged cars was found in Poland (62.1%), and Slovakia (60.5%).

Eastern European consumers typically have lower purchasing power compared to those in Western Europe. As a result, there’s a high demand for cheaper, used cars rather than new ones. Importers and 

 take advantage of this demand by bringing in older or more damaged vehicles from wealthier European countries and selling them at lower prices.

Ukraine imports the most cars out of all countries in the research (81.1% of all vehicles arrived from abroad), followed by Serbia (77,6%), Bulgaria (77,4%), Estonia (73,3%), and Latvia (69.8%).

While typically buyers in Eastern European countries are more interested in older vehicles, surprisingly, the highest average age of cars checked on carVertical was in Finland – 13.7 years. Lithuania takes the 2nd spot with 12.1 years, followed by the US – 11.1 years.

Central Europe: a midpoint between transparency and risk in the used car market

Central European countries like Slovakia, Hungary, and Czechia were always somewhere in the middle between Western and Eastern European countries. Local markets are far from transparent but the situation is still not as bad as in the Baltics or Balkans.

Among Central European countries, the situation in Slovenia is the best, with 3.7% of clocked vehicles and 30.66% damaged. This allowed the country to rank 7th this year – the same position as last year.

Czechia ranked 14th (4.3% of clocked vehicles and 52.1% damaged), Slovakia came in at 16 (3.1% clocked and 60.5% damaged) and Hungary – 17th (5.4% clocked and 54.9% damaged). Hungary maintained its position from 2023, while Slovakia lost 2 positions.

Compared to Western Europe, the average consumer in Central Europe has less purchasing power and tends to buy used cars instead of new ones. This demand for cheaper vehicles creates a market for older, potentially damaged, or odometer-tampered cars, so buyers should be cautious when picking their next ride to 

42.5% of cars in Czechia were imported from abroad, in Slovakia – 49.2%, and in Hungary – 45%. However, import market share in Central Europe is lower than in Eastern Europe, suggesting why these countries rank higher.

Buying in a risky market? Use carVertical to avoid issues

We can’t choose the level of transparency in our countries, but we can do a lot more to ensure we’re not buying blind. Start by getting a carVertical report!

Our vehicle history reports can give you a lot of useful information about a car’s past, collected from over 900 

Mileage history (and possible odometer rollbacks)

Knowing the history of a vehicle will help you avoid bad deals whether the market is transparent or not. Damages, mileage rollbacks, and other issues will end up costing unsuspecting users a lot more than a report would.

Check your registration number

How was the Market Transparency Index calculated?

Our study analyzed vehicle history reports purchased by the company's users between October 2023 and September 2024. The Market Transparency Index was derived using six indicators:

Since these criteria do not equally impact market transparency, different weights were assigned to each factor. For instance, how many kilometers the odometer was falsified is considered more important than the average age of checked cars in a given country.

carVertical’s European Market Transparency Index 2024: Is it safe to buy a car in the UK?

Renata Liubertaitė

Not all vehicles are equally safe and reliable, so doing a safety check is crucial when buying a car. But how many of us do?

We’re thrilled to introduce the Safety feature to our reports. Alongside other 

, users can now easily access a vehicle’s safety information, including safety ratings and recalls, in one place.

This addition aims to help used car buyers understand how safe the vehicle is and make better purchase decisions.

Enter a VIN code to learn more about any vehicle!

Need help buying a used car?

Introducing the carVertical report Safety feature

 will include a Safety section if vehicle safety information is available. 

Depending on your location, your vehicle history report will include safety ratings from one of the three main car safety assessment programmes: NHTSA, Euro NCAP, or ANCAP.

An overall vehicle safety score (from 1 to 5 stars)

Results for specific tested areas (in percentage (Euro NCAP and ANCAP) or stars (NHTSA))

Safety ratings allow you to learn about the vehicle’s ability to protect passengers in various scenarios and better assess the effectiveness of its safety features, such as airbags, seat belts, and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

Hence, this can help you identify cars with higher safety standards, potentially reducing the risk of injury or even fatalities in accidents.

Additionally, the Safety section of the report will provide information about car 

, if any. Next to each recall, you will see its status (

) and other available information, such as when it was announced, recall number, risk, and similar.

Some recalls can also include a more comprehensive description of the issue to help you better understand the problem.

This particular warning is crucial for safety, as used car owners are not always aware of recalls affecting their vehicles.

This happens mostly because manufacturers send recall notices only once – to the current owner. Due to factors like secondhand ownership or limited awareness of the automotive news, 

you may not even know that a car you own or are about to own is dangerous to drive.

If a vehicle’s safety performance score is low or the recall indicates a high safety risk and repairs are not promptly available, it's generally recommended to consider other options.

What are car safety ratings and how are they calculated?

how well a vehicle protects its occupants in emergency situations

 (e.g., crashes). It’s determined based on a series of internationally recognized crash tests and safety assessments conducted by independent organizations or governmental agencies, such as the:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

 and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 

, and other regional or national agencies globally.

Since all these organizations operate in different regions, there may be differences in the specific tests conducted and the criteria used.

frontal, side, and rollover resistance tests,

 which account for the majority of crashes in the country.

The Overall Vehicle Score considers the chances of getting hurt in these accidents.

 also use a five-star system, calculated based on the assessment of four areas:

 (for the driver and passenger), determined from frontal impact, lateral impact, and whiplash tests.

 determined by testing how well child safety features work.

 determined by testing how well vehicles protect vulnerable road users – pedestrians and cyclists – with whom they might collide.

 determined by evaluating driver-assistance and crash-avoidance technologies.

The five-star rating was introduced to add more flexibility to the previous rating scheme, but you can generally find both the overall rating and individual results for the mentioned areas.

 are largely aligned with the organization’s European counterpart, Euro NCAP. Therefore, the overall score is also determined based on crash tests and safety assessments of on-board safety features.

In some cases, ANCAP may adapt certain aspects to better suit the Australian and New Zealand markets.

What are car recalls and why do they matter?

to address and fix safety-related defects found in vehicles already sold to consumers.

 These can be anything from faulty radio wiring to problems with engine components.

The process of initiating car recalls varies slightly across regions. While car recalls are typically issued by manufacturers, relevant authorities (e.g., the NHTSA or European Commission) can also initiate a recall after receiving multiple reports on the same safety-related issue.

critical for ensuring the safety and reliability of vehicles

 on the road. Acting on an issued recall promptly can help prevent accidents and injuries resulting from the identified defects.

How do you check car safety?

How do I find my car's NCAP rating?

What determines the safety of a car?

New carVertical report Safety feature – avoid dangerous vehicles

carVertical

We at carVertical take information security seriously. Therefore, we’re proud to announce that the company successfully passed the ISO/IEC certification audit and carVertical is now officially ISO/IEC 27001:2017 certified, proving our commitment to secure data and deliver our services in the most efficient way.

Check any VIN to learn a vehicle's history!

Afraid of buying a wreck?

ISO/IEC 27001:2017 is the world's best-known standard for information security management systems. But what does this actually mean for carVertical?

When a company is ISO/IEC 27001:2017 certified, this means that this organization has implemented tools and procedures to protect all verbal, written, and electronic information received, sent, created, managed, and used from all possible threats: external, internal, intentional, or accidental.

ISO/IEC 27001:2017 applies to any data related to our business, including computer networks, information systems, partners, contractors, and more.

Providing our users and partners with trust and transparency

We are constantly improving our services and introducing new products, and we want to give our users and partners the level of trust and transparency they deserve.

Being ISO/IEC 27001:2017 certified proves that carVertical has the necessary tools to ensure that all the data we use in your daily operations is securely stored and managed, thus mitigating the risk of potential threats.

As an automotive data platform, we want to set high standards for a secure online environment. And we're not stopping there. We'll keep working hard to meet global and industry-specific data security standards in the future, too.

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