Damaged cars checked in autoDNA reports are worth as much as EUR 889 million!
There’s plenty of situations on the used cars market where damaged cars are put up for sale as accident-free. According to the autoDNA data, the condition of a used vehicle described in an advertisement may, unfortunately, quite often deviate from the actual state.
Statistics on recorded damage
In total, damage was recorded in nearly 480.000 cases. The most popular models on the market had at least a 32% probability of damage recorded in the reports.
Buy a damage-free car
Buying a used car is a serious decision with far-reaching consequences. Choosing a good vehicle is a guarantee of trouble-free operation and, subsequently, cost control and the possibility of an easy resale in the future.
And conversely, an ill-considered purchase of a vehicle with a hidden defect is a problem in the form of high service costs, potential danger on the road (if the car has been improperly repaired) and difficulties in getting rid of the bad car in the future.
No wonder that one of the most desirable piece of information in the history of a used vehicle for a potential buyer is the one about the recorded damage. When buying a second-hand car, the future driver wants to have a complete set of information about possible damage that has occurred in the past.
The most popular models — the share of reports in which damage was recorded
This is where autoDNA comes in. Thanks to the VIN number vehicle history report service, it is possible to check whether the vehicle you are interested in has any recorded damage. For some cars, such an event is common. In the reports generated on the autoDNA website in 2023, a total of nearly 480.000 damage events were recorded.
Damaged cars — what is the situation like for specific models?
Ford Mondeo recorded the most “hits” – in the case of this model, as many as 46% of reports purchased in 2023 contained an annotation about the damage. The BMW 5 Series and the Opel Astra are also highly ranked – 44% and 42%, respectively. The range of 32-41% included: BMW 3 Series, Audi A4, Skoda Octavia, Audi A6, Ford Focus, Volkswagen Passat and Volkswagen Golf.
We are talking about all reports, including those downloaded several times for 1 vehicle. Therefore, it is worth remembering that the distribution does not indicate how likely the damage may occur in a given model, but rather it indicates the general popularity of models on the market.
Statistics on flood-damaged cars
A separate category consists of cases of vehicle flooding — this type of damage was recorded for a total amount of “only” slightly over EUR 4.300.000. This is just 0.06% of all recorded damage in reports generated in 2023, or only 265 cases.
Damaged cars — what is the value of the damage?
The total value of damage in used cars checked on the autoDNA website amounted to nearly EUR 889 million last year.
Most popular models – share of reportsin which damage was recorded
Summary
Road transport has been booming in recent years. This is due to the increasingly fast-growing road network. Passenger cars are common, so buying and selling them today is not a problem in terms of availability.
The body type is of secondary significance, as buyers usually decide on a specific model and brand. However, in the maze of offers, it is difficult to immediately catch on. A car put up for sale may have various types of damage — from minor bumps to serious collisions.
autoDNA — a service offering vehicle history reports, is here to help. Damaged cars are recorded in the autoDNA database, which you can have access to for several dozen zlotys — all you need to know is the VIN number of the car you are interested in. Of course, this is only the beginning of verifying the condition of the vehicle. In addition to the report, it is worth checking the technical condition of the entire car.
When buying and selling a vehicle, it is always worth free VIN lookup using the autoDNA vehicle history report, the market-leading provider of the VIN decoding tool. The VIN number is sufficient to check, among others, damage to the vehicle, including total loss, collisions, recorded odometer readings, and archive photos.
