PRESS RELEASE

 New Players in Finance Market Continue to Make Big Impact

Vehicle data expert Cartell.ie reports today (14 November 2014) that more vehicles for certain key registration years are being offered for sale with finance outstanding than last year. In the case of one-year-old vehicles – the levels of vehicles offered for sale with finance outstanding has risen from 19.7% in end of year 2013 to 20.6% in the year-to-date in 2014. This means there is now more than a one-in-five chance of a one-year-old vehicle bring offered for sale with finance outstanding.

Similarly in the case of three-year-old vehicles (2011) there has been an increase in vehicles offered for sale with finance outstanding – up from 16.7% in end of year 2013 to 17.2% in the year-to-date in 2014.

Statistics published by Cartell.ie indicate that buyers have a one-in-eight chance of purchasing a four-year-old vehicle (2010) with finance outstanding. From a sample of over 5,906 vehicles offered for sale and checked via the Cartell.ie website in 2014, the figures show that 12.3% registered in 2010 are still on finance. Even older vehicles are regularly offered for sale with finance outstanding – 8.1% of all 2008 registered vehicles offered for sale had outstanding finance against them. 

Based on data checks carried out by Cartell.ie, the proportion of vehicles offered for sale (across all years) with finance outstanding is 8%.

VW Bank and BMW Financial Services continue to make big impact

Volkswagen Bank and BMW Financial Services continue to hold a combined 16% of the automotive finance market in Ireland – no change over 2013. Both those players, who entered the market after the recession hit, have an estimated market share of 8% each based on results of finance checks carried out by Cartell in 2014.

Director Jeff Aherne, Director of Cartell.ie says: “These results continue to show the importance of checking for outstanding finance – just because a vehicle is older doesn’t mean it’s free of finance. Every day customers are getting caught buying an older car assuming the finance has been paid off. Effectively, you can lose that vehicle as it remains the property of the bank until the last payment is made.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

In many instances of outstanding finance a second or third owner has financed their purchase and subsequently sells the vehicle with finance outstanding, or the first owner sells the vehicle without settling their account with the bank.

About Cartell.ie

Cartell.ie was set up in 2006 to help buyers make an informed choice when buying a used vehicle – including imported vehicles – by providing a user-friendly and cost-effective vehicle data checking service. Cartell.ie is a totally independent company and fully Irish owned.

For further information please contact John Byrne on 087 4199018 or at john at cartell.ie or check out www.cartell.ie  for further information.