PRESS RELEASE

Vehicle data expert CARTELL.IE reports today (11th September) that the proportion of vehicles offered for sale (across all years) with finance outstanding is 17.5% – up from 16.6% in December 2018 and 11.5% in January 2017. Cartell.ie also reports that more vehicles for certain key registration years are being offered for sale with finance outstanding than in 2018. From a sample of over 5,906 vehicles offered for sale and checked via the Cartell.ie website in the first 6 months of 2019, the figures show that more than forty percent (41.55%) of three-year-old vehicles are offered for sale with finance outstanding.

In the case of one-year-old vehicles (2018) the levels of vehicles offered for sale with finance outstanding has risen from 33.3% for the equivalent period last year 2018 to 40.78% so far in 2019 – representing an increase of 22.46%. This means there is now more than a two-in-five chance of a one-year-old vehicle being offered for sale with finance outstanding.

Similarly in the case of two-year-old vehicles (2017) there is a 38.31% chance of a vehicle being offered for sale with finance outstanding based on checks on Cartell.ie in the first 6 months of 2019.

Graph 1: Percentages of Vehicles with Outstanding Finance by Registration Year checked on Cartell.ie (Source: Carstat, Cartell.ie)

Graph 2: Historic Percentages of Vehicles with Outstanding Finance checked on Cartell.ie (Source: Carstat, Cartell.ie)

Statistics published by Cartell.ie indicate that buyers have more than a two-in-five chance (41.55%) of purchasing a three-year-old vehicle (2016) with finance outstanding. Even older vehicles are regularly offered for sale with finance outstanding – 16.43% of all 2013 registered vehicles offered for sale in 2019 had outstanding finance against them. 

John Byrne, Cartell.ie, says:

Forty-two per cent of all three-year-old vehicles (2016) checked in the first 6 months of 2019 on Cartell.ie have finance outstanding. This is up from 38.57% of three-year-old vehicles (2015) checked last year on the site over the equivalent period. The rise is possibly attributable in some cases to expiring PCPs where owners are testing the market to see if they can return a higher price than the Guaranteed Minimum Future Value (GMFV) guaranteed by the dealer. What’s really concerning is that finance levels are up all across the years and the headline figure of 17.5% overall is particularly worrying. Buyers are strongly advised to be cautious in the market as you cannot take good title in the asset until the final payment has been paid to the financial institution. This means you may be buying a huge problem.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Table 1: Historic Percentages of Vehicles with Outstanding Finance checked on Cartell.ie (Source: Carstat, Cartell.ie)

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.

Cartell.ie is Ireland’s first and most comprehensive automotive data supplier providing Car History Checks to consumers and dealers. Launched in 2006, Cartell.ie is the automotive data expert providing tailored vehicle intelligence data to insurers, financiers, parts suppliers, vehicle manufacturers, and all sectors of the automotive industry. We supply data for multiple European countries such as, UK & Ireland, Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, Malta and more. Cartell.ie is a totally independent company and fully Irish owned.