The mileage of a used car can be checked on a special website of the Czech Ministry of Transport
As Radio Prague notes, a buyer of a new car, in case of unsatisfactory quality, is protected by law and by the manufacturers' warranty obligations. Purchasing a used car, which is usually driven by a lack of funds, always involves a significant risk of getting a pig in a poke. To avoid this, you must not be lazy and must check everything yourself once more. There are plenty of opportunities to do so today.
A used car dealership, of course, saves time. Dozens or hundreds of cars in various price categories are gathered in one place, and some preliminary screening has already been done. 'As soon as a car arrives at our dealership on consignment, it is checked not only from a technical but also from a legal point of view. Various databases are also checked. In about 70% of cases, the seller is rejected. This happens due to legal problems, manipulation of the car's odometer, or poor technical condition,' comments Pavel Foltýn, a representative of one of the Prague used car dealerships.
You can also buy a car through an ad, directly from the owner. However, you must not forget the statistics of tampered odometers – 42% of cases. In that case, you will have to investigate the car's history yourself using the VIN – vehicle identification number. For example, through the VIN-check resource.
'You can check that it is indeed the car you are standing next to. You can find out if the car is wanted in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, or if it is leased from one of 30 credit or leasing companies. If information about the car is available, you can find out the total mileage, service history, and number of previous owners,' says Petr Přikryl, chairman of the Association of Used Car Dealers and Consignment Car Shops.
The paid Autotracer system works in a similar way, also allowing you to check the compliance with the original equipment level of the used car. 'Equipment control allows the buyer to immediately know the levels of standard and extra equipment of the car when it left the assembly line. A worrying circumstance could be, for example, information that the used car has fabric-covered seats, while according to the original data it should have leather ones,' warns Martin Pajer from Cebia, which operates the Autotracer control system.
The mileage of a used car can be checked on a special website of the Ministry of Transport – www.kontrolatachometru.cz Checking used cars imported into the Czech Republic from other countries remains problematic. Information about them appears in databases only after registration in the Czech Republic.