Vehicle data expert Cartell.ie has reported that the proportion of vehicles offered for sale (across all years) with finance outstanding is now a record 18.3%, up from 16.6% in December 2018 and 11.5% in January 2017. These are the highest levels that Cartell has recorded.

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 2019, the figures show that more than forty percent of two-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 35.9% for the equivalent period in 2018 to 39.4% in 2019. This means there is now a two-in-five chance of a one-year-old vehicle being offered for sale with finance outstanding.

John Byrne, of Cartell.ie, says, “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.”