The situation follows a study of 6,000 Motorcheck reports that were produced this year for Irish consumers thinking of buying a car.
According to Motorcheck MD Shane Teskey, there simply isn’t enough awareness amongst the general public about the extent of this problem.
"We’re now a nation of bargain hunters and when we think we’ve found the deal of the century we’re inclined to act without thinking and hand over the cash," he says. "The amount of people who contact us for advice after handing over cash in a supermarket car park to a stranger for a car that later turns out to be clocked (or worse) never ceases to surprise me."
Motorcheck's investigation was highlighted on RTE News last night, and Teskey is positive that this will help. "At least for the moment," he adds, "but more needs to be done. Our detection rate is increasing but it’s intrinsically linked to the quantity and quality of data our researchers can gather."
He says that if odometer data gathered in NCT tests was shared to the industry here, it would significantly improve detection rates.
