The analysis showed that there were over 40,000 used cars sold in January, indicating a much more robust performance than the new car registrations of 17,293, down 18.8 percent on January 2012.
The top ten selling used cars involved in private sales were in the age bracket 1999-2002, of which the top three were Volkswagen Golf, Opel Astra and Toyota Corolla. The top ten selling used cars brought from a dealer during the month were aged 2005-2012. The top three models were Ford's Focus, VW's Golf and Nissan's Qashqai. These figures indicate that the private trade is predominantly in very low-value old cars.
Motorcheck.ie's Shane Teskey says a shortage of good used cars on the Irish market will mean a likely rise in used imports from Britain. His company sees a significant numper of insurance 'writeoffs' entering the Irish market, and warns that a full car history check is advisable on all such imports.
"This can cost as little as €20," he notes. "The investment offers invaluable peace of mind."
