Car finance levels rising fast – Cartell.ie

Vehicle data expert, Cartell.ie has reported that the proportion of vehicles offered for sale (across all years) with finance outstanding is almost 10 per cent. The levels of finance in the market place are rising fast – the equivalent figure for December 2014 was 7 per cent

In April Cartell.ie predicted market finance levels had “bottomed out” and were on the rise. The results are based on finance checks carried out on Cartell.ie.

Cartell.ie also reports that more vehicles for certain key registration years are being offered for sale with finance outstanding than last year. In the case of three-year-old vehicles (2012) the levels of vehicles offered for sale with finance outstanding has risen from 17.8 per cent in end of year 2014 to 21.4 per cent in the year-to-date in 2015. This means there is now more than a one-in-five chance of a three-year-old vehicle bring offered for sale with finance outstanding.

Similarly, in the case of two-year-old vehicles (2013) there is a 19.1 per cent chance of a vehicle being offered for sale with finance outstanding.

Statistics published by Cartell.ie indicate that buyers have more than a one-in-seven chance of purchasing a four-year-old vehicle (2011) with finance outstanding. From a sample of over 5,906 vehicles offered for sale and checked via the Cartell.ie website in 2014, the figures show that 10.9 per cent registered in 2010 are still on finance.

Even older vehicles are regularly offered for sale with finance outstanding – 6.8 per cent of all 2008 registered vehicles offered for sale had outstanding finance against them. 

John Byrne, Cartell.ie, says: “Finance levels are now rising fast since reaching a low of around 7% in December 2014. This creates a treacherous terrain for a used car buyer as those who may have risked a purchase in the past without checking if a vehicle has outstanding finance stand a far higher risk of getting caught out in the current market.”