Although Germany is the source of most used cars in Europe, the situation does differ from place to place. Motor industry-related data company carVertical has compiled information about the countries from which most used cars in Latvia come from, as well as the risks related to the purchase of such cars.
Western European cars account for a large portion of Eastern Europe’s used cars market. In Latvia 30.7% of used cars were imported from Germany. These cars make up the biggest portion of the local market. Cars imported from Lithuania (18.8%), France (12.8%), Belgium (8.9%) and Italy (8.5%) all take noticeable portions of the local used cars market.
The aforementioned data was acquired from more than one million car history reports generated on this company’s platform. For this reason this data may differ from what is available in Latvia’s car registers.
«Used car buyers look for German-made cars, as it is believed that Germans take better care of their cars than most other people,» says carVertical expert Matas Buzelis.
The most commonly found technical problems appear in used cars regardless of their export or import region. Cars from Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden, more often have problems with corrosion, snow, salt and freezing temperatures.
Used cars imported from Italy, on the other hand, might not have corrosion,
but they do often have faded paint due to strong sunlight in the country.
Generally sharp temperature fluctuations do not benefit cars. This explains why Latvian residents prefer German used cars. Germany has a temperate climate and good roads, which helps reduce risks of corrosion, faded paint and damage to suspension.
International car purchases are risky because, when transporting cars from one country to another, it is difficult to trace its background.
Most countries do not exchange car-related data.
This means a car that was damaged in an accident in Germany or Belgium may appear in Latvia in the category of «well-maintained German pensioner’s car». According to data from carVertical, 57.5% of Latvian cars checked using the car background platform were damaged and 23.6% have fake mileage.
The used cars market in Latvia is not transparent at all, and buyers should keep in mind and avoid common forms of fraud, the Lithuanian company warns.
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