Buying a new car is more expensive than ever. In addition, in recent years, the time that customers must wait to receive it has also increased considerably (about six months on average, according to the latest data published by Faconauto). Two realities that explain, in part, why many buyers today look more than ever at the used market when purchasing a vehicle.
Despite the fact that second-hand car prices have also reached all-time highs, in 2022 2.3 used cars were sold for every new one, figures that show the strength of the second-hand market in Spain. And these operations, which are often carried out through online trading platforms, are usually closed more quickly and with fewer guarantees than are recommended.
So these are prime situations for scammers to try to trick customers into keeping their money. For this reason, the National Police has published a video on its TikTok profile in which it gives 5 basic tips to avoid being a victim when buying second-hand vehicles. They are the following:
The first piece of advice that the agent gives in the video is probably the most popular among those that the authorities recite when they warn of the dangers of buying on the Internet, since low prices attract the attention of potential customers. In these cases, the ideal is to compare the car that interests us with others with the same or similar characteristics. For example, two vehicles that are the same model, the same engine and with approximate years of registration and kilometers traveled, should have similar prices. If one costs much less than the rest, it is most likely hiding some kind of scam.
The second recommendation is not to advance money as a reserve or guarantee in any case. It is common for criminals who benefit from this type of fraud to ask for a small (or not so small) amount of money to secure the purchase. However, once they receive it, they disappear without a trace.
Likewise, the National Police warns of the importance of verifying the identity of the seller to avoid scams. Beyond receiving an image of a DNI -which can be false-, you can review the user’s profile and see if they have previous evaluations from other clients. In the same way, it is not advisable to send photos of our personal documents, since they can later be used to impersonate our identity.
Another practice that is commonly used and that should make us immediately suspicious is that the seller tells us that he is in another country and that, therefore, he cannot meet with us in person.
Once we know the license plate of the vehicle in which we are interested, the agent advises us to check the possible administrative or judicial charges that it has and its background. This is a crucial operation when buying a second-hand car, as it can save us great trouble in the future.
If we want to check it, it is enough to request your data from the DGT. The “Reduced Report” that Tráfico offers free of charge provides information on the date of the first registration in Spain of the vehicle and if there is any incident that prevents its transfer or circulation. In addition, there are different types of reports that anyone can request and that reveal data of all kinds. They cost 8.67 euros each.
